The Wasp — 1894 — page 75: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains theatrical reviews and commentary rather than political cartoons. The main feature is a two-panel comic titled "OH, WHAT A DIFFERENCE IN THE MORNING," depicting newspaper sensation coverage. The left panel shows a fire at a depot with sensational headlines ("FIRE CRACKER JUST EXPLODED," "IT WAS AT THE DEPOT"). The right panel, labeled as the same morning twenty days later, shows how the story has evolved into exaggerated claims about "REDS IN JAIL," "MURDERERS," and "STRIKERS." The satire critiques how newspapers transform minor incidents into inflammatory stories featuring anarchists and labor agitators—reflecting anxieties about radical movements in early 20th-century America. The cartoon suggests newspapers manufacture panic through sensationalism rather than reporting facts.