The Wasp — December 25, 1879 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This page from *The Wasp* features "The Hammam of Haroun al Rashid at Bagdad"—a serialized story rather than a political cartoon. The text describes an exotic narrative about a Hammam (Turkish bath) and includes a dramatic account titled "History of My Lost Hand," wherein a character describes losing his hand to execution in Venice. The content appears to be orientalist fiction/entertainment rather than satire. It reflects late 19th-century American fascination with Middle Eastern and Islamic settings, popular in periodicals of the era. The elaborate prose and melodramatic narrative suggest this was serialized fiction designed to entertain readers with tales of exotic locales and dramatic misfortune—a common magazine feature of the period, not political commentary.