The Wasp — 1878 — page 268: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains satirical commentary and a "Literary Review" section rather than political cartoons. The small illustrations show a wasp with various objects and books stacked haphazardly. The text includes brief satirical quips on various topics: etymology wordplay ("cuspidore"), Mormon practices, left-handed people's inconveniences, potato bugs in wartime, and Edison's wife presenting him with a baby. There's mockery of pretentious literary figures and social customs. The "Literary Review" discusses a work called *Bronchitis*, critiquing its melodramatic plot about a widow named Sally Ann Maria and romantic entanglements. The review is clearly satirizing overwrought sentimental Victorian fiction—a common target of *The Wasp's* humor. Overall, this represents the magazine's general satirical approach: puncturing social pretensions, linguistic absurdities, and poor literature rather than focusing on specific political figures.