The Wasp — 1879 — page 403: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **text and advertisements** rather than political cartoons. The main content includes theater reviews (discussing actors Lester Wallack and "Mcdam Whitcomb" at various San Francisco venues), notices about Woodward's Gardens zoo, and a temperance meeting anecdote mocking a "foreigner" who misunderstands English idioms about "impudence." The page emphasizes *The Wasp's* satirical mission: printing unsolicited business advertisements without compensation to mock commercial culture. The magazine positions itself as uninterested in "polite" business notices. Bottom advertisements feature **OLD JUDGE** tobacco repeated three times with different slogans—typical period advertising. The humor targets **theater pretension**, **commercial absurdity**, and **language/cultural confusion** rather than specific political figures.