The Wasp — 1879 — page 164: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes a delivery service's absurd advertising practices. The image shows an enormous cow serving as a delivery vehicle, with a man reading newspapers while riding on top—illustrating the ridiculous scale and impracticality of the operation. The accompanying text discusses how the company accepts advertisements for anything, including "mask balls" and "wristlets," placing them in newspapers despite their irrelevance. The satire mocks overly aggressive advertising that clutters publications with useless notices. The dialogue suggests the service will advertise literally anything submitted, no matter how absurd, reflecting late 19th/early 20th-century frustration with unregulated newspaper advertising becoming increasingly invasive and nonsensical.