The Wasp — 1879 — page 788: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **satirical circus advertisements** rather than a political cartoon. It mocks the extravagant, increasingly absurd claims made by real circus promoters of the era (likely late 1800s). The satire works by escalating ridiculousness: "Twin Whales" for $500,000, trained hippopotami, acrobats earning $9,000 daily, an elephant "behemoth" at an "enormous salary of $1,000 a day," and a "Man of Iron Nerves" balancing an elephant on a pole. The final section ("A FREE PRESS") clarifies the satire's target: **newspaper editors who uncritically publish sensational advertising claims** without skepticism. The Wasp ridicules both the fabricated circus spectacles and the press's complicity in promoting them as news. This is meta-satire: mocking both showmanship fraud and journalistic gullibility.