The Wasp — 1879 — page 794: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising content** from *The Illustrated Wasp* magazine (page 813). The main visual element is a large engraving of **Neptune's Mermaid Swimming Baths**, a San Francisco leisure establishment featuring a pier with bathing facilities and swimmers. The advertisement emphasizes safety improvements, elevated platforms, and amenities for "gentlemen" and a "Ladies' Parlor." The page also contains advertisements for: - Japanese belle stockings - Berteling & Watry spectacles - Medical services (corns, bunions) - Anheuser Beer at Arion Hall - Pianos - J.M. Brunswick & Balke billiard tables Interspersed are brief humorous anecdotes about church blessings, hen-sitting, and Australian labor movements—typical satirical filler content for the era. The page reflects late 19th-century San Francisco commercial interests and leisure culture.