The Wasp — 1880 — page 194: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents three separate satirical pieces from contemporary comic sources: 1. **"On the Cares"** (top left): Shows well-dressed passengers on a streetcar with a man holding an inverted newspaper. The joke concerns a gentleman's embarrassment at his newspaper's position. 2. **"Herr Humpelmann and the Actor Tannenburg"** (right): A sequential comic strip from *Fliegende Blätter* depicting two men's reunion, with physical comedy involving embracing and apparent falling. The humor relies on slapstick and exaggerated reunion emotions. 3. **"Modern Antiquities"** (bottom left): Workers excavating a lake dwelling. The satire criticizes the absurdity of modern competitive entertainment requirements—mocking how people exhaust themselves maintaining elaborate leisure activities. All three mock contemporary social pretensions and behaviors through visual humor.