The Wasp — 1881 — page 199: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This appears to be a **text-only page** (page 154) containing three separate satirical pieces rather than visual cartoons: 1. **"A Literary Question"** - mocks a funeral director's pompous language and a city editor's pretentious writing style 2. **"The Old Man's Ghost"** - a humorous dialogue about spiritualism and séances, poking fun at gullible believers consulting mediums 3. **"Anatomical Erotics"** - brief anecdotes satirizing various Boston social types, including pretentious intellectuals and physicians The satire targets **1890s urban hypocrisy**: inflated rhetoric, spiritualist fraud, and affected sophistication among Boston's educated classes. Without visible illustrations, the humor relies entirely on witty dialogue and absurd situations. The page exemplifies Wasp magazine's literary mockery of contemporary society.