The Wasp — 1881 — page 22: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and entertainment listings** for San Francisco venues from around 1880, with minimal satirical content. The sole illustration is an advertisement for the "Royal St. John" sewing machine, featuring a detailed engraving of a woman in Victorian dress. The ad emphasizes the machine's unique ability to run "forward or backward without stopping or changing direction of work"—a technical innovation being marketed as superior to competitors. The page contains no political cartoons or recognizable caricatures of public figures. Instead, it showcases theater advertisements (Bush Street Theatre, Baldwin Theatre, Standard Theatre, Adelphi Theatre) promoting productions like *Cinderella* and *The World*, along with various business advertisements for insurance, breweries, and patent medicines typical of the era. This represents the magazine's commercial advertising content rather than its satirical editorial material.