The Wasp — 1881 — page 249: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is primarily an **advertising page** from *The Wasp*, a San Francisco satirical publication. It contains commercial advertisements for various 19th-century businesses—furniture dealers, breweries, foundries, groceries, and other services typical of that era. The one notable illustrative element is an advertisement for **Niagara Starch** featuring a smiling man holding what appears to be starch boxes. This is straightforward product advertising rather than political satire. The page includes no identifiable political cartoons, caricatures of public figures, or satirical commentary. It represents the revenue-generating advertising content that filled satirical magazines of the period, allowing them to sustain publication through commercial support.