Biography:

Considered the more obscure, west-coast equivalent to Puck magazine, the San Francisco Illustrated Wasp also offered richly detailed political cartoons and caricatures for California readers. The Wasp was distinctive for its full-page folio-sized illustrations and large centerfolds, which were very costly to produce. As a result of these high-printing costs, the magazine was often financially unstable and ownership changed regularly. It was founded in 1876 by Francis Korbel, a successful bohemian cigar maker and lithographer. The Wasp’s original success was largely due to Korbel’s lithographer George Frederick Keller. Keller was one of Korbel’s cigar box lithographers who had previous experience working on the “virulently anti-Catholic” humor magazine, The Jolly Giant. Keller’s richly detailed oversized illustrations helped The Wasp become California’s premiere satire and humor magazine.  Ambrose Bierce served as editor of from 1881 to 1885.  It eventually ceased publication on April 25, 1941.