Puck — August 1, 1877 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Puck Magazine, August 1, 1877 The main cartoon, captioned "Wife—I Guess We've Got to Strike!", depicts a domestic interior scene. A man in work clothes stands centrally while a woman gestures emphatically from a doorway. Children appear on a bed in the background, and the room looks sparse and modest. This satirizes labor strikes of the 1870s, particularly the recent railroad strikes of 1877. The cartoon jokes that if workers must strike for better conditions, their wives and families will also "strike"—refuse to work or manage the household—because they suffer the economic consequences of lost wages. It's political commentary on how labor disputes impact families and domestic life, using the double meaning of "strike" (labor action versus domestic refusal) for satirical effect.