Puck — January 29, 1879 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Puck Magazine, January 29, 1879 **Main Cartoon: "Reduce His Wages"** This satirical cartoon depicts a laborer being crushed or beaten down by machinery and industrial equipment. The image critiques the brutal treatment of workers during the industrial era—specifically, the practice of wage reduction as employers' response to labor disputes or economic conditions. The caption "Reduce His Wages" sarcastically comments on how factory owners and industrial capitalists would cut workers' pay rather than improve dangerous working conditions or acknowledge labor's hardships. The visual metaphor of the worker trapped beneath heavy machinery emphasizes the powerlessness of laborers against institutional exploitation. This reflects the broader 1870s labor movement tensions in America, when workers faced systematic wage cuts, unsafe conditions, and violent suppression of strikes.