The Wasp — 1896 — page 443: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes overcrowding at a San Francisco streetcar during what appears to be a major commercial event—an "Emporium opening" (likely the famous Emporium department store). The illustration shows a comically packed cable car labeled "TURK & EDDY" with a fashionably-dressed woman perched precariously on top, while crowds of pedestrians (including cyclists) surround it below. The accompanying verse jokes that despite the car being "built for forty, but carrying four score," there's "always room for just one more"—mocking the impossibility of fitting additional passengers. The satire targets both the inadequate transit infrastructure and the public's compulsion to attend popular commercial openings, creating dangerous congestion.