The Wasp — 1878 — page 184: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is the cover of *The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp* from March 23, 1878 (10 cents). The cartoon depicts a skeletal, emaciated figure labeled with various restraints: "LABOR," "CAPITAL," and what appears to be "TARIFF" or similar economic restrictions on its limbs and torso. A large hand labeled "LABOR" emerges from below, suggesting working-class pressure or struggle. The caption reads "IT'S TOO BAD," indicating satirical criticism of economic conditions affecting workers. The skeleton imagery suggests that labor has been drained or starved by these constraining forces—likely critiquing 1870s industrial exploitation, unfair tariffs, or conflict between capital and labor that characterized the post-Reconstruction era. The cartoon advocates for workers against the systems binding them.