The Wasp — 1890 — page 451: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes the U.S. Census, depicting it as a solution to inflated claims about population in major cities. The figure on the left appears to be Uncle Sam or a Census official (marked "WASP"), struggling with inflatable bladders labeled with city names: New York, Chicago, and Boston. Each balloon bears inflated population figures. The man on the right holds a document listing census data. The satire suggests that cities were exaggerating their populations for prestige or political advantage, and that the official Census would "deflate" these false claims. The "pressure of gas" is a pun—both literal (the balloons) and figurative (inflated boasting). This cartoon likely references late-19th or early-20th-century Census debates when city rivalry and population fraud were genuine concerns.