The Wasp — 1894 — page 536: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes San Francisco politics through a barber-shop scene. A barber asks a customer about getting a "hair cut," but the customer—identified as a "football player"—responds "No; I'm a football cut." The joke plays on the term "football cut," which appears to reference a political maneuver or betrayal (being "cut" from a team). The surrounding text discusses Paris Kilburn's potential nomination for Congress and political maneuvering within San Francisco's Republican party. The cartoon suggests that Kilburn, despite being an important political figure, would be abandoned by party leadership—"cut"—due to internal party conflicts and the need to appeal to different political factions. The barber-shop setting provides a familiar venue for political gossip and commentary.