The Wasp — 1887 — page 408: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This December 1887 *Wasp* cartoon satirizes what appears to be a public display or auction of someone's possessions—likely related to financial ruin or bankruptcy. The central figure is an elderly man with elaborate curled hair and period clothing, displayed prominently like an exhibit or commodity. A crowd of onlookers observes below, with a wine bottle visible in the foreground, suggesting excess or dissolution. The title "A Sorrowful Public Exhibition" indicates the cartoon mocks the public humiliation of financial failure. The theatrical staging—the figure posed on a pedestal with draped fabric—exaggerates the spectacle of someone's downfall. This appears to reference a specific San Francisco financial scandal or prominent individual's ruin, though the exact target remains unclear without additional historical context.