The Wasp — 1887 — page 84: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes what appears to be a criminal or controversial figure currently jailed, with the caption "It is sing sing to-day, but San Quentin to-morrow." The joke contrasts two notorious prisons: Sing Sing in New York and San Quentin in California. Three men are depicted: one pointing from a window (likely a jailer or official), one being escorted away (the prisoner), and one observing. The cartoon suggests the subject will be transferred from one prison to another, or faces inevitable incarceration in California's notoriously harsh San Quentin. Without additional context about 1887 San Francisco events, the specific identity of the prisoner remains unclear, though the artwork's prominence suggests a figure of public interest.