The Wasp — 1888 — page 425: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes someone overstepping their professional bounds. A woman (likely representing a school official or administrator, given the "Office of School Directors" sign) is being confronted by a well-dressed man pointing toward the kitchen. The caption "Shoemaker, stick to your last" is a classical proverb meaning people should stay within their area of expertise. The cartoon suggests that school directors are meddling in kitchen or domestic matters—areas outside their proper authority. The woman's exaggerated caricature (common in period satire) and the scattered papers/items on the floor emphasize incompetence or chaos resulting from this overreach. The satire criticizes administrative overreach into domains where school officials lack expertise or authority.