The Wasp — 1889 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Quicksand Bottom" - The Wasp, July 6, 1889 This political cartoon depicts two figures on a beach: a gaunt, caricatured figure labeled "Prohibition" and a woman representing the "Republican Party." The prohibitionist urges the Republican to take a bold plunge into what appears to be quicksand, but the Republican declines, warning of "a treacherous bottom." The cartoon satirizes the tension between prohibition advocates and the Republican Party circa 1889. It suggests that while prohibitionists pressured Republicans to fully embrace alcohol prohibition, the party viewed the issue as politically dangerous—a "quicksand" that could trap them. The cartoon mocks prohibition as an extreme position that Republicans rightly feared would harm their electoral prospects.