The Wasp — 1891 — page 373: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon series depicts six urban problems afflicting San Francisco, presented as a visual inventory of civic failures: 1. **Gold rushers and pumpkins** - references to get-rich-quick schemes and worthless ventures 2. **Dead animals** - sanitation failures littering streets 3. **Mud and slum conditions** - despite claims of street cleaning, filth persists 4. **Newspapers and handbills** - litter and advertising clutter 5. **"Deadly banana skin"** - hazards causing accidents (a period cliché for slipping dangers) 6. **Unidentified problem** - "a kind of thing which we have been unable to find out just exactly what it is" The final frame shows a confused official confronting chaos. The satire mocks municipal incompetence and disorder, suggesting San Francisco's boasted progress masks persistent urban neglect and unclear governance.