The Wasp — 1892 — page 447: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon depicts Dr. C.C. O'Donnell, a medical practitioner specializing in "Female Ailments." The caricatured figure—shown as a clown wearing a pointed hat—is presented as a charlatan whose office advertises dubious or dangerous "cures": hanging "rascals," burning "Chinatown," and an unexplained plea to "hold me." The satire mocks O'Donnell as a quack doctor exploiting vulnerable women patients through fraudulent medical claims. The "salt" he carries, combined with the threatening/inflammatory statements on his building, suggests he peddles worthless or harmful remedies. The title "A Clown at His Old Tricks" emphasizes his established reputation for deception. This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century American distrust of unregulated medical practitioners and medical fraudsters preying on women's health concerns.