The Wasp — 1893 — page 272: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1894-6 cartoon satirizes a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Education. The central figure, depicted as an ape-like caricature, sits surrounded by evidence of lowbrow entertainment and questionable influences: boxing equipment ("Grand Dog Fight," "Harbor View"), can-can dancing posters ("Free Can-Can at the Bucking Bacon"), police gazettes, boxing magazines, bottles, and boxing gloves. The satire suggests this candidate is unqualified for an educational position—his leisure activities and reading material reflect crude tastes rather than intellectual refinement. Books visible include "How I Licked Sullivan" and references to J.J. Corbett (famous boxer), implying he valorizes prizefighting over scholarship. The cartoonist mocks his fitness for "high office" by presenting him as consumed by entertainment rather than educational substance.