The Wasp — 1893 — page 397: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is predominantly **advertising and business directory** for San Francisco establishments (attorneys, breweries, furniture makers, etc.), with minimal satirical content. The main cartoon, titled "THE UNEMPLOYED (Scene: Union Square)," depicts a ragged vagrant confronting a well-dressed gentleman. The dialogue satirizes indifference to poverty: the tramp asks the gentleman to read a sign about "keeping off the grass," while the gentleman dismisses the unemployed man's plight. This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century class tensions and public debates about poverty and vagrancy in American cities. A secondary sketch, "OUR STREETS, VIEW NO. 3," shows street scenes with minimal caption. The page's satirical punch concerns wealthy San Francisco's callous treatment of the economically desperate during what appears to be an economic downturn.