The Wasp — 1877 — page 339: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical piece from *The Wasp* depicts an unnamed man who is "a Man whom every Editor knows"—a persistent social nuisance who visits newspaper offices. The article humorously catalogs his annoying habits: arriving unannounced, monopolizing editors' time with tedious conversation, sitting in editorial chairs, and discussing irrelevant topics like Charles Dickens and spiritualism. The target appears to be a specific recurring character in San Francisco's journalism scene—someone well-known enough that readers would recognize him. The satire mocks both the "bore" himself (his obliviousness, verbosity, and social cluelessness) and implicitly critiques editors for tolerating such interruptions during business hours. The illustration shows this figure as a somewhat disheveled, ungainly character, emphasizing his lack of self-awareness.