The Wasp — 1879 — page 31: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon criticizes excessive alcohol consumption and its social consequences. The upper scene depicts a wealthy gentleman's social gathering where drinking is prominent—men in top hats gathered around what appears to be a bar or refreshment table. The lower scene shows the grim aftermath: impoverished figures in ragged clothes outside, seemingly victims of the "ruin of social life" referenced in the banner held by a skeletal Death figure. The contrast between the upper-class indulgence and lower-class destitution illustrates the cartoon's argument: that intemperance (alcoholism) among the wealthy cascades into poverty and suffering for society broadly. This reflects 1870s temperance movement concerns about alcohol's destructive social impact.