The Wasp — 1879 — page 204: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This October 25, 1879 *Wasp* cartoon depicts a bearded man in a top hat operating a large cornucopia or horn-of-plenty device, spraying flowers and produce onto a miniature railroad below. The title "In Clover" (meaning prosperous or fortunate) suggests satire about railroad wealth and excess. The caricatured figure appears to be a railroad magnate or industrialist, though the OCR'd text doesn't identify him specifically. The imagery critiques how railroad barons accumulated enormous wealth during the Gilded Age, literally showering prosperity—or in this satirical view, artificial abundance—on their operations. The florid, abundant imagery contrasts sharply with the small train below, possibly mocking the disproportionate wealth concentration or suggesting the railroads' outsized influence on California's economy during this period.