The Wasp — 1880 — page 122: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two nearly identical political cartoons labeled "A Sand-lot Democrat" and "A Sand-lot Greenbacker." Both depict the same scruffy, aggressive figure in a tall hat, pointing accusingly while standing on sand. The cartoons satirize two competing political movements of the 1870s-80s: the Democratic Party and the Greenback Party (which advocated paper currency). The "sand-lot" reference likely alludes to public gatherings or protests, suggesting these movements attracted working-class agitators. The caricature implies both groups employed similar inflammatory rhetoric and demagoguery, differentiating only in their economic platforms. The accompanying text discusses political corruption and San Francisco's instability, suggesting the cartoonist viewed both movements as equally dangerous to civic order.