The Wasp — 1880 — page 33: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical article by A. Damphule describes the absurd complications of conducting the 1880 U.S. Census in San Francisco. The cartoon illustration (top left) shows a census enumerator, likely depicted as bewildered or exasperated. The satire mocks the practical difficulties enumerators faced: the city's transient population, boarding houses with constantly changing residents, people reluctant to provide information, and language barriers. The text humorously recounts an enumerator's frustrating encounters with uncooperative San Francisco residents who gave contradictory answers, false names, or refused participation. The piece ridicules both the bureaucratic challenge of counting such a mobile, diverse urban population and the citizens' resistance to government intrusion—a common satirical target in 19th-century American humor.