The Wasp — 1880 — page 42: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon sequence mocks a broke British immigrant's descent in San Francisco. Panel 1 shows a well-dressed Englishman arriving; panels 2-10 chronicle his progressive humiliation: staying at expensive hotels, riding horses, seeking employment, attempting "light employment," resorting to cheap lodgings, and eventually being unrecognizable to his social peers. The satire targets wealthy British emigrants who arrived with pretensions but lacked means to sustain their status. The Cockney-accented title ("blarsted") emphasizes the working-class British stereotype. The cartoon critiques both the immigrants' false gentility and San Francisco's class-conscious society that offers no middle ground—one either maintains expensive standards or becomes invisible.