The Wasp — 1881 — page 130: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the medical and pharmaceutical professions during San Francisco's February 1881. The illustration depicts skeletal Death (center) conducting a gambling game with three well-dressed men—representing doctors and druggists—around a table laden with money, bottles, and gaming implements. The "Soill Forwarding Co." sign visible through the window suggests ironic commentary on the transportation of bodies or corpses. The satire suggests these medical professionals were profiting from illness and death rather than genuinely healing patients. The skeleton conducting the game implies Death itself orchestrates their prosperity. This reflects 19th-century skepticism toward medical practitioners, whose treatments were often ineffective or harmful, and criticism of commercialized medicine prioritizing profit over patient welfare.