The Wasp — 1881 — page 318: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1876 cartoon by Keller depicts a classical female figure (likely representing San Francisco or California) holding a document labeled "The New City Hall" with construction costs. She sits amid ruins and debris, including a broken wheelbarrow, suggesting corruption or mismanagement of public funds. The crumbling, ivy-covered building behind her appears to represent the actual City Hall—shown in a state of disrepair despite expenditures. The satire criticizes the San Francisco municipal government for wasteful spending on City Hall construction while the building deteriorates or fails to materialize properly. The classical allegorical figure emphasizes the contrast between civic ideals and corrupt reality—a common rhetorical device in Gilded Age political satire attacking urban graft and incompetence.