"Love's labor's lost" published in Puck Magazine, 1884 (colour chromolithograph)

Illustration shows heavily tattooed James G. Blaine sitting on a stool while Whitelaw Reid, using a brush labeled "Tribune Excuses" and a "Explanation Pumice Stone", and William W. Phelps, using "Vindication Sand Paper", attempt to remove the tattoos of scandals associated with Blaine. On the floor around them are other cleaners labeled "W. Walter Phelps Sophistry Acid, Borax False Arguments, [a bucket of] Tribune Cleaning Fluid, Edmundsine, [and a bottle of] Tribune Editorials"; hanging on the wall behind them is a portrait of Joseph W. Keifer labeled "W. Phelps Previous Attempt at Cleaning". In the background on the left, beyond an American flag curtain, is a group of figures, among them is William M. Evarts and John Logan.