Life — February 1, 1917 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "King Coal" - Life Magazine Satire This page satirizes the coal industry and labor exploitation during the industrial era. "King Coal" personifies coal as a despotic ruler whose wealth comes from enslaving workers ("billion free-born slaves"). The poem by W.W. Quinton describes his minions as "slave like the imps of Hell" laboring in mines for minimal wages. The illustration shows well-dressed women dancing while a small figure (possibly representing labor or the working class) is forced to play fiddle. The caption "'Age cannot wither nor custom stale / Her infinite variety'" suggests the exploitation is systemic and enduring. This critiques how wealthy industrialists profit from brutal working conditions while the upper class enjoys the fruits of that labor, indifferent to human suffering below.