Life — January 8, 1920 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 56 The main cartoon, credited to Otto Cushing, depicts classical and mythological figures. The caption references "Pluto's miners" refusing to supply coal to Mount Olympus, so "society forsakes it (tantene animis celestibus iras) for Mt. Aetna." This is a satirical commentary on a **coal miners' strike**. The gods of classical mythology represent wealthy society, while Pluto (god of the underworld/mining) symbolizes miners. The joke: when miners refuse to supply coal (fuel/power), the wealthy abandon their usual luxuries and turn to alternative sources. The page also contains an obituary ("R.I.P.") and humorous advice columns below. The satire criticizes both labor unrest and the dependent relationship between society's elite and working-class miners.