Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Case Study

A picture is worth a thousand words. Newspapers, magazines, billboards and the likes use imagery to quickly get across an idea to the viewer. Generally this is done to persuade the audience to feel a certain way about a product or major event. Pictures, ads, and or cartoons are some of the biggest and easiest ways used to spread information visually without the public needing to take the time to read an article. Most of the time this artwork favors one side of the parties involved and tries to gain it public support. This was exactly the case for artists covering the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. While newspapers reported hard facts, many cartoonists aimed to shed light on who was blame for the fire. It was clear the artists were behind the workers and created many graphic images to rally public support as well. Cartoon editorials helped expose the unsafe conditions for workers and used this as an opportunity to inform the public.
One such example is the cartoon “One of a Hundred Murdered” which depicts the deadly side of factory work. …show more content…
“Operators Wanted” means exactly what it says, but it is the fact that it is posted up right next the dead body. It could be possible that the sign was always posted since death was so frequent. If not, it could also be possible that it was posted at the same time the girl’s body was tossed outside. If that is the case, it proves again how little the owners cared that their workers were dying. “Inquire Ninth Floor” is arguably the best piece of print text. After the reports on the fire, it was known that the ninth floor was one of the most deadly floors to be on. In this work, the owner is telling any future workers to come up to that floor and get a job. Essentially saying to get the death job, come to the death floor. This also shows how desperate people were for jobs that they continued to work in the factories even after knowing how dangerous the conditions