Retreat mining required the rapid destruction of these pillars, each containing tons of valuable coal, before the mine collapsed. HOUSING, FARMS and UTILITIES Women's: Telephones, radios, cameras, kitchen ranges, home electric appliances, record players, music records, sewing machines, fabrics, clothes washers, laundry supplies, vacuum sweepers. The coal industry required more labor than southern West Virginia could supply. Also shows average family size in each state. Boys younger than 12 often worked beside their fathers underground because, in many communities, it was the only paying job available. Shows wages and prices in kronen, along with the exchange rate to translate into U.S. dollars. Issues of Telephone engineer & management detail rates for telephone service in many states. $180 - $5k. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. This mammoth work lists typical earnings as well as job descriptions and working conditions for thousands of occupations just before the Great Depression. A standard tune in miners lore began with lyric, Youve been docked and docked again, boys / Youve been loading two for one, and asked what the miner had to show for working so hard. 523. Shows average dollar amount spent annually in categories such as food, clothing, maintenance of health, personal goods, furniture and more. Dresses, dresses (in color), coats, bonnets and coats, hats, shoes, girl's toys. Prices are shown in German marks. After checking in, they climbed up a steep trail from the office to the portal of a mine. Occupations wages shown in 1930 US dollars. Boys learned the mining craft from their fathers and later passed this knowledge on to their own sons. Coal mining is a dangerous job requiring skill and judgment. During the 1910s and 1920s, minimum wage laws were adopted by a handful of states and generally applied only to women and children. Kitchen: Covers elementary, junior high, and high school teachers in American cities with populations of 2,500 or more. Ukrainian immigrant Nick Gurski began working in the Boone County coal mines in the 1920s. Aboveground, many miners suffered at the hands of the company men who short-weighed tonnage a man had loaded or docked his pay because slate was found mixed in with the coal. Source: BLS, Shows clothes prices paid by working class families in Great Britain. Source: Describes the labor policy of Australia in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Shows annual salaries for all school personnel in Texas without breakouts for occupation, years of training, years of experience, etc. Tools and hardware: Source: 1934 Statistical Abstract of the United States. Managements steam whistle now set the times. By 1910, more Italian immigrants lived in McDowell County than anywhere else in the state. for rural households in the U.S. and selected foreign countries. Between 12th and 14th Streets Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (July 1930), Shows the average wages of multiple occupation in the mining industry. Published 1921. Shows the hourly and weekly wages for 12 principal industries throughout Germany. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of various foodstuffs in 10 large German cities. Use "search in this text" feature to navigate (or contact us for assistance). Shows the average weekly and hourly wages of different occupations in the Missouri shoe industry between 1913-1922. Wages are shown in 1931 US dollars. Source: BLS, Shows the retail price of various foodstuffs and other items in Prague following Czechoslovakian independence. Source: Lists minimum and maximum daily wages for male and female workers. See data considerations for explanation. Shows prices for articles of clothing sold in 35 retailer shops in twelve cities. April 26, 1942. Source: BLS. "The sum of $4,000 will buy only a very modest home and even then it will have to be in one of the smaller citiesor in a remote suburb of a large city." Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of foodstuffs in Madrid and Barcelona. These were the underground attitudes Frank Keeney absorbed as he entered manhood as a coal miner. Shows the average weekly wages for a variety of occupations and industries in New Zealand. The need to correct these abuses led the UMWA to demand the employment of a check-weigh man whom the miners could trust. Source: Teachers' salaries and salary trends in 1923. Every workingman was supposed to have his turn when it came to getting an empty coal car, because each collier deserved an equal opportunity to get his load to the weigh station. Wages are shown in Dutch guilder. Boys discovered that serious men turned into jokers when they toiled underground. Describes the labor policy of New Zealand in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Besides know-how, the miners depended upon instinct and luck. It is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. Source: BLS Bulletins. The mine was run by the Japanese, who had occupied the area, along with the rest of the puppet state of Manchukuo, using prisoners of war or poorly-paid Chinese locals as their miners. Source: BLS. Shows salaries for sevenoccupations inpolice departments of 25American cities. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. In the words of the popular song Miners Lifeguard, written by a miner from Oak Hill, West Virginia: A miners life is like a sailors, Shows the average weekly wages of various occupations in 8 different industries in Budapest. Link navigates to a record containing multiple years worth of this publication. Prices are shown in Swiss francs. Careless miners always fail. Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson is back. Bedroom: Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginias population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. That the presidents persistent nostalgia for a yesteryear America had such visceral effect on rural voters only betrays the entrenched anxiety of a region where decline is a multi-generational way of life. House paints, paint brushes, doors & windows, wrench sets, home improvement tools, steel safes, fencing, garden tools, wrenches & other assorted tools, water pumps, plows, milk cans, gasoline-powered generators. His salary was paid entirely by coal companies. The strongest, most efficient men earned the most money at the end of the day. In West Virginia, where mineswere cut near the mountaintops, the overburden was looser and more prone to collapse than in the deeper shaft mines of the North. See the. From the Louisiana Department of Labor and Industrial Statistics Biennial Report for 1929-1930. Source: Quote: "I presume that a fee of $200 would be a pretty fair estimate of the surgeon's charge for operation and the after-treatment between the operation and the death of the patient." Source: BLS, Shows the cost of foodstuffs and other necessities in Greece. 162-207. Heed no operators tale! Source: BLS. After workers had advanced the mine face to the end of the seam, veterans began the dangerous work of removing the massive coal pillars that stood between the rooms and helped support the mine top. Describes the labor policy of Canada in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Phone (573) 882-0748. Before the 1920s most miners were independent contractors. . Prices are shown in either contemporary US dollars or Chinese coppers. By the 1940s, the United Mine Workers union had established better wages and somewhat safer conditions for miners, though a contentious relationship between workers and bosses persisted. View object record Miner's hat, about 1930 One task was to test for the build-up of flammable methane gas. Wages are shown in French francs. Even in a good week, there was unpaid work to perform: propping up newly opened rooms with wooden posts, laying track to his room, and lowering the floor of the main tunnel so loaded coal cars could pass through. Coal mine owners and superintendents rarely went underground. Includes a table showing. Shows weekly wages for male and female workers in common industries such as textile manufacture and mining, and also more uncommon like ice cream manufacture and hospitality services. Source: Howard University, States "the average student probably spends about $700 per year for a college education" and shows, This source shows the cost of funerals and burial in 18 states and in 10 major cities. When a miner and his helper approached the entry to their room, danger lurked in almost every move they made. Source: Chicago Commission on Race Relations report. Each table is for a different New Zealand city. Miners would lie on their backs and use a pick to undercut the coal. Lengthy article reports how much educators earned in Illinois' high schools in 1920-1921. After the top fell, they returned to break and load the fallen coal before another layer of the top came crashing down with a tremendous roar. Religious organizations -Salaries, 1929in. When young Frank Keeney walked through a mine portal in 1892, perhaps an older miner, maybe a neighbor, offered him some words of consolation or, at least, instruction as they traveled in and outof the mine on what was known as a man trip. Or he might have heard some words of warning from the older boys who led the mules and coal cars back and forth through the door he tended. Source: BLS. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, March 1932, The "Service Industries" chapter in this source breaks out wages paid to workers in hospitals, hotels, bowling alleys, theaters, parks, churches, country clubs, athletic clubs and yacht clubs, advertising agencies, banks, laundries, schools/colleges, and restaurants (making no distinction between waiters, cooks or bus boys). Veteran colliers knew competitive individualism bred greed, hostility, thievery, and a disregard for mine safety. A strong, skilled coal loader might fill five or more cars in a day. (Click image for detail), Marie Concannon, Government Information Librarian Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set vol. Source: BLS. Shows wages paid on American, Belgian, British, Danish, Dutch, French, Spanish and Swedish cargo ships, by occupations including seamen, engineers, first mates, second mates, radio operators, boatswains, firemen, coal passers, stewards, cooks, waiters, messmen, mess boys, carpenters, deck engineers, quartermasters, store keepers, donkey men, and more. Wages are shown in Czech krone. After the Civil War, industrialization meant a nearly limitless demand for anthracite and bituminous coal, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs . Miscellaneous: In 1907, West Virginia appointed John Nugent as superintendent of immigration. Study showed how much a family of five would need to live in Washington DC in 1920. Montgomery Ward catalog shows prices of radios and radio supplies on 60+ pages. Dollars. In 1974, the Environmental Protection Agency commissioned photojournalist Jack Corn to document the plight of the American coal miner in Appalachia. Wages are shown in 1930 US dollars. Shows average value for farm land and buildings from 1850-1982. But Appalachian coal production peaked in 1918. On one hand, the miners discipline and death-defying courage made them ideal industrial soldiers; on the other hand, the qualities the men forged in underground combat with the elementsbravery, fraternal fealty, and group solidarityhardened them for aboveground combat with their employers. Frank Keeney left no account of how he felt the day he entered the mine portal, but one imagines the dread that might have accompanied a ten-year-old boys first trip into the hole. NOTE: Forhouseholdincome data for 1929, we recommend a1934 Brookings Institution report titled America's Capacity to Consume. The miners called this unpaid labor company work.. Shows the average weekly hours and hourly wages for workers in the boot and shoe industry. Source: BLS, Shows the minimum hourly wages of various occupations in Brussels. Shows expenditures by category with prices per article and amounts needed annually for a family of five. This was the room and pillar method of mining common in the Appalachian bituminous coalfields. By 2003 that number had dipped to just 70,000. In West Virginias colliers, miners were paid 49 cents per ton of clean coal, compared with 76 cents in the unionized mines of Ohio. Lists annual pay for individuals occupying administrative and supervisory positions in the executive and judicial branches. In 1925, motor vehicles were scrapped at an average age of 6.5 years. along with the country of origin, value in that country, transportation charges, duty charges and retail price in the U.S. Includes a photo of most items. This risk increased enormously when inexperienced miners failed to undercut the coal before blasting and took the risk of shooting on the solid.. Figures expressed in both foreign currency and in dollars. Men's: Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. Instead of paying miners by the ton, they hired them as employees and paid an hourly wage. Shows data for Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroitand otheradditional cities on pages5-9. Salt operators eventually hired more white or free-black laborers due to the risk of investing money in bondsmen, who frequently were killed or injured in the mines. The regions first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. Copy. Source: Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Vienna. Shows the average weekly wages of NY factory workers every month over a 14 year period. Shows salaries at the state, county and city levels. More passenger air fares from other sources: Household items: Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. One threat the animals and birds could detect was the odor of gas that oozed from the ancient vegetation compacted over the ages. Broken out by men's and women's jobs. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. The study pays particular attention to women who made less than the average wage. Source: Table shows 52 years of time-series prices on individual foods, such as. Source: BLS. The legislature rejected all proposals for reform, however. how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s. See "Blood donation" in. Shows the average daily wages paid to masons, electricians, bricklayers, bakers, blacksmiths and more. At the far end of the room, the miner lay down on his side and cut under the bottom of the coal face with his pick, inching his way into the cut and hoping the coal was hard enough not to collapse on him. Source: BLS. 45-57. Inside workers are further classified as (1) miners and laborers who cut and load coal onto conveyors or into mine cars, and (2) all other employees whose occupations relate to transportation, timbering, pumping, ventilation, and other general underground work. Some New York City teacher and principal salaries are shown on the following page in Table 42. Photographer + writer. Mr. Source: This table provides average yearly wages per industry or trade type, including transportation, education and agriculture, among others. Shows data on the number of nursing school graduates from 1880 to 1929 as well as salary information. All of these mines included a main entry, or portal, and a second tunnel, or monkey drift, which provided workers with ventilationa barely adequate suction through a surface grate created by a coal fire that burned all day. Tables are broken down by occupation, sex, and state. Average earnings by occupation and districts. Source: This calculator can be used to determine the historical purchasing power of currency in the United Kingdom from 1270 to 2017. Smoke from explosions of black powder,the reek of oil lamps, and the pervading coal dust made breathable air something of an obsession with the miner, one miner recalled. Tells cost of public transportation and railway fares as well. Source: Discusses average prices American families were paying for medical care and hospital trips. Source: Bulletin #269 of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, "Farm Family Living Among White Owner and Tenant Operators in Wake County," pages 24-28. Safety sign in eight languages, about 1910. Source: BLS. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of foodstuffs and other necessities throughout different areas of Denmark such as Copenhagen. A Latvian immigrant and devout member of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Old Believers, Michael Simon wore this cross as he labored in Pennsylvania coal mines. Wages are shown in Finnish marks. Taken from the 1921 U.S. Department of Agriculture Yearbook, starting on page 804. Shows the weekly earnings for 9 occupations in Amsterdam, Haarlem, the Hague, and Rotterdam. Source: Source: BLS Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1931 edition. over the years. 484. Source: Lists results of 22 studies that show the % of family budget spent in various categories (rent, food, health, etc.). See also "C" tab above for carpenters, cement workers, etc. 59-71. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Table shows average cost to rent houses by the number of rooms in each of 25 New Zealand cities and towns. But you get a certain amount of desperation, where youre willing to believe stuff even though you know in your gut its not true.. Shows average charge per case for appendicitis, childbirth, heart troubles, cancer, dental problems and more. Recognizable name brand items in the price lists include Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Quaker Oats, Cream of Wheat, Hershey's Cocoa, Aunt Jemima Pancake Flour, Mazola Oil, Wesson Oil, Coleman's Mustard, Post Toasties, Morton's Salt, Knox Gelatin, Sun Maid Raisins, Palmolive soap, Log Cabin syrup, Del Monte canned goods, Heinz ketchup, Gold Medal flour, Carnation Milk, Life Savers candy, Bon Ami scouring powder, Lucky Strike cigarettes, Camel cigarettes, Scott Tissue toilet paper, and many other brand name items. The following is from James Greens The Devil is Here in These Hills. Source: Lists costs of running a farm, including costs of power, labor, insurance, interest on loans, etc. West Virginias drift mines were cut into the mountains horizontally and its slope mines descended gradually into the earth. Shows firemen salaries for 25 American cities including New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City and more. He later recalled his terror at being lost in a maze of underground rooms when his lamp went out. Regardless of what their state government might or might not do to protect them, the miners of West Virginia had to rely on themselves and their buddies, rather than on company fire bosses and state mine inspectors, whose numbers were few and whose visits were infrequent. Wages on pages34-40. Scroll forward and back to see the various cities for which average food prices are available. For best detail, see the full chapters on. Wages are shown in Greek drachmas. Boys labored inside, sorting coal by size and removing rock. Compensationby job titlefor New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco and more cities. 407. Iowa farm houses averaged around 8 rooms and had an average value of $3,043. Source: BLS, Shows wages of various industrial and agricultural gender, in both Romanian leu and contemporary U.S. dollars. 8836. Processing plants called breaker buildings were symbols of pride for mine communities. Prices are shown in Latvian rubles. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages of day laborers, farm hands, clerks, bookkeepers, government employees, and army members in Lithuania. Wages are shown in shillings. Most of their houses had images of union president John L. Lewis, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Jesus. Source: Shows the daily or monthly wages of 13 occupations in the treaty port. Sometimes they hired guards or brought in government troops to maintain order and control strikers. The 1920 Montgomery Ward mail order catalog showed the price of. Source: Very simple table shows average hours and earnings for all production workers in manufacturing for each year from 1919-1960. The lack of market for coal during the depression had stepped in to push aside both miners and operators as principals in collective bargaining. Boy's: Shows the standard wages for different shift at ports in Antwerp, Belgium. Published by the National Industrial Conference Board. Source: BLS. Table 25 shows additional breakouts for skilled and white collar workers by region (. A strong, skilled coal loader might fill five or more cars in a day. From. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages for various occupations in 6 different industries in Japan. Covers the states of NH, VT, MA, CT, KY, SC, AL, MO, KS, IA and OH. 2012-08-05 00:38:00. Wages are shown in Mexican pesos. Typewriters, school supplies, office supplies, fountain pens, more fountain pens, books, drawing sets, home office furniture. Typical compensation for directors, camera men, editors and more in, Shows typical earnings for reporters, feature writers, sports editors and others, in. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages of workers in the glass factories of northern France. Indicates prices per kilowatt-hour by areas and cities. Shows the average daily wages Greek workers were receiving in metal mines, lignite mines, smelting and refining plants, and quarries. Tomorrow night at 9pm PBSs American Experience will broadcast The Mine Wars, based on the book. Table 26 shows wages for laborers with board for every year from 1780-1937; the, In the 1920s, people could sell their blood to hospitals for$35-50 perquart. This website does a good job of organizing a complex topic. Source: BLS Bulletin no. Wages are shown in Belgian francs. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (June 1931), Shows the average hours and daily wages of various workers in quarries, sawmills, and many other industries throughout Virginia. Tax covers both land and buildings. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. The miners dressed in overalls, or bank clothes, for working the coal banks and wore cloth caps fitted with small oil lamps that lit their way in the tunnels. But the chorus of foreign languages confirmed managements fears that companies were slipping out of control. A good blast could bring down a ton or more of coal from the fractured face. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin, no. Source: BLS, Shows the annual earnings of manual and nonmanual workers in Sweden. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, July 1930. As the men removed one pillar after another, the wooden posts used to support the mine top would be strained as the roof started getting heavy. The wood would then creak and groan and then splinter as the miners heard the roof working above their heads and planned their retreat accordingly. Wages are shown in Italian lire. Shows breakouts for automobile manufacture, cigar making, boots/shoe making, men's clothing, iron/steel and more. Source: BLS. This booklet shows prices for hotels and amenities such astelephone, restaurant meals,haircuts, bath house, etc. Source: Median wages for butlers, chauffeurs, gardeners, furnace men and "house men" employed to work in private households in Philadelphia in the late 1920s. It provided a $1.20-a- day wage increase effective Jan, and an increase of 80 cents a day beginning April 1, 1959. Source: Shows the average hourly wages for various occupation both in and outside of Paris. Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission report. There is also a table showing, Shows the value of multiple currencies in US dollars in the years of. Pianos, violins, guitars & banjos, accordions, other musical instruments. Retreat mining was a risky business, but at least the miners engineered these cave-ins. Shows wages for common and semi-skilled workers in manufacturing and construction industries, in baking, agriculture, metal and printing trades. Self-respecting craftsmen were even known to stop working when a foreman came by to inspect their room. Data is broken out byoccupation, sex and district. Source: U.S. Dept. The carpenters, mechanics, mule skinners, and other mine employees, who enjoyed no such latitude, were known by pit-face miners as company men. By contrast, the pit-face miners saw themselves as autonomous workmen who labored for themselves as well as for the company. Source: AAUP report, p. 162. The deal, brokered by. Shows the average retail prices of staple foodstuffs in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 1920, Home plans and costs to build in California, 1920, Retail prices of building materials by city, 1922, Building material prices paid by farmers, 1923-1924, Cost to construct houses, by type of material - 1921, Building material prices paid by farmers, 1910-1960, Farm real estate - Average value by state and county, 1920, Price of farm land by county in selected states, 1912-1924, New England farms and land - Average value by county, 1920-1930, Farm real estate values in Midwestern states, 1912-2019, Land in Missouri - Cost to rent or buy by county, 1922, Rents in working class neighborhoods in Cincinnati, 1920, Household heating fuel costs and expenditures by city, 1927, Electricity - Average monthly bill, 1924-1950, Household electricity costs and expenditures by city, 1927, Changes in retail prices of electricity, 1923-38, Car prices with illustrations, 1900-1920s, Gasoline prices andtaxes, and annual consumption per vehicle, 1920-1939, Horse-drawn carriages, buggies and accessories, 1920, Horse and mule prices by state, 1919-1920, City transit fares in NY, PA, OH and MA - 1927, Streetcar, omnibus and subway rates, 1926, Passenger train fare in the U.S., 1871-1933, RR ticket prices between NYC and Chicago, 1910-1944, accessories (diapers, baby bottles, etc. Discussion covers the history of minimum wage legislation in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, France, Norway, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Uruguay, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Rumania (Romania) up to 1928. A paid subscription is required for full access. It also summarizes the years from 1907-1922. Source: Shows lawyers' incomes instates and regions, by size of community served, by the age of the lawyer, number of years in practice, etc. Source: Cost of living and family expenditures in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. Engineers working for Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Co. used this model to visualize the coal seams and design their mines. Source: BLS, Shows prices of dozens of food and grocery items, soap, coal, wood by the cord, matches by the box and, Shows the amount spent by a typical Canadian family on food, laundry, fuel/lighting, and rent over time.
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