During the early 1900s, roof falls in the bituminous coal mines killed an average of 886 workers every year, as compared with the 274 deaths per year caused by explosions and fires. Compares wage rates and hours of work for the WWI and WWII eras, focusing specifically on the manufacturing, mining, railroad, printing and maritime industries, as well as farm labor wages. Mine foremen attempted various forms of industrial discipline to maximize productivity, but in the early 1900s, coal miners experienced little of the supervision foremen and factory managers imposed on workers; in fact, veteran colliers often became surly when a mine foreman came by their place on his little scooter to check on them. Hourly employees were bound to the ten-hour day, but the coal loaders, or tonnage men, often worked fewer hours and sometimes exercised the right to leave the mine without permission. A paid subscription is required for full access. Each table is for a different New Zealand city. (Jack Corn/EPA) A ppalachian coal production has been on shaky ground almost since the industry's inception in the mid 19th century. The strike was officially called to a halt on March the 3rd 1985. At suppertime, youngsters like Frank would sit with the men on a pile of slate and listen as veterans of the mine would sing songs, spin yarns, and tell jokes; they would rib the boys, trick them for laughs, and tell them tall tales of the devilish apparitions that appeared to them down in the hole. Shows the weekly earnings for 9 occupations in Amsterdam, Haarlem, the Hague, and Rotterdam. Shows the hourly, daily, and biannual earnings of different occupations in the Missouri coal industry between 1890-1922. Tells cost of public transportation and railway fares as well. Then the men and boys would gather their tools and trudge down the mountainside to their little cabins to wash off the coal dust that smudged their faces, necks, arms, and hands, and to sit down for an evening meal. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. Includes a table showing. Coal companies also recruited in Europe. From the Newcomb-Endicott store, Detroit, Michigan. Describes the labor policy of South Africa in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Wages are shown in 1930 US dollars. The coal industry required more labor than southern West Virginia could supply. 1974, Early Coal Miner's Wages and Striking | Marion Illinois History Covers more than 1,200 cities. How Thatcher broke the miners' strike but at what cost? Wages are shown in both Francs and contemporary US dollars. 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. Dollars. Details the price of various building materials on pp. Compares average retail prices for grocery items in independent stores and in chain stores. Took into account additional sources of income for farm families, such as income derived from animals or investments. Coal Mine Worker Hourly Pay | PayScale Source: Monthly price list for Ralph's Grocery Company, which sold only in the Los Angeles area. Dresses, dresses (in color), coats, bonnets and coats, hats, shoes, girl's toys. To view an issue of interest, select it from the list and click View. In 1927, "$30 per month was taken as the average minimum expenditure for rent in Boston for the [working class] family of four living on the American standard.". Fascinating book that shows various imported items (such as kid gloves, bloomers, silk nightgown, men's pipe, electric flatiron, glass lamp, etc.) Workers focused on the pace of work, safety, and wages. for rural households in the U.S. and selected foreign countries. When a miner and his helper approached the entry to their room, danger lurked in almost every move they made. 1920, Wages by occupation - Manchuria, 1920-1921, Daily and monthly wage earnings - Soviet Union, 1926-1927, Average yearly wages in the Soviet Union, 1929-1932, salaries paid school teachers throughout Russia, seldom exceed 12 rubles per month in late 1923, Agricultural wages - Switzerland in 1914, 1921, 1930, Earnings and prices - Switzerland, 1920-1921, Wages in Great Britain, France and Germany (with addendum for Switzerland), Minimum wage legislation in various countries, Comparative wage rates in the U.S. and in foreign countries, 1927, Wages paid on steamships by country and occupation, 1922, wages paid to Chinese and Lascar (Indian or southeast Asian) employees, Farm family incomes in Wake County, North Carolina - 1926, Foods - Average retail prices over time, 1923-36, Foods - Average retail prices across 39 cities, 1920-1928, corn meal, rice, potatoes, granulated sugar, coffee and tea, onions, navy beans, prunes, raisins, canned salmon, evaporated milk, margarine, lard, oats, corn flakes, wheat cereal, macaroni, canned baked beans, canned corn, canned peas, canned tomatoes, bananas, oranges, Food price averages for each year from 1890-1970, Cigarette, cigar and rolling papers - Los Angeles, 1921, Farm houses in Iowa - Value and size, 1923, Sears homes with costs to build, 1908-1939, Cost of materials to build a Sears home, ca. 59-71. Dining room: Shows average wages (with and without board) by province. The deep imagery of coal mining in the 1970s shows a lifestyle - Medium Source: BLS Source: BLS, See fairly comprehensive coverage of this topic in Appendix 23, "Charges for various kinds of medical services" in, Fee schedules established by the Ohio State Medical Association for. U.S. coal mining employment change by state Q4 2011-Q4 2016 ; Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages of manual work occupations in Barcelona, Spain. Source: Women's Bureau Bulletin #85. It provided a $1.20-a- day wage increase effective Jan, and an increase of 80 cents a day beginning April 1, 1959. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. Veteran colliers knew competitive individualism bred greed, hostility, thievery, and a disregard for mine safety. Source: BLS, Shows the average wages of Spanish agricultural workers in different cities. how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s. Includes both land and buildings. This answer is: Study guides. This calculator allows you to compare the buying power of wages earned at different points in history. Watch the rocks, theyre falling daily, Coal mining wages - Illinois, 1920. Shows the average daily wages of Japanese and Chinese workers in various occupations for the South Manchuria Railway Co. Wages are shown in both contemporary yen and US dollars. Managers concentrated on business decisions, such as arranging transportation and selling their product. Source: BLS. Report published in 1921 tells wages for women working in offices, in meat and poultry packing, restaurants, food manufacturing, clothing manufacturing, laundries, and more. Shows average value of mortgaged homes, average debt remaining on the mortgages and average interest paid on mortgages annually, for 68 cities of 100,000 or more population. Wages are shown in both Chervonetz roubles and contemporary U.S. dollars. Shows breakouts for automobile manufacture, cigar making, boots/shoe making, men's clothing, iron/steel and more. Mr. From, Average monthly wages by state,with and without board. There was little prospect then that coal would be in demand as it is today or that the daily wage of miners would be multiplied 8 to 10 times by 1974. There is also a table showing, Shows the value of multiple currencies in US dollars in the years of. Includes wage data for Chicago as well. Details the price of clothing for men, women, boys and girls on pp. Boy's: Wages are shown in both German marks and contemporary U.S. dollars. Conversely, a dollar earned in 1928 had the same buying power as abut $15 in the year 2020. In West Virginia's colliers, miners were paid 49 cents per ton of clean coal, compared with 76 cents in the unionized mines of Ohio. Shows the average weekly hours and hourly wages for workers in the boot and shoe industry. Shows the average weekly and hourly wages of different occupations in the Missouri shoe industry between 1913-1922. Shows the average daily wages paid to masons, electricians, bricklayers, bakers, blacksmiths and more. During the Great Depression output was nearly halved from 680 million tons to 360 million. Government Documents Department, Ellis Library Wages are shown in Sweden kronor. This Farmers' Bulletin, Cost of Using Horses on Corn-Belt Farms, goes into great detail about the costs of keeping work horses, including a. Occupations included are limited before 1916. Source: BLS. 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. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. For example, a dollar earned in 2020 had the same buying power as 7 in 1928. Red Ash mine was also the location of a disaster in 1900, which killed forty-six miners. Shows the daily wages of Chilean miners between 1911 and 1924 in both pesos and the U.S. dollar. 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: Lists prices of typical food items, housing expenses, clothing, fuel, light and more. After undercutting the face, the collier turned the crank on a five-and-a-half-foot-long breast auger and pushed with all his weight to bore a hole high on the face. Prices are shown in German marks. Shows the income of each member of a Zurich household and the amount that household spent on various necessities like food, clothing, rent, etc. Earnings and prices are shown in Swiss francs. After the Civil War, industrialization meant a nearly limitless demand for anthracite and bituminous coal, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs . This earlier catastrophe outraged Mother Jones, who spoke of it often on her organizing campaign that year, and it had triggered public pressure to improve the states mine safety laws. Source: Teachers' salaries and salary trends in 1923. Read more Employment in coal mining industry in the United Kingdom (UK) 1920-2021 . As a rule he is paid so much per car, and a definite number of cars constitute a day's workthe number varying in different minesaveraging from five to seven, equaling from twelve to fifteen tons of coal. A strong, skilled coal loader might fill five or more cars in a day. 285, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Source: BLS. Constitution Avenue, NW Wages are expressed in both foreign currency and dollars. Miners spent their entire shift underground, taking lunch, drinks, and snacks with them. His salary was paid entirely by coal companies. Coal industry labor strikes were common from the turn of the century up through the 1930s, as were catastrophic workplace injuries and the prevalence of black lung disease. Prices are shown in Japanese yen. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Jump directly to prices for: meats and eggs, butter, cheese, milk, bread and flour, corn meal, rice, potatoes, granulated sugar, coffee and tea, onions, navy beans, prunes, raisins, canned salmon, evaporated milk, margarine, lard, oats, corn flakes, wheat cereal, macaroni, canned baked beans, canned corn, canned peas, canned tomatoes, bananas, oranges, and more. The union was very important to miners. As former miner Gary Bentley of Kentucky remarked in a recent New York Times article, Its not going to make a comeback. NOTE: Forhouseholdincome data for 1929, we recommend a1934 Brookings Institution report titled America's Capacity to Consume. Shows the standard wages for different shift at ports in Antwerp, Belgium. Wages are shown in Brazilian milreis. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. HOUSING, FARMS and UTILITIES Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Shows the average weekly wages for a variety of occupations and industries in New Zealand. Discusses doctor and hospital fees as well as related expenses such as home nursing care. Shows average value per acre for all real estate with buildings, and the value of land alone, by county, for six states: MA, CT, RI , ME, VT and NH. Police department personnel salaries and wages. It is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. Shows the average weekly earnings by industry and occupation. Wages are shown in German marks. Miscellaneous: Prices are shown in Latvian rubles. HEALTH CARE Firedamp, described as the monster most dreaded by the practical miner, could explode if ignited by sparks or powder blasts, which would send fires raging through mine shafts with hurricane force. Others opened large wooden doors just before speeding cars passed through. Lists wages paid to auto mechanics, office workers, window cleaners, barbers and hairdressers, bartenders in saloons, domestic servants, people working in social agencies, and more. Wages for workers engaged in the manufacture of iron and steel goods, machinery, railway rolling stock, boilers, vehicles, aircraft, electrical apparatus, scientific instruments and more. He also learned not to scare the miners beloved pigeons or to be afraid of mine rats, because these creatures could sense danger coming before it struck. Bonus. Wages of certain women in the District of Columbia. ), carriages, cribs, high chairs, etc. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Each table spans 2 book pages, and row labels only show on even-numbered pages. Taken from Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. Provides foreign wage data in native currency alongside the U.S. dollar equivalent to assist in comparing the rates. Many of the reports can be found in. Wages are shown in Danish ore. Published 1921. Some New York City teacher and principal salaries are shown on the following page in Table 42. Paragraph below the table describes the weekly earnings of blast furnace workers, smelters, rolling mill operators, and foundry workers in both Pounds Sterling and U.S. Beds and mattresses, bedroom furniture, pillows, bedding. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages of masons, carpenters, stonecutters, painters, shoemakers, and tailors in each of the provincial capitals of Spain. 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. Includes the states of RI, NJ, OH, DE, OK, MO, GA, TN, AR, KY, SC, AL and MS. Source: page 13 in. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. Time became important to managers as they changed their labor model. Shows wage rates for engineers, conductors, passenger baggage men, coal passers, firemen, switch tenders, hostlers, signalmen, station agents, telegraphers, machinists, car cleaners, and more. Salary data for teachers, principals and school administrators in New York City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City. by STATE Musical instruments: Issues of Telephone engineer & management detail rates for telephone service in many states. Source: Historical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase. Management's steam whistle now set the times. $180 - $5k. "A good hotel room costs only $4-5 per day while a hospital charges $6 and $7." 412. Shows annual salaries for all school personnel in Texas without breakouts for occupation, years of training, years of experience, etc. Boys frequently were assigned the most-dangerous jobs. Tables are broken down by type of job, gender of employee, and geography. Every workday a panel of miners, ranging from fourteen to twenty-eight men, passed through a main entry and then turneddown a side entry. Workers, Kohinoor mine, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, 1884, Managers, Kohinoor mine, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, 1884. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. In some cases, when word came around that a miner had been scolded or punished by a boss, workers would gather on a pile of slate to talk about the incident, and the bolder ones with a manly bearing toward the boss would speak up for their fellow worker. Source: BLS Bulletin no. The failure of a mine boss to dampen the coal dust was the reason the Red Ash mine blew up in 1905, killing thirteen men and boys on Fire Creek. Phone (573) 882-0748. 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. Shows the hourly and weekly wages for 12 principal industries throughout Germany. Wages are shown in Greek drachmas. When he lit the fuse, the lead miner hollered, Fire in the hole, and scuttled out of the room with his buddy. Source: Covers elementary schools and junior high schools in American cities with populations of 2,500 or more. Source: BLS, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations both in and outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. Kanawha County coal seams were relatively thick, so men could often stand or just bend slightly, but some coal cutters had to work bent over all day in low coal. After sorting out the slate fragments and loading the car, the miner attached his brass check to the side of the car and pushed it out into the main tunnel, where mules or a small locomotive pulled the load out of the mine to the weigh station and then to the tipple, where the coal would be prepared and funneled into railroad cars. Source: Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Vienna. Source: 1934 Statistical Abstract of the United States. By law, judges earned 1,500 per year. Shows data for Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroitand otheradditional cities on pages5-9. Coal loaders at the face depended on mule drivers and motor men to honor the old tradition of a square turna custom through which colliers sought to control output and equalize earning opportunities by ensuring that each miner would receive the same number of cars during a workday, in the words of a mine industry historian. But you get a certain amount of desperation, where youre willing to believe stuff even though you know in your gut its not true.. Some stopped the cars by jamming pieces of wood into the spokes. Prices are shown in either contemporary US dollars or Chinese coppers. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Source: Federal Power Commission. Includes breakouts for those who lived with the family and those who did not. Prices shown in marks. See p. 193 of this. From, Earnings forveterinarians with governmentjobs, in scientific labs, in sales, or working as. One task was to test for the build-up of flammable methane gas. A man sometimes had to get down on his hands and knees, with his left shoulder, well padded, against the car, bracing himself with his toes against the ties and the dirt of the floor, wrote a former miner, while his partner controlled the brakes to keep the car from rolling back on the pusher if he slipped or grew tired. Back injuries, broken legs, and severed feet and fingers were common. Board a ship to cross the wave; 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. Bicycles, binoculars, footballs & basketball supplies, ice skates, athletic gear, boxing, baseball, & tennis supplies, fishing tackle, camping gear, guns. April 26, 1942. Source: Cost of living and family expenditures in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. The craftiness and deftness of the best colliers was most evident when they performed the riskiest task of all. 408, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations in the capital of Argentina. Shows data for 12 cities located in NY, OH, PA and MA, including NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and more. Coal powered industrial America. Source: BLS. Tools and hardware: Shows salaries at the state, county and city levels. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), The American Twins, Harpers Weekly, 1874, African American History Curatorial Collective.