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. See also "C" tab above for carpenters, cement workers, etc. You are viewing the article: how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s at Cheraghdaily.org. Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), A Novel of Putin's Russia That Got Its Writer Beaten Up, What Should You Read Next? Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. When a miner and his helper approached the entry to their room, danger lurked in almost every move they made. See table 164 for average annual wage. "In this region, I presume that a fee of $200 would be a pretty fair estimate of the surgeon's charge for operation and the after-treatment there would be between the operation and the death of the patient." Some occupations covered include telephone operators, waitresses, hotel maids, chambermaids, elevator girls, laundry workers, retail clerks, and factory workers in the wood working industry. Source: BLS, Shows the cost of foodstuffs and other necessities in Greece. how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s. $30.30. The laborer's work is often made difficult by the water and rock which are found' in large quantities in coal veins. Men's:
Lists ticket prices in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and eight more cities in NY, PA, OH and MA. Unskilled labor hired by cities for construction, repair or cleaning of streets. In 1907, West Virginia appointed John Nugent as superintendent of immigration. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wage in both yen and US dollars. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of foodstuffs and other necessities throughout different areas of Denmark such as Copenhagen. Some New York City teacher and principal salaries are shown on the following page in Table 42. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. Coal powered industrial America. 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. This series of tables shows the wage distribution and average weekly wages of a variety of industries and occupations in Missouri in 1921. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Source: Federal Power Commission. Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of foodstuffs in Madrid and Barcelona. 407. The Miners' Strike of 1984-5: an oral history Shows the average weekly earnings by industry and occupation. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages for various occupations in 6 different industries in Japan. It was a dreadful experience Booker T. Washington never forgot. Shows the average weekly and hourly wages of different occupations in the Missouri shoe industry between 1913-1922. Source: American Druggist, January 1923 issue. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily or monthly wages for various occupations in 5 different cities in Brazil. Includes breakouts by state, source of income, and more. Prices are shown in either contemporary US dollars or Chinese coppers. Shows the daily wages of various common and low-skill occupations like building laborers, canners, and rice mill workers throughout the state. April 26, 1942. A good blast could bring down a ton or more of coal from the fractured face. Source: Includes district-specific information and the average output of coal per person per shift. Wages are in contemporary US dollars. 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). Shows wage data by manufacturing categories for 1914, 1919, 1921, and 1923. For easier browsing, the information is. Covers occupations in the building trades, metal trades, printing trades, coal mining and more. 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.". Dresses, skirts, blouses, suits, patterns for sewing frocks,, dress gloves, shawls, sweaters, silk undergarments, pajamas, union suits, corsets, gowns, stockings, hats, winter coats, fur coats, winter gloves and mittens, shoes, purses and bags, diamond rings, necklaces and jewelry, brooches, perfume, wigs. Shows pay for those involved in "1st class New York City productions" including actors of various levels (from chorus to leads) as well as directors, designers, scene painters, stage hands, etc. Shows wages and prices in kronen, along with the exchange rate to translate into U.S. dollars. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. Shows price list of one California retailer. 5-6. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. UK coal industry employment 1920-2021 | Statista Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (September 1932). Under other circumstances, mine tops fell without warning. 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. 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. Prices are shown in German marks. A settlement was reached when the coal board added an extra pound to wage rates after two-and-a-half days' intensive negotiations at the industry's London headquarters. 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. Stealing another mans coal was considered a terrible crime. A thief could commit this offense easily, simply by removing one miners brass check from his coal car and replacing it with his own; but the miners often detected this kind of trickery and banded together to demand the thiefs termination. for rural households in the U.S. and selected foreign countries. He later recalled his terror at being lost in a maze of underground rooms when his lamp went out. Wages shows in 1930 US dollars. Compares average retail prices for "warehoused" name brand grocery items at independent and chain stores in Cincinnati. From, Average monthly wages by state,with and without board. MERCHANDISE Shows salaries for sevenoccupations inpolice departments of 25American cities. "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." Wages are shown in Greek drachmas. $20.00 per week. One task was to test for the build-up of flammable methane gas. Source: Compares 1922 to1940 wage rates for a variety of RR jobs, pp. The Miners' Strike of 1984 was a turning point in British history. The survey covered 114 different cotton mills in 12 different state, and generally divides tables by occupation, sex, and year or occupation, sex, and state. Describes the labor policy of Canada in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Source: BLS. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages of day laborers, farm hands, clerks, bookkeepers, government employees, and army members in Lithuania. The union was very important to miners. Still he ventures to be brave. Source: U.S. Dept of Labor, Compares affordability of food and consumer goods from one year to the next and provides price. 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. Coal companies also recruited in Europe. Source: BLS. 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. Boys labored inside, sorting coal by size and removing rock. But on some weeks, a miner might work only two or three days because the railroad failed to supply enough coal cars, or because the mine needed repairs. Farm laborers in Missouri earned an average $41.90/month in 1921. The struggle between workers and managers in the workplace played out vividly in the Pennsylvania coal mines. 467. Mentions the wages paid to both skilled and unskilled workers in francs. By 1854, forty-six percent of all American pig iron had been smelted with anthracite coal as a fuel, and by 1860 anthracite's share of pig iron was more than fifty-six . Income statistics of full time professional women were published in study by the Association of Business and Professional Women. A room in the Pocahontas seam could be more than 10 feet high, while workplaces in the Kanawha and New River seams often were no taller than four feet. Source: the Historian of the U.S. Miners waiting to start their shift at the Virginia-Pochahontas Coal Company mine near Richland, Virginia, in 1974. Data available for additional years inMissouri Farm Census by Counties, Missouri State Dept of Agriculture. His salary was paid entirely by coal companies. Lists annual pay for individuals occupying administrative and supervisory positions in the executive and judicial branches. Coal mining jobs - Hours and earnings, 1919-1933; Coal mining wages by state, 1923 Source: Miners' wages and the cost of coal: an inquiry into the wages system., pp. 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. Shows average value for farm land and buildings from 1850-1982. Wages are shown in contemporary US dollars. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. 408, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations in the capital of Argentina. Prices are shown in Hungarian crowns. If a man died in a mine, they quit work to honor him and to take up a collection for his surviving wife and children. Source: BLS Monthly labor review, Apr 1926, Shows the average retail prices of various foodstuffs throughout Switzerland. 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. Prices are shown in Swiss francs. Ukrainian immigrant Nick Gurski began working in the Boone County coal mines in the 1920s. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages for workers in different occupations in French coal mines. With industrialization, workers lost control of when to start, eat, and end their day. Source: Report of the Salary survey commission to the Pennsylvania General assembly, 1929. Beds and mattresses, bedroom furniture, pillows, bedding. Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginias population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. Engineers used anemometers to measure airflow within mines. Shows data for Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroitand otheradditional cities on pages5-9. Must use "search in this text" feature to navigate. MORE PRICES in the U.S. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. After they loaded coal from the fallen pillars, the colliers and their helpers pushed their cars out into the main entry as fast as possible before sections of the roof collapsed. Separate listings forinspectors, police superintendents, captains, sergeants, privates, etc. Miners spent their entire shift underground, taking lunch, drinks, and snacks with them. Source: The cost of living in twelve industrial cities, p. 63. Source: BLS, Shows the annual earnings of manual and nonmanual workers in Sweden. See quartile, "Women in Alabama industries: a study of hours, wages and working conditions," Women's Bureau Bulletin #34 (. 285, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Compensationby job titlefor New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco and more cities. Girl's:
Expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence. Using a thin iron needle about the thickness of a pencil, he shoved a cartridge of black powder into the hole and pushed a little clay into the hole with a damper; then he carefullywithdrew the needle and inserted a wick of waxed paper, a squib, that would burn down to the black powder. Boys younger than 12 often worked beside their fathers underground because, in many communities, it was the only paying job available. This bibliography lists reports that show income, budgets, consumer expenditures, etc. Infant's:
The pit closures the miners had fought so hard to prevent began in earnest. Careless miners always fail. Women's:
Source: BLS. Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Swiss farming as well as the daily wages of day laborers. Source: Historical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase. 8836. Total Pay. Wages shown in litas, and US dollars in parentheses. Shows the weekly earnings for 9 occupations in Amsterdam, Haarlem, the Hague, and Rotterdam. Coal miners homemade prosthetic leg, about 1950. Retreat mining required the rapid destruction of these pillars, each containing tons of valuable coal, before the mine collapsed. 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. Table 41 in this source shows the average salary for all teachers in elementary and secondary schools in New York state, not including NYC. It was usually undertaken by women, and sometimes children. Workers and Managers | National Museum of American History Source: Lists results of 22 studies that show the % of family budget spent in various categories (rent, food, health, etc.). NOTE: Forhouseholdincome data for 1929, we recommend a1934 Brookings Institution report titled America's Capacity to Consume. Source: BLS, Shows clothes prices paid by working class families in Great Britain. 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. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. 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. Typewriters, school supplies, office supplies, fountain pens, more fountain pens, books, drawing sets, home office furniture. During the Great Depression output was nearly halved from 680 million tons to 360 million. Shows wages for common and semi-skilled workers in manufacturing and construction industries, in baking, agriculture, metal and printing trades. Even the most skilled miners could not detect the presence of kettle bottoms, the petrified remains of huge ancient tree trunks that could plunge through the roofs and crush workers. $15 - $30. China's worst coal mine disasters - The China Project Source: Shows wages, hours and earnings for mechanics, pipe fitters, welders, tinsmiths derrick men, drillers, firemen, engineers and more. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Coal miner Bill Keating composed the ballad Down, Down, Down to break my loneliness and to show my mule I was in a friendly mood., President John L. Lewis, United Mine Workers, convention badge, 1936. 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. Wages of certain women in the District of Columbia. This Farmers' Bulletin, Cost of Using Horses on Corn-Belt Farms, goes into great detail about the costs of keeping work horses, including a. Describes the labor policy of Mexico in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Managers concentrated on business decisions, such as arranging transportation and selling their product. over the years. Scroll forward and back to see the various cities for which average food prices are available. Fearful of the danger, frightened by the blackest darkness he could imagine, and repelled by the coal dust that clung to him like a layer of skin, Washington vowed to get an education and rise out of the coal pits, just as he had risen up from slavery.. Covers Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Wages are shown in Sweden kronor. Wages are shown in German marks. Wages of pattern makers, molders, drill press operators, lathe hands, machinists and more. Includes breakouts for adults and. Source: BLS, Shows the average price of foodstuffs and other common goods in the federal district of Mexico. PRICES in FOREIGN COUNTRIES, WAGES -- GENERAL SOURCES (all occupations and worker types), WAGES in AIRPLANE and AIRCRAFT MANUFACTURING, 1920s. For best detail, see the full chapters on. Indicates prices per kilowatt-hour by areas and cities. 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. Bathroom:
Shows the average daily wages of workers in various industries in Riga as well as other parts of Latvia. Wages on pages34-40. 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. After a temporary escape to attend grammar school, it was the world he reentered in 1900 as an eighteen-year-old man willing and able to load coal for a miners pay. These figures are shown by occupation, sex, and region. More passenger air fares from other sources: Household items:
In West Virginias colliers, miners were paid 49 cents per ton of clean coal, compared with 76 cents in the unionized mines of Ohio. When he lit the fuse, the lead miner hollered, Fire in the hole, and scuttled out of the room with his buddy. Discusses household expenditures for electricity, and estimates the number of homes that had various electrical appliances (radios, refrigerators, irons, etc.) 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 Monthly Labor Review (July 1930), Shows the average wages of multiple occupation in the mining industry. Source: BLS. Wages are shown in pounds, shillings, and pence. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages for various occupations in Tokyo. These deposits could produce firedamp, which contained methane and sometimes carbon dioxide that seeped out of the coal seams. Management's steam whistle now set the times. Provides detailed breakouts by occupation. Source: U.S. Dept of Agriculture. Shows expenditures by category with prices per article and amounts needed annually for a family of five. From, Earnings forveterinarians with governmentjobs, in scientific labs, in sales, or working as. Source: U.S. BLS. Shows data for 12 cities located in NY, OH, PA and MA, including NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and more. Tools and hardware:
Shows the average weekly wages of NY factory workers every month over a 14 year period. Source: Source: BLS Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1931 edition. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (April 1931). Boys frequently were assigned the most-dangerous jobs. Source: BLS. 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. Source: Shows pay for state carpenters, stage electricians, props men, show directors, agents, ushers and more. Lengthy article reports how much educators earned in Illinois' high schools in 1920-1921. Report published in 1923 tells wages by race and by industry. See answers (2) Best Answer. 664. 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. by OCCUPATION Since money wage rates of foreign countries have little meaning for economists in America, only the real wage rates are given.", Shows the average hourly and weekly wages of various occupations for both skilled and unskilled laborers. Pennsylvania's investment in anthracite iron paid dividends for the industrial economy of the state and proved that coal could be adapted to a number of industrial pursuits. Wages are shown in 1930 US dollars. 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. 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. Source: The cost of living among wage-earners, Cincinnati OH, pp. Shows mining wages in Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 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. Source: BLS, Shows the average wage rates for 19 different occupations in Hamburg, Germany. 412. Source: Very simple table shows average hours and earnings for all production workers in manufacturing for each year from 1919-1960. From the Newcomb-Endicott store, Detroit, Michigan. Compares average retail prices for grocery items in independent stores and in chain stores. Wages are shown in Brazilian milreis and contemporary US dollars. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. Self-respecting craftsmen were even known to stop working when a foreman came by to inspect their room.