March 10, 2004
The Grittiest Job
Images and context of America's coal miners. Especially worth visitng and moving are the images of the 'breaker boys' and other children who worked in the mines.
Images and context of America's coal miners. Especially worth visitng and moving are the images of the 'breaker boys' and other children who worked in the mines.
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My Granddad grew up in a mining village in the valleys in Wales - he worked down the pit from the age of 12 or so. He only escaped - if that's the right word - because of the second world war. And because mining was considered so vital to the war effort, he had to lie in order to sign up for the army. He could have been executed - theoretically - if they had found out.
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Coal mining has been described as just about the worst work in the world for the conditions - vying with sugar cane growing and processing, which was so bad that slave labour had to be resorted to, as no free workers would do it. And yet, it inspires loyalty, in a strange dark way. The Men of the Deeps from Cape Breton still sing the mining songs, though most of the mines have been shut down.
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Wow. Hardcore pics. Great link moonb.
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Great link indeed. I grew up in West Virginia. Practically my whole family worked for (or was affected by) the coal mines. I remember vividly when they started to shut down. The area was already dilapidated; the closings wiped a lot of people out. My uncles would say things like, "Damn EPA! Worst thing ever to happen to this area!" Think I'll call my mom... she's still back there.