Source: U.S. BLS. Report published in 1923 tells wages by race and by industry. Covers elementary, junior high, and high school teachers in American cities with populations of 2,500 or more. Montgomery Ward catalog shows prices of radios and radio supplies on 60+ pages. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review, July 1930. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. Source: One-page table shows 80 years of average retail prices for bread, milk, eggs and other common food items. Following legal tradition, companies usually placed blame and responsibility for injuries on the workers. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), The American Twins, Harpers Weekly, 1874, African American History Curatorial Collective. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. Each table is for a different New Zealand city. This table covers pages 357-360 in this source. Wages are shown in German marks. One-page table shows average charges for residential electricity each year from 1924-1934, for cities over 50,000 in population. Source: Shows wages by occupation in Belfast, Cork, Glasgow, Dundee, Cardiff, London, Manchester and more. 285, Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Source: BLS. For example, the 1920 volume gives rates in Ohio and Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana, and more. Source: Lists costs of running a farm, including costs of power, labor, insurance, interest on loans, etc. Working in coal mines is dangerous miners have to deal with toxic . 1974, Early Coal Miner's Wages and Striking | Marion Illinois History Union wages by occupation and city, 1922-1928, Women's median wages by state and industry, 1910s-1920s, Cigarette packs - Average retail price by brand, 1929, Average college expenses and tuition by institution, 1928, Family budgets by income group, 1918-1930, https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages, Common labor - Average entrance wage rates, 1926-1934, Union wages by occupation and city, 1920-1921, Steam fitters' and sprinkler fitters' helpers, Structural-iron workers: finishers' helpers, Union wages by occupation and city, 1929-1930, Captains, masters, mates, pilots, and engineers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Gang foremen, Maintenance-of-way employees: Assistant gang foremen, Maintenance-of-way employees: Iron workers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Masons, bricklayers, and plasterers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Section laborers, Maintenance-of-way employees: Crossing and bridge flagmen and gatemen, War and postwar wages, prices, and hours, 1914-23 and 1939-44, Urban Negro weekly earnings by sex and occupational class, 1925, Negro wages by occupation - Chicago, 1920, Teacher salaries by race - North Carolina, 1922, Teacher salaries by race - Texas, 1925-1926, Accountants, auditors, bookkeepers, etc. "The fees and cost of books, instruments, board, room, laundry and incidentals will hardly be less than $400 per session of thirty-two weeks." Women's and children's clothing - Newcomb, Endicott, and Co. Retail prices for imported merchandise, 1922, Rates charges for hospital services, 1928, Health care costs and expenditures, 1923-1925, Average charges by type of medical complaint, 1929-1930, Public colleges - Tuition by institution, 1921-1922, Private colleges - Tuition by institution, 1921-1922, Howard University School of Medicine - Tuition & expenses, 1920-21, The Undertaker's Trade - Services and Prices, Average funeral cost by state and city, 1927, Cost to mail a letter or postcard, 1863-present, Vacation to Yellowstone National Park - Prices in 1920, Consumption expenditures per capita, 1901-1956, Cost of living increase in U.S. large cities, 1913-1941, Income needed for "minimum subsistence" in cities, 1929, Minimum income needed to live in Washington DC, 1920, Cost of living among wage earners, Detroit, 1921, Lynchburg, VA - Cost of living and expenditures, 1928-1929, Ability to pay and standard of living among farmers, 1926, Farm family expenditures in selected states, 1922-1924, Average annual costs of keeping work horses, 1921, Virginia - Cost of living and expenditures, 1928-1929, Calculator: Present-day purchasing power of a historic dollar amount, Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, Canada - Food and rents by province and city, 1923, Canada - Prices of staple foods, fuel and rent in 1913, 1920-1927, Retail Prices in Czechoslovakia, 1914-1921, Clothing prices - Great Britain, 1914-1921, New Zealand - Food and cigarette retail prices by city, 1921. equal opportunity/access/affirmative action/pro-disabled and veteran employer. Shows wages by occupation grouped by industries, with breakouts for males and females. They designed complex ventilation systems with fans and interior doors to keep dangerous gases from causing explosions. Wages are shown in Spanish pesetas. 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. Shows the average daily wages of various occupations in Athens and Piraeus. 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. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. In the hand-loading era, an underground miners workplace, usually called a room, was only as high as the coal seam. Compares average retail prices for grocery items in independent stores and in chain stores. Covers more than 1,200 cities. Conversely, a dollar earned in 1928 had the same buying power as abut $15 in the year 2020. Source: BLS, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations both in and outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. 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. China's worst coal mine disasters - The China Project Issues of Telephone engineer & management detail rates for telephone service in many states. Shows the weekly earnings for 9 occupations in Amsterdam, Haarlem, the Hague, and Rotterdam. The deep imagery of coal mining in the 1970s shows a lifestyle - Medium Each table spans 2 book pages, and row labels only show on even-numbered pages. Provides detailed breakouts by occupation. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Prices are shown in Swiss francs. Under these terms, a hard worker could earn $2.00 for ten to twelve hours of labor, if the work was steady. Besides know-how, the miners depended upon instinct and luck. Source: This calculator can be used to determine the historical purchasing power of currency in the United Kingdom from 1270 to 2017. Source:Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. See "Blood donation" in. 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. U.S. coal mining employment change by state Q4 2011-Q4 2016 ; 90%. 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. Lists single-unit prices for barbital, benzoyl peroxide, benzocaine, aspirin, quinoline, and more, showing proprietary and coined drug names. From the Newcomb-Endicott store, Detroit, Michigan. Compares to national averages. Shows typical pay in stock companies, dramas, musical comedies, vaudeville and screen, from extras to Hollywood stars. Every workday a panel of miners, ranging from fourteen to twenty-eight men, passed through a main entry and then turneddown a side entry. The legislature rejected all proposals for reform, however. Shows police department salaries for cities over 100,000 population. Shows the hourly and weekly wages for 12 principal industries throughout Germany. 484. Source: Monthly price list for Ralph's Grocery Company, which sold only in the Los Angeles area. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. You are viewing the article: how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s at Cheraghdaily.org. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. The need to correct these abuses led the UMWA to demand the employment of a check-weigh man whom the miners could trust. The following is from James Greens The Devil is Here in These Hills. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. Shows dollar amount and % of total budget spent on various categories of goods and services, broken out by urban/rural families. 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. Tables 6-13 show farm land prices by county in IA, MN, ND, ID, OH, KY, NC and TX. Salary data for judges inNY, PA, NJ and CT. Source: Shows lawyers' incomes instates and regions, by size of community served, by the age of the lawyer, number of years in practice, etc. By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha Countys slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. Shows the daily cost of food, heat, and light for a working family of 4 following independence. Another statute required employers to hire pit bosses to examine every working place in the mine, but only as often as practicable. A third rule required the managers to water the coal dust, but only when they detected a dangerous level of gas. Source: BLS. Engineers used anemometers to measure airflow within mines. Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginias population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. Data was originally published in the Industrial Bulletin of the State Department of Labor. 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. Some stopped the cars by jamming pieces of wood into the spokes. Table 25 shows additional breakouts for skilled and white collar workers by region (. Before the 1920s most miners were independent contractors. Tools and hardware: His pictures also reflect a variegated experience in Appalachia, countering stereotypes by depicting middle-class miners, racial diversity, and community pride. Shows the average weekly and hourly wages of different occupations in the Missouri shoe industry between 1913-1922. Shows the daily wages of various common and low-skill occupations like building laborers, canners, and rice mill workers throughout the state. With industrialization, workers lost control of when to start, eat, and end their day. Managers concentrated on business decisions, such as arranging transportation and selling their product. First, the men had topush an empty coal car up wooden rails that they had installed on their own time. Source: BLS, Shows the average wages of Spanish agricultural workers in different cities. By law, judges earned 1,500 per year. University of Missouri, Columbia 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. Source: Cost of living and family expenditures in Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. 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." Ukrainian immigrant Nick Gurski began working in the Boone County coal mines in the 1920s. What was the salary for a coal miner in the 1950s? - Answers Shows salaries for sevenoccupations inpolice departments of 25American cities. Source: Shows the earnings per hour and week for sawmill workers over a 20 year period. See the. Wages are shown in German marks. 408, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations in the capital of Argentina. Source: Missouri State Dept of Agriculture. An open flame provided the only light, and the cloth cap barely kept lamp soot away. Source: 1934 Statistical Abstract of the United States. how much did coal miners get paid in the 1950s. Shows pay tables based on years of service,for Army and Navygenerals, admirals, colonels, lieutenants, captains, ensigns, etc. View object record Miner's hat, about 1930 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. Religious organizations -Salaries, 1929in. No. Wages are shown in French francs. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Wages shown in litas, and US dollars in parentheses. Trump blames his predecessors environmentalism for the loss of jobs in Appalachia, but the reality is a long-running product of market forces, not liberal tree-hugging. Cottage and bungalow home designs with illustrations and floor plans in the "Wardway homes" catalog. Figures expressed in both foreign currency and in dollars. Describes the labor policy of South Africa in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. 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. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. Shows wage rates for engineers, conductors, passenger baggage men, coal passers, firemen, switch tenders, hostlers, signalmen, station agents, telegraphers, machinists, car cleaners, and more. Source: Teachers' salaries and salary trends in 1923. Includes a table showing. Salary data for teachers, principals and school administrators in New York City, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago and Kansas City. Shows data for unskilled male laborers in each of 13 industries, as well as an overall average. Source: BLS, Shows the average pay for a 48 hour week throughout 5 different industries in Milan. 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 Monthly Labor Review (July 1930), Shows the average wages of multiple occupation in the mining industry. by RACE Tomorrow night at 9pm PBSs American Experience will broadcast The Mine Wars, based on the book. This series of tables shows the wage distribution and average weekly wages of a variety of industries and occupations in Missouri in 1921. Source: Chicago Commission on Race Relations report. Boys discovered that serious men turned into jokers when they toiled underground. HOUSING, FARMS and UTILITIES In West Virginias colliers, miners were paid 49 cents per ton of clean coal, compared with 76 cents in the unionized mines of Ohio. Managers liked immigrants because they worked for low wages. The wage data is broken out by sex. 525. The struggle between workers and managers in the workplace played out vividly in the Pennsylvania coal mines. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of foodstuffs and other necessities throughout different areas of Denmark such as Copenhagen. Boys learned the mining craft from their fathers and later passed this knowledge on to their own sons. Miners left their pits to fight the attempt of the Thatcher government to close the collieries, break the miners' union and the labour movement in general, and open the way to a free market economy in which deregulated financial capitalism would be set free by the Big Bang of 1986. Shows starting salary and increases granted based on marital status and number of children. Wages are shown in German marks. Wages are shown in French francs. Shows prices for articles of clothing sold in 35 retailer shops in twelve cities. $30.30. Lists ticket prices in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and eight more cities in NY, PA, OH and MA. Shows average wages alongside a cost of living index for Germany between 1929-1942. Source: Women's Bureau Bulletin #85. 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. Expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence. Telephones, radios, cameras, kitchen ranges, home electric appliances, record players, music records, sewing machines, fabrics, clothes washers, laundry supplies, vacuum sweepers. Coal mining is a dangerous job requiring skill and judgment. Wages are shown in both Italian lire and contemporary U.S. dollars. Source: BLS, Shows the average retail prices of foodstuffs in Madrid and Barcelona. In 1925, motor vehicles were scrapped at an average age of 6.5 years. 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. This mammoth work lists typical earnings as well as job descriptions and working conditions for thousands of occupations just before the Great Depression. Despite significant danger, miners received little compensation for injuries. 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. Expressed in dollars and also as a percentage of the property value. Many of the reports can be found in. 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. Managements steam whistle now set the times. Source: BLS. Source: BLS, Shows the earnings over different times for both government employees and manual workers in Hamburg. $180 - $5k. Source: BLS. 664. Describes the labor policy of Canada in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Taken from Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Prices are shown in Mexican pesos. The Miners' Strike of 1984 was a turning point in British history. These were the underground attitudes Frank Keeney absorbed as he entered manhood as a coal miner. Covers the states of NH, VT, MA, CT, KY, SC, AL, MO, KS, IA and OH. Source: BLS. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. 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.". Prices are shown in Latvian rubles. Without a match he walked, hands held in front of his body, until, by chance, someone found him and gave him a light. MERCHANDISE The laborer's work is often made difficult by the water and rock which are found' in large quantities in coal veins. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of food and commodities in various cities throughout south Manchuria. Data is broken out byoccupation, sex and district. Time became important to managers as they changed their labor model. Source: Women's Bureau Bulletin #25. in FOREIGN COUNTRIES, FOOD Some occupations covered include telephone operators, waitresses, hotel maids, chambermaids, elevator girls, laundry workers, retail clerks, and factory workers in the wood working industry. He later recalled his terror at being lost in a maze of underground rooms when his lamp went out. Links to government documents and primary sources listing retail prices for products and services, as well as wages for common occupations. From. 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. Some New York City teacher and principal salaries are shown on the following page in Table 42. 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. This booklet shows prices for hotels and amenities such astelephone, restaurant meals,haircuts, bath house, etc. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages of day laborers, farm hands, clerks, bookkeepers, government employees, and army members in Lithuania. Work clothes, work shirts, dress shirts, dress pants, trousers, vests, suits, dress gloves, overcoats, winter coats, fur caps and collars, neck ties, belts and suspenders, caps and hats, nightwear, socks, shoes, boots, pocket knives, pocket watches, toupes, razors, smoking pipes. Postal Service. Wages are shown in 1931 US dollars. Its an era of company town labor we are not likely to see return as automation and renewable energy continue to render these kinds of occupations obsolete. As a novice, Keeney learned the colliers trade from older craftsmenthe skills of cutting the face, setting the charges, and loading the coal without wrenching his back or crippling himself. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. Occupations included are limited before 1916. Source: U.S. Dept of Labor, Compares affordability of food and consumer goods from one year to the next and provides price. Red Ash mine was also the location of a disaster in 1900, which killed forty-six miners. In the 1920s decade, 8% to 12%of peopleaged18-21enrolled incollege. Purchasing power is represented in its equivalence in horses, wheat, the yearly wages of a skilled tradesperson, and others. Prices are shown in Japanese yen. It provided a $1.20-a- day wage increase effective Jan, and an increase of 80 cents a day beginning April 1, 1959. Source: National Education Association of the United States. From, Average monthly wages by state,with and without board. 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. College professor salaries, 1928 (Source: AAUP report). Wages are shown in yen. 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. Nothing was the answer, nothing but the miserable life he and his family endured living inrented shanties hard on the railroad tracks. 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. Compensationby job titlefor New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, San Francisco and more 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." White familiesspent an average $103.71/yearon medical care around 1928-1931. 8836. Chart shows median wages of women employed in Philadelphia households as chambermaids, cleaners, cooks, waitresses, laundress, seamstress, and children's nurses (nannies.) The study pays particular attention to women who made less than the average wage. The lawmakers apparently agreed with West Virginias Republican governor, G. W. Atkinson, who said in 1901: It is but the natural course of mining events that men should be injured and killed by accidents.. 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. Source: Compares 1922 to1940 wage rates for a variety of RR jobs, pp. Dollars. See quartile, "Women in Alabama industries: a study of hours, wages and working conditions," Women's Bureau Bulletin #34 (. Details the price of clothing for men, women, boys and girls on pp. Prices shown in marks. Source: Includes district-specific information and the average output of coal per person per shift. Shows average dollar amount spent annually in categories such as food, clothing, maintenance of health, personal goods, furniture and more. COST OF LIVING Wages are shown in both Francs and contemporary US dollars. Appalachias traditionally small, locally owned mines started merging with larger energy firms in the 1960s, and by 1970 bituminous coal employment had dropped to 140,000 people from its 1923 peak of 740,000. Shows family expenditures by category. Includes breakouts for adults and. Shows brand names. It may be necessary to read the chapters pertaining to the country, but you can find the actual minimum wages in the discussion. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. BBC ON THIS DAY | 13 | 1975: Miners set for 35 per cent pay rises Source: BLS. The Life of a Coal Miner | eHISTORY - Ohio State University In some cases, when a shot backfired out of the hole, it ignited coal dust or gas in the miners room and sent fire bursting into the main tunnel, where it could burn or suffocate the mules and their drivers passing through. Shows salaries at the state, county and city levels. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly and weekly earnings of industrial wages in Romanian leu.