Taken from Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Wages are shown in Sweden kronor. What was the salary for a coal miner in the 1950s? - Answers continue to render these kinds of occupations obsolete. A trapper like Frank had to pay close attention to his duties, opening and closing the doors regularly to keep the air moving and to allow coal cars to pass back and forth. The laborer's work is often made difficult by the water and rock which are found' in large quantities in coal veins. Shows annual salaries for all school personnel in Texas without breakouts for occupation, years of training, years of experience, etc. It also summarizes the years from 1907-1922. 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. Prices are shown in Japanese yen. Wages are shown in Brazilian milreis. Table 679 of this 1923 USDA Yearbook tells how much U.S. farmers paid for farm tools and implements, work gloves, shirts and shoes, shotguns, tobacco, wagons, building materials such as nails and shingles, and household items such as dishes and fruit jars, washtubs and buckets in 1909, 1914-1922. Also shows the averagecost to rent farm landor pastures by the acre, by county. 408, Shows the wages of a variety of occupations in the capital of Argentina. Wages are shown in German marks. Covers Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. Prices on pp. This answer is: Study guides. Shows wages by occupation grouped by industries, with breakouts for males and females. Rompers, night gowns, baby shoes, accessories (diapers, baby bottles, etc. Source: BLS. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (July 1930). Describes the labor policy of Mexico in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Shows data for Washington DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroitand otheradditional cities on pages5-9. One task was to test for the build-up of flammable methane gas. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages for various occupations in Tokyo. The Miners' Strike of 1984-5: an oral history This website does a good job of organizing a complex topic. Source: AAUP report, p. 162. 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. ), athletic gear, boxing, baseball, & tennis supplies, Prices of articles bought by farmers, 1909-1924, Prices paid by farmers for household items, 1910-1960, Clothing prices paid by farmers, 1910-1960, Women's clothing catalog - B. Altman & Co., Summer 1920. Shows the average weekly wages for a variety of occupations and industries in New Zealand. UK coal industry employment 1920-2021 | Statista Source: BLS, Shows the average daily or monthly wages for various occupations in 5 different cities in Brazil. 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 is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin, No. During the Great Depression output was nearly halved from 680 million tons to 360 million. 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. Source: Federal Power Commission. for rural households in the U.S. and selected foreign countries. Corn visited coal mines and mountain communities from Virginia to Tennessee, photographing the working and domestic lives of miner families and their struggles with low wages, unsafe working conditions, and black lung disease. After the Civil War, industrialization meant a nearly limitless demand for anthracite and bituminous coal, and hundreds of thousands of new jobs spurred a population boom in the region, which stretches from western New York state to Alabama. 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 the hourly, daily, and biannual earnings of different occupations in the Missouri coal industry between 1890-1922. Cottage and bungalow home designs with illustrations and floor plans in the "Wardway homes" catalog. 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. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (September 1932). Source: This table provides average yearly wages per industry or trade type, including transportation, education and agriculture, among others. Religious organizations -Salaries, 1929in. In 1928, halfof all families had a combined family income of $2000 or less. Coal companies also recruited in Europe. The Miners' Strike of 1984 was a turning point in British history. Patterns for sewing children's clothes, stockings, union suits, toys, bicycles. Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission report. 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, The explanation states: "real wage rates have been computed by the Statistical Office on the basis of the official German cost-of-living index. Wages are shown in German marks. The need to correct these abuses led the UMWA to demand the employment of a check-weigh man whom the miners could trust. Still he ventures to be brave. Source: BLS. The workday ended at 5:30 in the evening when the sunlight had already faded over the mountains. Data gathered by the National Industrial Conference Board (a group of industry associations) which used European government publications for information. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly, daily, and weekly earnings in Milan for various industries. Shows the average retail prices of staple foodstuffs in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The following is from James Greens The Devil is Here in These Hills. Source: Shows the earnings per hour and week for sawmill workers over a 20 year period. Watch the rocks, theyre falling daily, 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. 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. 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. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. Source: AAUP report. Shows wage data by manufacturing categories for 1914, 1919, 1921, and 1923. Includes many brand names. During the 1910s and 1920s, minimum wage laws were adopted by a handful of states and generally applied only to women and children. Safety sign in eight languages, about 1910. Prices are shown in Swiss francs. Wages are shown in French francs. Source: Lists results of 22 studies that show the % of family budget spent in various categories (rent, food, health, etc.). Source: Click "more" for direct links to each occupation. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly and weekly earnings of industrial wages in Romanian leu. Shows the average weekly earnings by industry and occupation. The industry has been in slow decline ever since, compounded along the way by the rise of steam engines, mechanized extraction methods, and competition from oil and natural gas, and now renewable energy. 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. Wages on pages34-40. Postal Service. The wage data is broken out by sex. asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT as 89W detailed information as may be readily available showing the numbers and groupings of employees in the coal mines working at the surface and face, respectively, whose basic rates of pay on 1st November 1973 were below the national average wage of 42 per week ; and how far . Managers liked immigrants because they worked for low wages. This calculator allows you to compare the buying power of wages earned at different points in history. Shows forty pages of incomedata with numerous breakouts. 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. Some picked slate and other debris out of the coal on fast-moving conveyor belts. 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. Wages are listed in Mexican currency with exchange rate for calculating amounts in U.S. dollars. Source: Table shows 52 years of time-series prices on individual foods, such as. Source: BLS. The 1920 Montgomery Ward mail order catalog showed the price of. $180 - $5k. The correct use of explosives depended on the miners skill and knowledge of how to drill, how much powder to use, and how to damp a charge properly. Prices are shown in contemporary US dollars. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of foodstuffs and other staple goods in the Mexican capital. Source: The cost of living in twelve industrial cities, p. 63. Source: Report of the Salary survey commission to the Pennsylvania General assembly, 1929. Source: Lists prices of typical food items, housing expenses, clothing, fuel, light and more. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set Vol. Includes breakouts for adults and. 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. FromTHE DEVIL HERE IN THESE HILLS(Atlantic Monthly Press), now out in paperback. Includes the states of RI, NJ, OH, DE, OK, MO, GA, TN, AR, KY, SC, AL and MS. Wage rates by occupation in foreign countries (sometimes just to a certain city in the foreign country), assembled for easy comparison to U.S. wage rates for the same occupations. From the Newcomb-Endicott store, Detroit, Michigan. by STATE Starts on p. 44. 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. Shows expenditures by category with prices per article and amounts needed annually for a family of five. Shows typical pay in stock companies, dramas, musical comedies, vaudeville and screen, from extras to Hollywood stars. 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. The mine foreman was legally responsible for safety. Totals are shown in Canadian dollars. 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. Describes the labor policy of Canada in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Gasoline cost an average21.7 per gallon in 1929. In the hand-loading era, an underground miners workplace, usually called a room, was only as high as the coal seam. Lists the price of bricks, flooring, framing lumber, rough boards, Portland cement, roofing material, house paint and more. Shows the average weekly hours and hourly wages for workers in the boot and shoe industry. Includes both land and buildings. 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. 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. Wages are shown in Belgian francs. West Virginias drift mines were cut into the mountains horizontally and its slope mines descended gradually into the earth. 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. 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: Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Vienna. 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. Prices are shown in Mexican pesos. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Data gathered by the National Industrial Conference Board using foreign government sources. Source: BLS Monthly labor review, Apr 1926, Shows the average retail prices of various foodstuffs throughout Switzerland. Source: Historical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase. Musical instruments: Shows the daily wages of various common and low-skill occupations like building laborers, canners, and rice mill workers throughout the state. Bedroom: Compares average retail prices for "warehoused" name brand grocery items at independent and chain stores in Cincinnati. 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.". Meal time was cold, cramped, and wet. Miscellaneous: Compares average retail prices for grocery items in independent stores and in chain stores. 2012-08-05 00:38:00. Chart shows median wages of women employed in Philadelphia households as chambermaids, cleaners, cooks, waitresses, laundress, seamstress, and children's nurses (nannies.) Salary data for judges inNY, PA, NJ and CT. 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: 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. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. The average hourly pay for a Coal Mine Worker is $21.49. Source:Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. Includes clam, lobster, oyster industries and more. Meanwhile, his wife Mary operated the Nellis boarding house for foreign-born miners. A paid subscription is required for full access. Describes the labor policy of Great Britain in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Shows average dollar amount spent annually in categories such as food, clothing, maintenance of health, personal goods, furniture and more. Each table is for a different New Zealand city. At dawn, the workers reported to the payroll clerk in the company office, where they were handed numbered brass checks to attach to each coal car they loaded. Source: BLS. Wages are shown in 1931 US dollars. The region's first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. MERCHANDISE This bibliography lists reports that show income, budgets, consumer expenditures, etc. "A good hotel room costs only $4-5 per day while a hospital charges $6 and $7." College professor salaries, 1928 (Source: AAUP report). 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. To view an issue of interest, select it from the list and click View. Green miners like Frank Keeney also learned that surviving underground required men to depend upon each other and to honor the wisdom of the most experienced men. U.S. coal mining employment change by state Q4 2011-Q4 2016 ; 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. (Click image for detail), Marie Concannon, Government Information Librarian Management's steam whistle now set the times. In 1923, there were about 883,000 coal miners; today there are about 53,000.