Source: Historical chart shows salaries of members of the U.S. Congress, along with dates of enactment and statutory authority for each pay increase. 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. Bedroom: Shows the average weekly and hourly wages of different occupations in the Missouri shoe industry between 1913-1922. Before the 1920s most miners were independent contractors. Typical compensation for directors, camera men, editors and more in, Shows typical earnings for reporters, feature writers, sports editors and others, in. From, Earnings forveterinarians with governmentjobs, in scientific labs, in sales, or working as. Shows the average weekly earnings by industry and occupation. Source: Source: BLS Handbook of Labor Statistics, 1931 edition. Bicycles, binoculars, footballs & basketball supplies, ice skates, athletic gear, boxing, baseball, & tennis supplies, fishing tackle, camping gear, guns. For best detail, see the full chapters on. This mammoth work lists typical earnings as well as job descriptions and working conditions for thousands of occupations just before the Great Depression. 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. $32k - $76k. Chart shows median wages of women employed in Philadelphia households as chambermaids, cleaners, cooks, waitresses, laundress, seamstress, and children's nurses (nannies.) To view an issue of interest, select it from the list and click View. by OCCUPATION 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. Source: Compares 1922 to1940 wage rates for a variety of RR jobs, pp. Source: Lists prices of typical food items, housing expenses, clothing, fuel, light and more. Data is broken out byoccupation, sex and district. Every day his lifes in danger, Source: BLS, Shows the average price of foodstuffs and other common goods in the federal district of Mexico. Source: BLS, Shows the hourly, daily, and weekly earnings in Milan for various industries. 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. West Virginias drift mines were cut into the mountains horizontally and its slope mines descended gradually into the earth. 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. Despite significant danger, miners received little compensation for injuries. In the words of the popular song Miners Lifeguard, written by a miner from Oak Hill, West Virginia: A miners life is like a sailors, 59-71. "The fees and cost of books, instruments, board, room, laundry and incidentals will hardly be less than $400 per session of thirty-two weeks." By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha Countys slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set Vol. 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. Source: BLS Bulletin no. $15 - $30. It is not yet available to read online; check your local library for a printed copy. The wage data is broken out by sex. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages and hours of workers in 4 different industries in Madrid. Source: the Historian of the U.S. House paints, paint brushes, doors & windows, wrench sets, home improvement tools, steel safes, fencing, garden tools, wrenches & other assorted tools, water pumps, plows, milk cans, gasoline-powered generators. Shows the daily wages of various common and low-skill occupations like building laborers, canners, and rice mill workers throughout the state. Wages are shown in both Francs and contemporary US dollars. 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. Shows the weekly wages of various occupations in Swiss farming as well as the daily wages of day laborers. Wages are shown in shillings. Source: Shows the earnings per hour and week for sawmill workers over a 20 year period. Wages are shown in pounds, shillings, and pence. Prices are shown in Swiss francs. 2-4. Coal Miners Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginia's population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. 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. Lengthy article reports how much educators earned in Illinois' high schools in 1920-1921. Includes a table showing. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. Frank Keeney wanted to be a first-class tonnage man because he needed to support his widowed mother and two sisters, along with his new wife, a fair teenager named Bessie Meadows, an Eskdale girl who wanted to become a schoolteacher. When the smoke cleared, the collier and his buddy would swing their picks to break up large clumps of coal and shovel the smaller lumps into a mine car; it was back-aching work made more painful by the narrowness of the room. Describes the labor policy of Mexico in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Wages shows in 1930 US dollars. Heed no operators tale! Use the following hyperlinks to see values for AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY. Shows expenditures among rural Virginia families for food, housing, clothing, automobiles, health insurance, recreation, personal items and more. Shows data for unskilled male laborers in each of 13 industries, as well as an overall average. Source: BLS, Shows the daily wages for various occupations in Tokyo. 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. The following is from James Greens The Devil is Here in These Hills. Describes the labor policy of South Africa in the 1920's and throughout the rest of the early 20th century. Lists the price of bricks, flooring, framing lumber, rough boards, Portland cement, roofing material, house paint and more. As former miner Gary Bentley of Kentucky remarked in a recent New York Times article, Its not going to make a comeback. In West Virginia, where mineswere cut near the mountaintops, the overburden was looser and more prone to collapse than in the deeper shaft mines of the North. 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. Coal Miners (Pay) (Hansard, 27 November 1973) Shows monthly wages based on the ocean routes traveled: San Francisco to points west, and New York City to points south and east. Between 12th and 14th Streets 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 firemen salaries for 25 American cities including New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City and more. See quartile, "Women in Alabama industries: a study of hours, wages and working conditions," Women's Bureau Bulletin #34 (. 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. 8836. Report published in 1925 mainly covers wages in manufacturing industries. Full chapter extends from pp. Report published in 1927 includes extensive wage data for women in Tennessee by race, industry, education, and more, circa 1925. Source: Report of the Salary survey commission to the Pennsylvania General assembly, 1929. Meanwhile, his wife Mary operated the Nellis boarding house for foreign-born miners. 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. Dollars. This was the world Frank Keeney entered as a boy. Wages shown in 1931 US dollars. Article compares the cost of renting versus buying a home in 1928. 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. Farm laborers in Missouri earned an average $41.90/month in 1921. The average hourly pay for a Coal Mine Worker is $21.49. 294-295. Hourly Rate. Shows starting salary and increases granted based on marital status and number of children. 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. Source: Lists minimum and maximum daily wages for male and female workers. But you get a certain amount of desperation, where youre willing to believe stuff even though you know in your gut its not true.. Check the, Shows the daily rate of Utah coal mining workers in a variety of jobs and occupations. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wage in both yen and US dollars. View object record Steam whistle With industrialization, workers lost control of when to start, eat, and end their day. When he lit the fuse, the lead miner hollered, Fire in the hole, and scuttled out of the room with his buddy. Source: U.S. Congressional Serial Set vol. 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.. Indicates prices per kilowatt-hour by areas and cities. Source: U.S. Federal Trade Commission report. Details the price of various building materials on pp. Shows the changes in wages of united Illinois coal miners following a labor agreement. Broken out by men's and women's jobs. Miners would lie on their backs and use a pick to undercut the coal. 412. One statute required operators to print maps of their mines, but it excluded any provisions for enforcing this requirement. Wages are shown in Czech krone. Source: AAUP report, p. 162. Wages shown in 1930 US dollars. How Thatcher broke the miners' strike but at what cost? Tells cost of public transportation and railway fares as well. Source: BLS. Source: BLS. 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. These figures are shown by occupation, sex, and region. Even in a good week, there was unpaid work to perform: propping up newly opened rooms with wooden posts, laying track to his room, and lowering the floor of the main tunnel so loaded coal cars could pass through. Mr. It was usually undertaken by women, and sometimes children. Source: page 13 in. Time became important to managers as they changed their labor model. Shows the average weekly hours and hourly wages for workers in the boot and shoe industry. Source: BLS Monthly Labor Review (July 1930), Shows the average wages of multiple occupation in the mining industry. Wages are shown in contemporary U.S. dollars. . 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. Arranged by occupation and then by city and year. 467. In 1925, motor vehicles were scrapped at an average age of 6.5 years. Tax covers both land and buildings. Shows wage data by manufacturing categories for 1914, 1919, 1921, and 1923. Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson is back. 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. Compares average retail prices for grocery items in independent stores and in chain stores. Handkerchiefs, slippers, watches, umbrellas, hair brushes and combs, Christmas decorations. Income statistics of full time professional women were published in study by the Association of Business and Professional Women. The Life of a Coal Miner | eHISTORY - Ohio State University Published by the National Industrial Conference Board. 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. During the Great Depression output was nearly halved from 680 million tons to 360 million. Source: BLS, Shows the average daily wages and hours of a variety of occupations in Madrid. Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. Following legal tradition, companies usually placed blame and responsibility for injuries on the workers. Patterns for sewing children's clothes, stockings, union suits, toys, bicycles. In the late 1800s mining was rough physical labor. Some stopped the cars by jamming pieces of wood into the spokes. Source: U.S. BLS Bulletin, no. Lists ticket prices in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and eight more cities in NY, PA, OH and MA. Shows wages by occupation grouped by industries, with breakouts for males and females. This booklet shows prices for hotels and amenities such astelephone, restaurant meals,haircuts, bath house, etc. Shows the standard wages for different shift at ports in Antwerp, Belgium. 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. Cabinets and cookware. Coffee cost an average 47 per pound in 1920. 8836. Read more Employment in coal mining industry in the United Kingdom (UK) 1920-2021 . Source: This calculator can be used to determine the historical purchasing power of currency in the United Kingdom from 1270 to 2017. 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. Source: Includes district-specific information and the average output of coal per person per shift. Furniture, bookcases, carpets and rugs, curtains, hanging lamps, lightbulbs, table and floor lamps, clocks. The legislature rejected all proposals for reform, however. Discusses household expenditures for electricity, and estimates the number of homes that had various electrical appliances (radios, refrigerators, irons, etc.) Total Pay. 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. Source: BLS, Shows the average wage rates for 19 different occupations in Hamburg, Germany. These were the underground attitudes Frank Keeney absorbed as he entered manhood as a coal miner. Self-respecting craftsmen were even known to stop working when a foreman came by to inspect their room. Fascinating book that shows various imported items (such as kid gloves, bloomers, silk nightgown, men's pipe, electric flatiron, glass lamp, etc.) Shows the daily wages of Chilean miners between 1911 and 1924 in both pesos and the U.S. dollar. Includes breakouts by state, source of income, and more. Source: The cost of living among wage-earners, Cincinnati OH, pp. Former Timeline picture editor. 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. Workers, Kohinoor mine, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, 1884, Managers, Kohinoor mine, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, 1884. 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 . This is a New Zealand government document. 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. Some occupations covered include telephone operators, waitresses, hotel maids, chambermaids, elevator girls, laundry workers, retail clerks, and factory workers in the wood working industry. Eventually, his sons and grandsons also worked in the mines. Shows average wages alongside a cost of living index for Germany between 1929-1942. In 1928, halfof all families had a combined family income of $2000 or less. This table covers pages 357-360 in this source. During the 1910s and 1920s, minimum wage laws were adopted by a handful of states and generally applied only to women and children. Occupations included are limited before 1916. During the first three decades of the 20th century, African Americans comprised about 25 percent of all southern West Virginia miners. Coal operators often provided services like company stores. This Farmers' Bulletin, Cost of Using Horses on Corn-Belt Farms, goes into great detail about the costs of keeping work horses, including a. 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. Miscellaneous: From the Newcomb-Endicott store, Detroit, Michigan. Unskilled labor hired by cities for construction, repair or cleaning of streets. Wages are shown in Latvian rubles. 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. Survey covered only white families over a certain. Data gathered by the National Industrial Conference Board (a group of industry associations) which used European government publications for information. Religious organizations -Salaries, 1929in. Shows average annual expenditure for food, rent, clothing, and medical care per family member. No. 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. White familiesspent an average $103.71/yearon medical care around 1928-1931. Source: BLS, Shows the retail prices of various foodstuffs in 10 large German cities. 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.