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I was in Scranton for a wedding earlier this year and along with visiting the Iron Furnaces, we also stopped by the Anthracite Heritage Museum [0] because we we

I was in Scranton for a wedding earlier this year and along with visiting the Iron Furnaces, we also stopped by the Anthracite Heritage Museum [0] because we were looking for something else to do on a lazy Friday. It was interesting to learn a bunch about historic coal mining practices and people but the real surprise was about halfway through the museum the topic changed to textiles -- including some massive Jacquard looms and reels of punch cards. [1] I don't have my own photos handy, but this photo a loom from the museum with the "tape" of punch cards hiding behind the threads in the top right of the photo. [0] http://www.anthracitemuseum.org/explore/anthracite-museum/ http://www.anthracitemuseum.org/explore/anthracite-museum/ [1] https://uncoveringpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Anthracite-Heritage-Museum-2305.jpg https://uncoveringpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Anthraci...

derekjdanserl 5y ago
From a report on the cultures and politics around the Anthracite Coal Mines at the turn of the 19th century, which is linked below and is probably the most fascinating piece of journalism I have ever read: > Why the Mills Have Come to the Coal Regions The factory inspector will tell you, “The mills locate in Anthracite because they all employ girls, and girl labor is cheaper here than anywhere else.” A glance at a “textile” map of Pennsylvania will show that wherever there are miners, there cluster mills that employ “cheap girl labor.” Besides silk and hosiery a local feminine industry is the manufacture of the fuses or “squibs” which are used in coal blasting. The statistics of the nine counties of Anthracite count up 11,216 “females” employed in them, 2,403 between 12 and 16 years of age. The perjury certificate prevails for the girls, as well as the boys, and I estimate that 90 percent of the 11,216 females are girls who have not yet reached womanhood. They work ten hours a day, and the majority stand all of that time, having a chance to sit only in the noon hour. This brings on a characteristic lameness in the girls during their first year at the mill. The report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the State places the “average daily wage of children between the ages of 13 and 16” employed in the manufacturing of underwear at 47 cents, in hosiery mills at 46 cents. https://wynninghistory.com/2021/03/27/children-of-the-coal-shadow/ https://wynninghistory.com/2021/03/27/children-of-the-coal-s...

derekjdanserl 5y ago

From a report on the cultures and politics around the Anthracite Coal Mines at the turn of the 19th century, which is linked below and is probably the most fascinating piece of journalism I have ever read: > Why the Mills Have Come to the Coal Regions The factory inspector will tell you, “The mills locate in Anthracite because they all employ girls, and girl labor is cheaper here than anywhere else.” A glance at a “textile” map of Pennsylvania will show that wherever there are miners, there cluster mills that employ “cheap girl labor.” Besides silk and hosiery a local feminine industry is the manufacture of the fuses or “squibs” which are used in coal blasting. The statistics of the nine counties of Anthracite count up 11,216 “females” employed in them, 2,403 between 12 and 16 years of age. The perjury certificate prevails for the girls, as well as the boys, and I estimate that 90 percent of the 11,216 females are girls who have not yet reached womanhood. They work ten hours a day, and the majority stand all of that time, having a chance to sit only in the noon hour. This brings on a characteristic lameness in the girls during their first year at the mill. The report of the Secretary of Internal Affairs of the State places the “average daily wage of children between the ages of 13 and 16” employed in the manufacturing of underwear at 47 cents, in hosiery mills at 46 cents. https://wynninghistory.com/2021/03/27/children-of-the-coal-shadow/ https://wynninghistory.com/2021/03/27/children-of-the-coal-s...