"Turtle" Hat Bathhouse Baskets Most miners changed from their street clothes, to their "Bank Clothes" (work clothes) in "the bath house" before going into the mine. They put their street clothes in baskets, which were hoisted up, and usually secured with a pad lock. Dinner Bucket The miner carried his "lunch" in his dinner bucket, Buckets usually had several compartments. Water was carried in the bottom compartment. Sandwiches and fruit could be carried in the second section. On top of the second compartment was the "pie tray" for the miner's dessert. The lid topped off the bucket. Many surviving dinner buckets are missing the "pie tray" - - it was frequently used as a food dish for the family dog or cat and became lost Lamps One of the earliest sources of light in the mines was the oil wick lamp, sometimes called a "sunshine lamp. Later the carbide lamp came into being. Water in the top section dribbled down onto calcium carbide in the lower section The resulting chemical reaction produced acetylene gas. Both the oil wick and carbide lamp had an open flame, which was dangerous in a "gassy" mine. In the early 1930s the much safer electric battery lamp came into wide usage and the open flame lights were prohibited. Carbide Flask Flask and leather Holster Wheat Battery Light Bug Light In the old days a canary in a small cage was taken into the mines to check for "bad" air. If the bird keeled over it was time to beat a hasty retreat until proper ventilation could be established. Later a flame safety lamp, commonly called a "Bug Light", was used to test the air and detect methane gas. Canary Cage Car Checks Car checks, also called pit checks, were brass discs stamped with the coal loader's payroll number. When the miner loaded a car of coal, he placed his car check on a hook on the end of the car. At the tipple the coal was weighed and the miner whose check was on the car received credit for loading it. At the end of the shift the miner would drop by the tipple to pick up his checks and look at the "tote board" to see how much coal he was credited with loading, that day. Lamp Checks Lamp Checks were usually square or rectangular in shape and were stamped with miner's payroll number. The miner turned in his lamp check when he picked up a freshly charged lamp at the "lamp house". The check was returned when the lamp was turned in. In the event of a underground disaster a quick look at the discs hanging in the lamp house showed how many and who was in the mine at the time. To keep their "checks" handy, the miner would put them on the brass safety-pin, secure this to his work clothes, making it easy to remove, when needed Canary Cage, Car Check, Lamp Check & Safety Pin Contributed by Kevin Andersen "Soft" Canvas Hat "Hard Shell" Hat
"Turtle" Hat
Bathhouse Baskets
Most miners changed from their street clothes, to their "Bank Clothes" (work clothes) in "the bath house" before going into the mine. They put their street clothes in baskets, which were hoisted up, and usually secured with a pad lock.
Dinner Bucket
The miner carried his "lunch" in his dinner bucket, Buckets usually had several compartments. Water was carried in the bottom compartment. Sandwiches and fruit could be carried in the second section. On top of the second compartment was the "pie tray" for the miner's dessert. The lid topped off the bucket. Many surviving dinner buckets are missing the "pie tray" - - it was frequently used as a food dish for the family dog or cat and became lost
Lamps
One of the earliest sources of light in the mines was the oil wick lamp, sometimes called a "sunshine lamp. Later the carbide lamp came into being. Water in the top section dribbled down onto calcium carbide in the lower section The resulting chemical reaction produced acetylene gas. Both the oil wick and carbide lamp had an open flame, which was dangerous in a "gassy" mine. In the early 1930s the much safer electric battery lamp came into wide usage and the open flame lights were prohibited.
Carbide Flask
Flask and leather Holster
Wheat Battery Light
Bug Light
In the old days a canary in a small cage was taken into the mines to check for "bad" air. If the bird keeled over it was time to beat a hasty retreat until proper ventilation could be established. Later a flame safety lamp, commonly called a "Bug Light", was used to test the air and detect methane gas.
Canary Cage
Car checks, also called pit checks, were brass discs stamped with the coal loader's payroll number. When the miner loaded a car of coal, he placed his car check on a hook on the end of the car. At the tipple the coal was weighed and the miner whose check was on the car received credit for loading it. At the end of the shift the miner would drop by the tipple to pick up his checks and look at the "tote board" to see how much coal he was credited with loading, that day.
Lamp Checks
Lamp Checks were usually square or rectangular in shape and were stamped with miner's payroll number. The miner turned in his lamp check when he picked up a freshly charged lamp at the "lamp house". The check was returned when the lamp was turned in.
In the event of a underground disaster a quick look at the discs hanging in the lamp house showed how many and who was in the mine at the time.
To keep their "checks" handy, the miner would put them on the brass safety-pin, secure this to his work clothes, making it easy to remove, when needed
Canary Cage, Car Check, Lamp Check & Safety Pin Contributed by Kevin Andersen
"Soft" Canvas Hat
"Hard Shell" Hat
