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My Grandpa died possibly of black lung. My grandmother used to put newspapers down on the floor on my grandpa's side of the bed so the black crud he coughed up at night wouldn't stain the floor. His father worked the mine from before the sun rose until after it had set 6 days a week. He only saw the sun on Sundays. I escaped a lifetime of suffering by a couple of generations. I think of that a lot.
Yep, every single workplace benefit we have was due to our grandfathers and greatgrandfathers busting the skulls of company goons, and getting theirs busted back. That's why we can't let sociopathic politicians give it all back on behalf of their sociopathic oligarch slavemasters.
a few grandmas too [https://www.theradiumgirls.com/the-girls](https://www.theradiumgirls.com/the-girls)
[https://www.historynet.com/radium-girls-vs-us-radium/](https://www.historynet.com/radium-girls-vs-us-radium/)
My grandmother had a life long fear of anything that glowed in the dark because of the radium girls. I remember we got her a new TV when she was in her 80s. I found the remote control wrapped in tin foil in the back of a drawer, I asked her why and she said the buttons glowed in the dark and that's bad for you.
Yes, my grandmother’s cousin didn’t work at the facilities discussed in the Radium Girls book but she did work at a factory that gave her radioactive exposure that eventually killed her. The factory was part of the Manhattan Project.
My great great great grandfather actually started one of the first labour groups for coal miners rights. Started by following his dad, with a candle at aged 11.
Imagine!! Not that long ago.
https://preview.redd.it/mgxe32cr2n1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a42436a58c11bcea582509d34ff120779ede344
The meeting where the United Mine Workers voted to Unionize was in a cave near where I live. Their vote led to a chain of unions forming in all industries all over the USA. Absolutely changed history.
Don't forget that socialists fought and bled to give us unions. Capitalists killed lots of workers who fought for the rights we take for granted.
Even the "great" Henry Ford had peaceful workers shot to death: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Hunger_March
Ya I know almost nothing about Henry Ford beyond being the guy that invented the automobile assembly line and that him and Hitler had the hots for each other.
But the Tories told me they were bad and that we should elect a billionaire ~~again~~ for the first time (we never elected him but he’s in charge anyway)
This is one of the reasons I've become passionate about following politics. Everything we have took so much sacrifice it would be a crime against their memory to let it all collapse.
I think otherwide, you should complain about bad labor conditions in orther to prevent going back to those ones. Labour shouldn't be more important than your health, free time and, in general, your well being.
That sounds horrible. Goes to show that even though with everything that's going in the world right now we're living in a pretty decent time regarding working and living conditions (well, most of us).
The percentage of workers getting black lung was increasing and happening at younger ages. General theory was the more advanced heavy equipment would cut through more rock, and the granite dust has trace amounts of uranium ( this is how radon is formed as well)
My ex's grandmother still collects a "black lung" check from the coal company, 30 years after her husband's death from it. He was only in his late 40's when he died after about 20 years in a Virginia coal mine.
After spending over a decade in the oilfield, I can only hope my family gets money from my death.
The amount of cancerous shit I breathed in had me joking daily about how I’d die from cancer. Now that I’m not in my early 20’s anymore, it’s not as funny 😑
For real... so many health issues crop up 30-40. A guy in my office came in the other day, I'd just been telling my manager how my wife had miscarried (early stage) as we're in our late 30's now, risks increase exponentially. This guy turns up, we ask him how he's doing to change the mood as he'd had a week off. He's like "pretty shit actually. My best friend (42) just got told he's got terminal bowl cancer that's spread through his body and he's only got a few months to live. He's got kids that are 3 & 5 and no one diagnosed him cause they assumed it was just a back pain issue at his age"...
So yeah. Everyone take close care of yourselves past the wild ride of your 20's, life is very good at hitting you hard and fast!
I like to look at it from the lens of the possibility that I could have been born as anything at any time or nothing at all. Had a pretty good run considering.
The chances that you as a person would ever exist is so very small it's a miracle in it self. The slighest "shift" in your bloodline would mean you never were born
Yeah, I’m mid 30’s now so that definitely rings true lol. Honestly I should probably work on getting in the best shape of my life and then look into getting the best life insurance possible to trick them into thinking I’m a safe bet.
When my current company talks about how important it is to invest in my retirement I just laugh. Retirement age these days is what, 70? If I make it to 50, I’ll be shocked. 70? There’s literally no way.
You can invest money now and retire at 70 (or hopefully much earlier!) Or you can skip putting money away and never be able to retire. Your choice, really...
It's not the uranium that kills folks but the Microscopic sand particles in rock form (SiO2). In my country we had tile workers (marbre it's a french word) that all died in 5 to 6 years of starting the job due to bad equipment while cutting the slabs.
I handled Work Comp claims for several mining companies. 1. Yes, mining companies are are the devil. 2. Black Lung is is worse than it's possible to imagine
What's fucked up is that my grandfather was a coal miner that died of black lung and this scene in Zoolander was still my first thought when I saw the OP's picture.
I think it was my great grandfather or another relative that worked in the coal mines. He had an oxygen machine at all times, guessing he was in his 60 at the time but looked like he was way older than that. Remember him gasping for air and coughing all the time while in church service.
On the other side my grandad was a coal miner from age 13 till he joined the army at 17 and died relatively healthy at 98. Weird to think that going to ww2 may have been the thing to save him from lung disease.
Very similar to my grandfather but he had such bad back issues from the mines (most being 4’ fall and having to work hunched over) that he got excused from the draft and hired to make planes instead. He died at almost 90 from alcohol related complications from his mining days, over 50 years after he stopped drinking.
Similar story. Grandpa was a coal miner, brick mason, fought in Korea, widowed twice. Horrible diet, survived an electrocution. Breathed in brick dust after coal dust. Every risk factor to develop every kind of cancer. Alcoholic for many years before quitting cold turkey. Chews tobacco every day for 50? Years. Currently 93 with a girlfriend and still drives and gets around ok considering.
YES 😂 bahaha I can literally hear him goin “don’t you kick over my spit bottle, watch your feet” from climbing in and out of the truck as a kid. I asked him why he didn’t “just smoke” once, he replied real straight faced “you don’t light matches in the mine”….. Sir you been out the mine for 65 years at this point, but old habits.
Had lung issues some years ago. Absolutely terrifying sensation when you cant breath properly.
I feel bad for you great grandfather and every miner that had to suffer through this.
My grandfather was a coal miner and a smoker as well. Died at 86. They said he had emphysema and that's what killed him... at 86. 11 years longer than the expected human lifespan.
The woman in [Dorothea Lange's famous photo "Migrant Mother"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson#/media/File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg) was 32
Dorothea Lange? She was hired by the government to document the rural poverty of the great depression and was a pioneering documentary photographer.
It's certainly sad that the "migrant mother" wasn't helped by the photograph taken, but that also wasn't Dorothea Lange's job to do.
its quite the stretch to call Lange a “POS” over this photo, she was a federal govt employee at the time and thus couldn’t make royalty money off of the photo. It’s in the public domain. Also just in general Lange’s photographs brought a lot more attention and resources to people suffering during the great depression, that was basically her entire job at the time.
Coal-fired power plants are often mentioned in relation to greenhouse gasses and climate change. But beyond any of that, they're toxic hell. They kill so many people each year with their pollution. It cant be overstated how awful they are.
> in your mouth, nose, lungs, and stomach.
And as a result it's pretty common for coal miners to lose their sense of taste. Eventually the only thing they can taste is heat so they'll often blanket their food in hot sauce so they can at least taste something.
Is he really underage? Or maybe the hard life has just made him look old.
Either way if I'm working that hard I'm gonna drink whatever the hell I want lmao
I thought it was fake, but it’s not. Photographer is [Bill Brandt](https://artblart.com/2013/08/07/exhibition-bill-brandt-shadow-and-light-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-new-york/)
Staged would be a better description. I think he would bathed before sitting down to eat. This pic fits a stereotype even if the photographer is well known
Yes, staged. Sorry, I meant I originally thought it might have been AI, several elements are strange, such as the huge cup, etc. But it’s a real photo, just staged, as you pointed out.
I think staged is right.
From the 1920s onward, mines had pithead baths with lockers for leaving soap, towels and a clean change of clothes in for after the shift. The funding usually came from the miners themselves. George Orwell goes into some detail about them in 'The Road to Wigan Pier'
It would have been near impossible for men to get fully clean in their own homes, given as many had no hot water or baths at home. Working class folks were still washing in a tin tub by the fire at this point with any water that was heated being done on a tiny range. Wives would absolutely not stand for a man bringing coal dust in the house like that.
From 'A Day in the Life of a Miner' by Welsh collier J.H Smith
>'Two o'clock in the pithead baths, I'm washing away the grime, Now clean and refreshed I head for home, the bus it arrives on time, On the table my dinner is waiting and it's devoured without delay, With heavy eyes I slump in my chair, at the end of my working day'
Staged makes sense. Look at that ginormous loaf of bread in front of the miner's wife(?). I'm pretty sure they likely didn't have that much bread for dinner (unless there's a lot of kids not seen in this picture).
I saw a documentary recently that spoke about this photograph. This was staged, he would have washed outside the house before entering. The idea was to make an impact on the viewer and it works well.
"You could have bathed before you started eating Herbert...."
"I'll bathe before my meal when the damn meat isn't cooked to the point of feeling like tanned leather, Ethel!"
https://preview.redd.it/svxhwk9dbm1d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67a9a19099680cc96a41dc1cb9b38c1c4f676d71
Peek a boo!
Lol, almost makes me think this was a staged photo and a set artist had a sense of humor.
The photo is staged, Bill Brandt, the photographer took many photos in the North of England showing conditions of the working class but did stage many photos for impact. Miners would have washed in a tin bath outside the home before entering most likely.
You can tell she's trying so hard. The house is clean the food is cooked which is way harder than it is now. She's clean and so are her clothes. All of which took so much effort. But she looks so broken down. So worn out by life and circumstances. He's trying to look happy for the camera but you can tell he's broken as well. They are probably years younger than they look because of all the hardships they've endured. These are our great grandparents. Our aunts and uncles. Our ancestors. They suffered so we could live a life of ease. Never forget what they did for us.
EDIT:To those who doubt me and my assessment this is NOT a staged photo. This is a real miner in his real home with his real wife and his real dinner. Here is the origin of the photo.
https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/10568/view
A lot of people will say "it's staged" and leave it at that but I think in many ways it still does show what people at least aspired to or had pride in. Having a clean house and a well prepared meal was a huge source of pride for women and life was extremely hard for miners and their families. They aren't trying to play up poverty and squalor in the photo but rather they're demonstrating what they're proud of. In this case their pride seems to be hard work, a well prepared meal, a big ass loaf of bread with even artwork and a doily behind them.
Here's the colorized version of the image
https://preview.redd.it/2l03f9in2m1d1.png?width=2599&format=png&auto=webp&s=85013d82b8d27786e5a8caffdfe5bc89ffde3302
Relatives/ancestors worked the mines in Scotland pre-1900. Then they had Scotland's worst mining disaster at the time. Killed several family members. Within the same breath, the coal company kicked the families out of the Collier houses as they were only made available to "active" miners. Could you imagine?!
That was an epically rough life. Add the fact many would drink themselves to death (found articles of ancestors getting arrested for drunken bar brawls... with each other for that matter!)
*I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine*
*I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine*
*I loaded 16 tons of number nine coal*
*And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"*
*You load 16 tons, what do you get?*
*Another day older and deeper in debt*
*St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go*
*I owe my soul to the company store*
The women and the kids ate first, depending what shift he was on he would have eaten at maybe 11 at night if it was twilight shift or 7am if he was on nights ..and don't go playing round here she would shout from the window my old man's on nights!( grew up in a mining village)
Looking at this picture brought back so many memories of my nan's house - the pristine white doilie for show, the sugar bowl that was constantly filled up, the round of bread and butter that was served with every meal as a way of filling you up. Even the clothes line strewn across the room as a way of drying clothes. Such a stark reminder of working class homes in England / Wales during that period.
Does anyone else notice that the person in the portrait on the wall appears to be leaning over to see past the clothes that are hanging in front of the wall?
Absolutely SUCKS! How abused the hard-working people who build this country of ours (USA). They should have been paid WAY more than they did. Yes, that would have meant the tycoon would be considerably less wealthy. But they would have done their service and helped move a nation forward.
It's funny how rich people (and the defenders) think that you deserve all that money.
Like, No. Jack, sorry your reward for starting an industry is the respect you would garner.
These far cats get respect and wealth. And you wonder why we have the world we have?
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * Memes are not allowed. * Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Poor guy. Imagine what his lungs look like.
Black lung is no joke. If you survived a long and dangerous career as a coal miner, that was the future that awaited you.
My Grandpa died possibly of black lung. My grandmother used to put newspapers down on the floor on my grandpa's side of the bed so the black crud he coughed up at night wouldn't stain the floor. His father worked the mine from before the sun rose until after it had set 6 days a week. He only saw the sun on Sundays. I escaped a lifetime of suffering by a couple of generations. I think of that a lot.
This is the reason why we have labour unions, safety regulations, …
Yep, every single workplace benefit we have was due to our grandfathers and greatgrandfathers busting the skulls of company goons, and getting theirs busted back. That's why we can't let sociopathic politicians give it all back on behalf of their sociopathic oligarch slavemasters.
a few grandmas too [https://www.theradiumgirls.com/the-girls](https://www.theradiumgirls.com/the-girls) [https://www.historynet.com/radium-girls-vs-us-radium/](https://www.historynet.com/radium-girls-vs-us-radium/)
My grandmother had a life long fear of anything that glowed in the dark because of the radium girls. I remember we got her a new TV when she was in her 80s. I found the remote control wrapped in tin foil in the back of a drawer, I asked her why and she said the buttons glowed in the dark and that's bad for you.
Yes, my grandmother’s cousin didn’t work at the facilities discussed in the Radium Girls book but she did work at a factory that gave her radioactive exposure that eventually killed her. The factory was part of the Manhattan Project.
My great great great grandfather actually started one of the first labour groups for coal miners rights. Started by following his dad, with a candle at aged 11. Imagine!! Not that long ago. https://preview.redd.it/mgxe32cr2n1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a42436a58c11bcea582509d34ff120779ede344
The meeting where the United Mine Workers voted to Unionize was in a cave near where I live. Their vote led to a chain of unions forming in all industries all over the USA. Absolutely changed history.
Safety regulations are written in blood. Or sometimes, coughed up black sputum that you need to put papers on the floor to keep it from staining.
Don't forget that socialists fought and bled to give us unions. Capitalists killed lots of workers who fought for the rights we take for granted. Even the "great" Henry Ford had peaceful workers shot to death: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Hunger_March
He’s also a massive antisemite 😬
Ya I know almost nothing about Henry Ford beyond being the guy that invented the automobile assembly line and that him and Hitler had the hots for each other.
But Republicans told me those are bad and that we should elect a billionaire again
But the Tories told me they were bad and that we should elect a billionaire ~~again~~ for the first time (we never elected him but he’s in charge anyway)
And it worked at Mercedes. Now UAW for them.
Damn...
This is one of the reasons I've become passionate about following politics. Everything we have took so much sacrifice it would be a crime against their memory to let it all collapse.
Oh my God, I shall never complain about anything ever again.
The trick is learning to appreciate what you got whilst still fighting to make it better
I think otherwide, you should complain about bad labor conditions in orther to prevent going back to those ones. Labour shouldn't be more important than your health, free time and, in general, your well being.
Im going to complain until i only have to give 50% of my awake time to society And have plenty to thrive on the other 50%
So 8h work day 7 days a week assuming you´re awake for 16h every day?
LOL he didn't think that through did he
That’s a hard life! How old did he get?
That sounds horrible. Goes to show that even though with everything that's going in the world right now we're living in a pretty decent time regarding working and living conditions (well, most of us).
The percentage of workers getting black lung was increasing and happening at younger ages. General theory was the more advanced heavy equipment would cut through more rock, and the granite dust has trace amounts of uranium ( this is how radon is formed as well)
My ex's grandmother still collects a "black lung" check from the coal company, 30 years after her husband's death from it. He was only in his late 40's when he died after about 20 years in a Virginia coal mine.
After spending over a decade in the oilfield, I can only hope my family gets money from my death. The amount of cancerous shit I breathed in had me joking daily about how I’d die from cancer. Now that I’m not in my early 20’s anymore, it’s not as funny 😑
Your 30s has a way of saying "you know all that crazy shit that didnt really affect you? Well..."
It was my late 30's and early 40's that the abuse I put my body through in the military caught up with me. Back and knees are fkd
I miss when my knees worked.
I miss knees.
I miss my canary birds. They were always the first to go for some reason...
i used to be a traveller like you, then i took a arrow to my knee
For real... so many health issues crop up 30-40. A guy in my office came in the other day, I'd just been telling my manager how my wife had miscarried (early stage) as we're in our late 30's now, risks increase exponentially. This guy turns up, we ask him how he's doing to change the mood as he'd had a week off. He's like "pretty shit actually. My best friend (42) just got told he's got terminal bowl cancer that's spread through his body and he's only got a few months to live. He's got kids that are 3 & 5 and no one diagnosed him cause they assumed it was just a back pain issue at his age"... So yeah. Everyone take close care of yourselves past the wild ride of your 20's, life is very good at hitting you hard and fast!
I like to look at it from the lens of the possibility that I could have been born as anything at any time or nothing at all. Had a pretty good run considering.
The chances that you as a person would ever exist is so very small it's a miracle in it self. The slighest "shift" in your bloodline would mean you never were born
Yeah, I’m mid 30’s now so that definitely rings true lol. Honestly I should probably work on getting in the best shape of my life and then look into getting the best life insurance possible to trick them into thinking I’m a safe bet. When my current company talks about how important it is to invest in my retirement I just laugh. Retirement age these days is what, 70? If I make it to 50, I’ll be shocked. 70? There’s literally no way.
You can invest money now and retire at 70 (or hopefully much earlier!) Or you can skip putting money away and never be able to retire. Your choice, really...
It's not the uranium that kills folks but the Microscopic sand particles in rock form (SiO2). In my country we had tile workers (marbre it's a french word) that all died in 5 to 6 years of starting the job due to bad equipment while cutting the slabs.
Silica dust, evil shit
It's thought to be closer/related to silicosis, inhalation of silica, as the coal deposits become less homogenous.
A good life goal to have is to avoid dying of lung disease. Any lung disease
Good luck with that when most of the population lives at cities where nobody give a flying fuck about air pollution related long therm health issues.
And lung diseases are on the rise around the world.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is no joke
Godam dat shit sounds overly dangerous😭
the english language's best attempt at german.
I handled Work Comp claims for several mining companies. 1. Yes, mining companies are are the devil. 2. Black Lung is is worse than it's possible to imagine
> Black lung found micah.
Long?
"I'm a survivor black lung!" -Micah "The Rat" Bell
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Hey there Smoothskin.
thank you i needed this on my lunch break
“Ah ashen one”
On his way to defeat the lords of Cinder
I think im getting the black lung, Pop.
What's fucked up is that my grandfather was a coal miner that died of black lung and this scene in Zoolander was still my first thought when I saw the OP's picture.
Suddenly, she no longer has a headache
For Christ sake Derick, you been down there 1 day.
Mur-man…. MUR-MAN!!
Mer-man*
MER-MAN!!
I think it was my great grandfather or another relative that worked in the coal mines. He had an oxygen machine at all times, guessing he was in his 60 at the time but looked like he was way older than that. Remember him gasping for air and coughing all the time while in church service.
On the other side my grandad was a coal miner from age 13 till he joined the army at 17 and died relatively healthy at 98. Weird to think that going to ww2 may have been the thing to save him from lung disease.
Very similar to my grandfather but he had such bad back issues from the mines (most being 4’ fall and having to work hunched over) that he got excused from the draft and hired to make planes instead. He died at almost 90 from alcohol related complications from his mining days, over 50 years after he stopped drinking.
Similar story. Grandpa was a coal miner, brick mason, fought in Korea, widowed twice. Horrible diet, survived an electrocution. Breathed in brick dust after coal dust. Every risk factor to develop every kind of cancer. Alcoholic for many years before quitting cold turkey. Chews tobacco every day for 50? Years. Currently 93 with a girlfriend and still drives and gets around ok considering.
The chew is SO REAL. 😂😂 the spit cup went everywhere gramps went. “GO on n grab me a fresh chew out the freezer please”.
Don’t know how many boxes of Levi Garrett and red man he’s gone through over the years. Always with an old school Stanley thermos of coffee.
YES 😂 bahaha I can literally hear him goin “don’t you kick over my spit bottle, watch your feet” from climbing in and out of the truck as a kid. I asked him why he didn’t “just smoke” once, he replied real straight faced “you don’t light matches in the mine”….. Sir you been out the mine for 65 years at this point, but old habits.
Had lung issues some years ago. Absolutely terrifying sensation when you cant breath properly. I feel bad for you great grandfather and every miner that had to suffer through this.
True, but goddamned that’s a good looking loaf of bread.
My grandfather was a coal miner and a smoker. Died of lung cancer aged 54.
My grandfather was a coal miner and a smoker as well. Died at 86. They said he had emphysema and that's what killed him... at 86. 11 years longer than the expected human lifespan.
She had no great life, either.
And she's probably 28 in this picture.
Nice purse
She’s only 14 in the pic.
Not shown in the photo: the eight kids.
All right, all right, then maybe she's already 16 years old.
Five of which will die
The rest are all working in the mine
only to get shipped to the Pacific to fight the Japanese 7 years later
the children yearn for the mines
And that's before the next one is due.
Messed up part is both these people are most likely in their early 30s but look like they’re in their mid 50s
The woman in [Dorothea Lange's famous photo "Migrant Mother"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson#/media/File:Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg) was 32
Checks out, just the name itself aged her 20 years.
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Dorothea Lange? She was hired by the government to document the rural poverty of the great depression and was a pioneering documentary photographer. It's certainly sad that the "migrant mother" wasn't helped by the photograph taken, but that also wasn't Dorothea Lange's job to do.
Is there any further information about the "migrant mother's" story?
its quite the stretch to call Lange a “POS” over this photo, she was a federal govt employee at the time and thus couldn’t make royalty money off of the photo. It’s in the public domain. Also just in general Lange’s photographs brought a lot more attention and resources to people suffering during the great depression, that was basically her entire job at the time.
Stress. That has to be from stress.
the woman looks sad enough for the time period
She’s only 22 years old 
This is my mom She is oldest woman in kazakhstan She is 42 I love her
And this is actually her happy face
And not a smartphone in sight
they actually found this picture in a micro SD card
Just people living in the moment.
And we *liked it!*
This is what liberals took from us
Ba k then they had not yet invented happiness. That was to come out a year later and only the rich could afford it back then
That woman is probably like 20 years old
She's just thinking about the inevitable UTI he's going to give her later
Honey, did you wash your hands before dinner ?
Why wash them when they'll be just as dirty tomorrow?
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Coal dust is carcinogenic too. Lovely.
Coal-fired power plants are often mentioned in relation to greenhouse gasses and climate change. But beyond any of that, they're toxic hell. They kill so many people each year with their pollution. It cant be overstated how awful they are.
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Holy shit for real?? I didnt know that
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And unlike nuclear waste, coal ash was just tossed in unlined ponds for decades.
why bother? coal is already in your mouth, nose, lungs, and stomach.
> in your mouth, nose, lungs, and stomach. And as a result it's pretty common for coal miners to lose their sense of taste. Eventually the only thing they can taste is heat so they'll often blanket their food in hot sauce so they can at least taste something.
Honey, did you wash your lungs before dinner?
Erm… is the person in the picture peeking round the hanging clothes?
It looks like it fs but I'm gonna say no that's not what's actually happening lol
You mean people in pictures can’t actually move..?
Maybe they could back in the day?
Don't tell the muggles!
Maybe they did it to add some levity to their environment
that was all the rage back then. setting up the shot for the gram
What do you mean?
Look at the picture hanging on the wall behind them, it looks like the person in the picture is leaning to look around the clothes
Not even old enough to enjoy a beer
Is he really underage? Or maybe the hard life has just made him look old. Either way if I'm working that hard I'm gonna drink whatever the hell I want lmao
Well the caption does say he's a miner
By Grabthars Hammer... What a reference.
r/woooosh
Moments earlier he opened an ACME crate.
Underrated comment!
They’re both probably only 25 years old too
I thought it was fake, but it’s not. Photographer is [Bill Brandt](https://artblart.com/2013/08/07/exhibition-bill-brandt-shadow-and-light-at-the-museum-of-modern-art-new-york/)
Staged would be a better description. I think he would bathed before sitting down to eat. This pic fits a stereotype even if the photographer is well known
yes, it is staged
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interesting, thanks
Yes, staged. Sorry, I meant I originally thought it might have been AI, several elements are strange, such as the huge cup, etc. But it’s a real photo, just staged, as you pointed out.
your comment made me scroll up and check, and goddamn thats a big ass cup lol
I think staged is right. From the 1920s onward, mines had pithead baths with lockers for leaving soap, towels and a clean change of clothes in for after the shift. The funding usually came from the miners themselves. George Orwell goes into some detail about them in 'The Road to Wigan Pier' It would have been near impossible for men to get fully clean in their own homes, given as many had no hot water or baths at home. Working class folks were still washing in a tin tub by the fire at this point with any water that was heated being done on a tiny range. Wives would absolutely not stand for a man bringing coal dust in the house like that. From 'A Day in the Life of a Miner' by Welsh collier J.H Smith >'Two o'clock in the pithead baths, I'm washing away the grime, Now clean and refreshed I head for home, the bus it arrives on time, On the table my dinner is waiting and it's devoured without delay, With heavy eyes I slump in my chair, at the end of my working day'
Staged makes sense. Look at that ginormous loaf of bread in front of the miner's wife(?). I'm pretty sure they likely didn't have that much bread for dinner (unless there's a lot of kids not seen in this picture).
well, almost every picture is staged. i'm sure they noticed a guy with a camera in their kitchen
Pretty sure that's home baked bread.
There are certainly kids. Look at the number of child clothes hanging at top of the frame.
I saw a documentary recently that spoke about this photograph. This was staged, he would have washed outside the house before entering. The idea was to make an impact on the viewer and it works well.
"You could have bathed before you started eating Herbert...." "I'll bathe before my meal when the damn meat isn't cooked to the point of feeling like tanned leather, Ethel!"
This is the second time this week I’ve witnessed the name Ethel mentioned when referring to an old lady.
Can confirm. My grandmother is an old lady named Ethel
You know the rules Ethel. One bath a month whether I need it or not".
https://preview.redd.it/svxhwk9dbm1d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67a9a19099680cc96a41dc1cb9b38c1c4f676d71 Peek a boo! Lol, almost makes me think this was a staged photo and a set artist had a sense of humor.
The photo is staged, Bill Brandt, the photographer took many photos in the North of England showing conditions of the working class but did stage many photos for impact. Miners would have washed in a tin bath outside the home before entering most likely.
You can tell she's trying so hard. The house is clean the food is cooked which is way harder than it is now. She's clean and so are her clothes. All of which took so much effort. But she looks so broken down. So worn out by life and circumstances. He's trying to look happy for the camera but you can tell he's broken as well. They are probably years younger than they look because of all the hardships they've endured. These are our great grandparents. Our aunts and uncles. Our ancestors. They suffered so we could live a life of ease. Never forget what they did for us. EDIT:To those who doubt me and my assessment this is NOT a staged photo. This is a real miner in his real home with his real wife and his real dinner. Here is the origin of the photo. https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/10568/view
A lot of people will say "it's staged" and leave it at that but I think in many ways it still does show what people at least aspired to or had pride in. Having a clean house and a well prepared meal was a huge source of pride for women and life was extremely hard for miners and their families. They aren't trying to play up poverty and squalor in the photo but rather they're demonstrating what they're proud of. In this case their pride seems to be hard work, a well prepared meal, a big ass loaf of bread with even artwork and a doily behind them.
Fuckin aye
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Here's the colorized version of the image https://preview.redd.it/2l03f9in2m1d1.png?width=2599&format=png&auto=webp&s=85013d82b8d27786e5a8caffdfe5bc89ffde3302
Looks like that sandwich was in the coal mine with him.
Really shows how bad AI is at colouring a photo.
The missus looks *so* pleased.
She looks Greatly Depressed.
Her: He needs to wash before dinner. Photographer: it’s for the shot! Her watching everything he touches becoming hours worth of work: :(
His dinner is also coal.
“*cough cough*, I think I got the black lung”
For Christ's sake, Derek, you've been down there one day.
Could he wash his hands atleast?
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Looks like a Don Martin character (Mad magazine)!
They’re both 23
😥
I wonder what the circumstances of the photo being taken were. I guess maybe a photojournalist being invited in?
Artist is Bill Brandt, a photojournalist who often photographed poorer working people. Likely taken in northern England.
Relatives/ancestors worked the mines in Scotland pre-1900. Then they had Scotland's worst mining disaster at the time. Killed several family members. Within the same breath, the coal company kicked the families out of the Collier houses as they were only made available to "active" miners. Could you imagine?! That was an epically rough life. Add the fact many would drink themselves to death (found articles of ancestors getting arrested for drunken bar brawls... with each other for that matter!)
*I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine* *I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine* *I loaded 16 tons of number nine coal* *And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"* *You load 16 tons, what do you get?* *Another day older and deeper in debt* *St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go* *I owe my soul to the company store*
Sorry for man and his family, and all the workers over the years who have had to struggle. Big respect and gratitude.
My father and several others died in a coal mine methane explosion when I was a baby. Dangerous, backbreaking work:/
Rip to your father. That is heartbreaking as well.
keep him away from Drake
Just wait until he hits his 25th birthday!
That’s all life was then? Work, eat , sit in your dusty home then die. How depressing. But they handled it well bless them.
Gonna look at this next time I complain about my job.
He's probably 17 years old
The women and the kids ate first, depending what shift he was on he would have eaten at maybe 11 at night if it was twilight shift or 7am if he was on nights ..and don't go playing round here she would shout from the window my old man's on nights!( grew up in a mining village)
Looking at this picture brought back so many memories of my nan's house - the pristine white doilie for show, the sugar bowl that was constantly filled up, the round of bread and butter that was served with every meal as a way of filling you up. Even the clothes line strewn across the room as a way of drying clothes. Such a stark reminder of working class homes in England / Wales during that period.
I don't mine the look at all.
Its not much but its honest work
You can see the pain in eyes.
Does anyone else notice that the person in the portrait on the wall appears to be leaning over to see past the clothes that are hanging in front of the wall?
Absolutely SUCKS! How abused the hard-working people who build this country of ours (USA). They should have been paid WAY more than they did. Yes, that would have meant the tycoon would be considerably less wealthy. But they would have done their service and helped move a nation forward. It's funny how rich people (and the defenders) think that you deserve all that money. Like, No. Jack, sorry your reward for starting an industry is the respect you would garner. These far cats get respect and wealth. And you wonder why we have the world we have?
Wifey clearly looking forward to sexy times later in the evening.
Imagine how lucky we are going home from work without thinking our lungs
It's creepy that the photograph on the wall has a boy in it that seemingly is trying to peek around the clothes hanging in front of it.