this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
189 points (100.0% liked)
HistoryPhotos
935 readers
224 users here now
HistoryPhotos is for photographs (or, if it can be found, film) of the past, recent or distant! Give us a little snapshot of history!
Rules
- Be respectful and inclusive.
- No harassment, hate speech, or trolling.
- Foster a continuous learning environment.
- No genocide or atrocity denialism.
- Photos MUST be at LEAST 10 years old, and ideally over 20. We appreciate that we are living through events which will become history, but this is ultimately not a comm for news or current affairs, but events which have occurred some time in the past.
Related Communities:
- !militaryporn@lemmy.world
- !forgottenweapons@lemmy.world
- !historymusic@quokk.au
- !historygallery@quokk.au
- !historymemes@piefed.social
- !historyruins@piefed.social
- !historyart@piefed.social
- !historyartifacts@piefed.social
- !historyphotos@piefed.social
founded 6 months ago
MODERATORS
Ah the good old days! No pesky regulations to stifle the entrepreneurial spirit!
I literally cant imagine the mindset required to voluntarily do that - outside of the direct threat of violence - were there genuinely no other options for an average person back then to get by?
Considering the 1920s were a time of significant labor and anti-labor violence, the direct threat of violence may be nonzero here.
But mining has always been miserable work, essentially. For much of history it was split between (low-paid) itinerant workers who needed the money when the farms weren't in need of extra labor, and (okay-paid) professionals with specific skills. For reference, and please forgive my obsession from coming into play here, a free miner in the period of the Roman Empire could make as much as a soldier, and with similar short-term benefits besides. On the other hand, when labor was lacking, they would simply send criminals into the mines for the backbreaking labor... and six months as a mining slave was considered as good as a death sentence.
"You get stuffed in a tiny elevator now" may actually be less horrific than "You have to walk all the way down or be lowered by a rope; be careful not to fall and break your neck."
be careful not to fall and break your neck.
"Because we paid full price for you and don't want to replace you on day one."
It's Italians that migrated to Belgium to work. Belgians didn't want to work in dangerous mines and Italy had an extreme amount of unemployment. Belgium and Italy made an agreement that would benefit both. Cheap workers for Belgium and less unemployment plus easy coal for Italy.
Part of the deal for Italian workers that accepted the 5 year contract was at least 1 year of mandatory labor. Besides that it was for many Italians one of the only jobs available.
https://thehistoryinsider.com/photo-of-a-crude-elevator-crammed-with-miners/
Imagine ending a grueling shift in the mines. I would accept siting on a tiny elevator if it meant the queue was shorter
Makes me appreciate unions.
I wonder if these people felt nostalgia for the old days later in life.
What "later in life"? They prolly died at the age of 40 from black lung.
this is why I don't have kids. Because our current velocity is in this direction rather than away from it.
Life is a gift 💕
"So that's where you boys have been hiding all day? sigh "
Those women, probably (not)