Uploaded September 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Today is Labor Day in the US, a day where we honor those who work hard at their jobs and make this country productive. The concept of Labor Day was originally started by unions in the late 1800's.
The song "Sixteen Tons" refers to life working at a coal mine in Kentucky. It was written in 1946 by Merle Travis and was a big hit in 1955 for Tennessee Ernie Ford. The "company store" in the song refers to the scrip system of payment for coal miners. Rather than getting paid in cash, they were paid in credit vouchers that could only be used at a store owned by the company, preventing them from accumulating cash savings. Comments welcome!
Today is Labor Day in the US, a day where we honor those who work hard at their jobs and make this country productive. The concept of Labor Day was originally started by unions in the late 1800's.
The song "Sixteen Tons" refers to life working at a coal mine in Kentucky. It was written in 1946 by Merle Travis and was a big hit in 1955 for Tennessee Ernie Ford. The "company store" in the song refers to the scrip system of payment for coal miners. Rather than getting paid in cash, they were paid in credit vouchers that could only be used at a store owned by the company, preventing them from accumulating cash savings. Comments welcome!
