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January 22, 2017

Big John

a-abigjohn.jpg

Every mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive

He stood six-foot-six and weighed two-forty-five

Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip

And everybody knew ya didn't give no lip to Big John

November 1942. "Pittsburgh (vicinity). Montour No. 4 mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company. Coal miner waiting to go underground." Medium-format nitrate negative by John Collier for the Office of War Information. Big John: 1942 | Shorpy

Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 22, 2017 6:50 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Interesting leather "hard" hat. Probably didn't provide much protection but held the carbide lamp. These guys were tough.

Posted by: TCNM at January 22, 2017 7:48 AM

My great grandfather was coal miner in WVA. Tough work for sure.

The song Big John, still hear it on an old country radio station locally. Never imagined it was a black man. Maybe I was thinking about relatives of the past. Irrelevant. Big John was a BIG, BIG MAN.

Posted by: Snakepit Kansas at January 23, 2017 5:12 PM

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