Automatic Heating with Anthracite (1932)

HeatingHelp

Automatic Heating with Anthracite (1932)

This circa-1932 booklet from the Hudson Coal Company outlines the benefits of heating with coal.

Read the full story here

BradHotNCold

https://digital.hagley.org/islandora/object/islandora:2285215/datastream/JPG/download

delcrossv

With the way gas and oil prices are going, this post is timely. 😀

reggi

Though the reality was those that could work did.. The Breaker Boys




Breaker boys were required to work without gloves so that they could better handle the coal and manually filter out its impurities. The impurities like slate were sharp and breaker boys often left work with their fingers cut and bleeding. They lost fingers from the rapidly moving conveyor belts. Others lost feet, hands, arms, and legs as they moved among the machinery and became caught under conveyor belts or in gears. Many were crushed to death, their bodies retrieved from the gears of the machinery by supervisors only at the end of the workday

Courtesy: https://anthracitecoalregion.org/researchguide/?amp#

Skyline

Were the "breaker boys" in a forced labor camp? The supervisor standing there with stick in hand suggest that.

You'd think that the Anthracite boiler is no longer in production, but there are couple of models available, like this one:

https://leisurelinestove.com/product/aa-220-anthracite-coal-boiler/

CLamb

reggi said:

Though the reality was those that could work did.. The Breaker Boys

My grandfather was one of them as a lad in the Wilkes-Barre area. He was paid 10¢ an hour.

Gilmorrie

Anthracite has lower volatility that softer coals - as a result, it is more difficult to light and keep lighted.

reggi

If you follow the link in the post and in the search box of website type in  "Breaker Boys" you'll find a wealth of information on how they lived a scant 100 years ago and how photos like these helped create laws to protect children.. Quite a interesting read.. and the photo above was taken outside of Wilkes-Barre... just North in Pittson I believe 
Edit: the photo was taken at Pennsylvania Coal Company’s Ewen Breaker in South Pittson, Pennsylvania

ayetchvacker

I can smell that photo. I grew up playing in abandoned coal facilities around PA. It’s hard to convince mom you weren’t playing there when you’re covered in black dust. 

reggi

Gilmorrie said:

Anthracite has lower volatility that softer coals - as a result, it is more difficult to light and keep lighted.

Originally it was called Stone Coal amongst other names and only was useable to the blacksmith by use of "Artificial Air Blasts"..

Judge Fell is credited with actually being successful (or Lucky) on burning the "Stone Coal" in a open grate...  
I'm going guess that there was plenty of other fuel sources for the people as this took place over 100 years AFTER the blacksmith started using it.. If the people really needed it to survive you'd think it wouldn't of taken that long to figure out how to get it lit and burning ..