• Sunday-What'sUP February 12 - 08:16 pm

Do you think there are some pasties in those pails?

Probably not. The shift is over. On this particular day in 1905 the photographer from the Detroit Publishing Company captured this relatively jovial crew of men from Calumet and Laurium. Maybe they were telling jokes on the way up ? :o)

A lot of these guys look like people we know. Some look like Detroit Red Wings. Then there's the big dude in the third row who played Biff in "Back to The Future". And that must be George Clooney's grandfather in the bottom left seat.

There is one guy that looks a lot like a guy I dated before Bob!

They look quite clean to be on the way up at the end of a shift.

One could be my Grandfather. Great photo's.

"Relatively jovial" all right. They look about as happy as anyone can be when you've finished your shift, but have to sit there even one minute longer before you can go home.

Historic.

I'm with Dane. Something almost seems fishy here. Look at that last closeup again and imagine the guys all thinking, "How much did he say we'd get paid for this??"

Looks like moustaches were really popular back then....also pipe-smoking. Had to laugh at the first photo....looks like the fella standing was thinking he would be out of the picture way over there. A bunch of dedicated brave souls, I'd say!

I'm with FJL....could be an ancestor there! Great stuff.....

Really neat photo! There is one guy who appears to be smoking a pipe, and the guy next to him holding a pipe in his hand ... but maybe they just wanted to be ready to light up when they were able ... can't imagine that smoking would have been allowed while coming up from a mine. Anyone know what those things on the front of their helmets are?

I think the pictures are too old for any of them to be my grandfathers, maybe my great-grandfathers?? Don't know. Fun to look back at these, though.

Diana, I'm certainly not sure about the answer to your question, but I have to wonder if those helmet 'adornments' are their candle holders. I was shocked when learning on Pasty not too long ago, that miners 'wore' candles.
Charlie?

Those are oil lamps on their heads which were used after candles and before carbide lamps were invented. They look like a small pitcher with a piece if material in the spout to soak up the oil and work as a wick.

I just cannot imagine wearing an open flame atop my head! Oh dear... What amazing guys these were. Wonder if they know how brave they were?

The big guy in the middle of the third photo reminds me of the song, "Big Bad John".

Please sit back, and keep all hands in the car.

Wow...as Charlie said, that guy is a "big dude". I just noticed in the first pic, that his left bicep is as big as the man's head sitting next to him :-0
He was probably as gentle as lamb, too.

That 'dude' looks like a young Archie Bunker. Bet he kept the others 'in line'.

I saw those man cars come up many times at different mines in the 60's. I used to drive injury car to transport miners for medical treatment. It was usually a smashed finger or toe.
It was part of the family business and I would be picked up from highschool. I had to drive to the mine to wait for the skip to bring the injured miner to surface.
I would then drive him to the infirmery in Calumet and wait until he was treated. It was time consuming and I was supposed to be studying while waiting.
I don't ever remember studying but learned a lot anyway.

Diana & JoAnne,
I believe the lamps they are using were called "Sunshine" lamps which may have been a brand name. They worked as Kent described and were an improvement over the old candles. The carbide lamps were the next step. The carbide lamp held water in the top half and calcium carbide in the bottom. There was a valve that controlled the drip rate. Water on the calcium carbide produced acetylene gas which burned in a very luminous and sooty flame. The more water, the bigger the flame. I'm sure the electric miner's lamps that came later were welcomed.

The man behind the big guy looks a little like Robert Mitchum.

The Calumet area mines closed in 1968, are there some of the underground miners that are still around and have related their experiences to the local students.

At second glance, instead of George Clooney, I'd say our front row left anchor is more like a young Tom Sellick.

Maybe, RD, but I think he looks more like Glenn Ford (without the moustache, of course).

blow the pic up; first row on top, fella on the left
looks like he's sleeping, & next row down 3rd guy
looks like he may look like a leprachan!

What good eyes you have, 'below the bridge', I see now what you're referring to. But if it hadn't been for the leprachan's cigarette smoke rising, I wouldn't have noticed him. Hope someone kept the 'sleeper' from falling out.

Last summer I took most of the tours offered at the Quincy Mine hoist historic site by both the Quincy Mine Hoist Association and the National Park Service. They were all extremely interesting and enlightening.

The guys in the above picture were riding in 20th century luxury. From what I learned, the previous methods were far more dangerous and strenuous. Until the first versions of man lifts were installed in the latter part of the 19th century the miners had to climb in and out using wooden ladders. It often took and hour to climb in and an hour to climb out, and your shift didn’t start until you reached the bottom so the climbing was all on your time.

Too bad there's not more of the C&H site remaining or restored yet.

Alex, nah, that's me n the big Marty!

Alex, btw, we both stand 6'6", weigh 275, eat alot of good food and never shoot no deer, but •••• do we have fun in the U.P. each year!

BIG UC, N BIG MG AND WE KNOW HOW TO CUT WOOD, WON'T NEED ANYMORE, THAT DANM •••••!

DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL EVER BE UP AGAIN.

For goodness sake, Charlie, where'd you get all those 'star' photos?;)