Coal Mining: Dispatching Coal by Canal ~1893 UK/British (Damaged; as is) D939B

Description: Stereoview titled 1772. Dispatching Coal by Canal. There is a piece of ¾ inch wide clear tape extending top to bottom over the left portion of the right image. The tape is also on the back of the card. I'm offering this damaged view because it is a scarce image.As a collector of coal mining stereoviews, this series has fascinated me. They are very striking in their depictions of the many aspects of coal mining. My research shows that they were produced in the 1890s and the mines depicted are British. Evidence for these conclusions are discussed below. The “negative” or series numbers range from at least 1765 through at least 1793. Thus, there are probably around 30 different views. I’ve seen 22.An approximate year of production can be determined from clues in the photographs themselves. For example, No. 1790 shows a fresh looking poster for an upcoming event that can be partially read. It reads “ ? Swifts Walsall Wood Ramblers…Match…The Horse and Jockey Ground, Saturday, Feb. 10, 1892.” No. 1789 has dates on roof supports, presumably an inspection date, of June 1893. No. 1787 has dates on roof support members of Nov. 1892 and 10 Dec. 1890. No. 1776 has a door frame with a date of June 1893. All the dates are from the early 1890s, and presumably they were taken around the time of the most recent date that can be read, June 1893. This series is definitely British and not American. As to where these were taken, I see no coal company names or locations identified. However, the poster mentioned above gives a good clue as to location in that it mentions “Walsall Wood.” I found the following on Wikipedia regarding mining in the town of Walsall Wood, West Midlands, England. “In the late-18th century and early-19th century, the workers of Walsall Wood were primarily involved in the mining of limestone. In 1864, the population of the settlement expanded as Walsall Wood Colliery was opened, as well as another colliery in nearby Shelfield. The Walsall Wood Colliery purchased the Pelsall Colliery from Pelsall Coal & Iron Co. in 1894. The opening of the Walsall Wood Colliery saw the establishment of the first public services, including a police station and a post office. The mine was closed in 1964 when the supply of accessible coal had been exhausted.” Some of the card mounts have the name “Caswell & Bowden, Ltd. Coal Brokers, Birmingham & Shrewsbury”, a British firm, written on the edge of the mount. From the little that I could find on the internet about Caswell & Bowden, they were in business from at least the late 1880s to the 1890s. I suspect that Caswell and Bowden were not the publishers of these cards, but simply used them as advertising. Many cards are attributed to “Universal Stereoscopic View Company” on the edge of the card. No address is ever provided. Many cards are not marked as to publisher.

Price: 10.97 USD

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-12-10T23:08:54.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.5 USD