Miners - Part 3

 Czechoslovakia

The sulfur miners of Sicily were not the only miners to work naked.  These are coal miners in the František (Francis) mine in Czechoslovakia in 1928.  The mine was over 1800 feet deep, and the air temperature reached 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit), with the rocks up to 55 degrees C (131 degrees F).  The guy above is working on the wooden beams.

Most wore a leather apron to protect their private parts, but it's said the toughest guys dispensed with even the apron.  

This and the previous photos were taken in 1928 by Sergej Protopopov.

Workers clearing a break in the mine shaft in 1937.  Photographer unknown.  The mine finally closed in 1999.

Miners - Part 2

 The Ruhr

Coal mining is dirty work.  Most coal mines provided showers for the miners to clean up at the end of their shift.  These photos from the LIFE photo archive were never published in the magazine.

The first five photos are from a set called "Ruhr Essay" taken by LIFE photographer William Vandivert in 1946.  German industry had been destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II, but the underground coal mines were untouched, and mining was one of the first industries to recover.  Here we see German miners washing up in the communal shower.

More miners showering.

After showering, the miners dressed.  There were no lockers.  The miners changed in a huge, barn-like room, with their clothes on hooks attached to chains suspended from the ceiling.  The clothes were hauled up to the ceiling to get them out of the way.

More miners changing.

And still more.  In the distance you can see the clothes hanging from the ceiling.

The practice of having clothes on hooks hanging from the ceiling was not unique to German mines.  This photo was taken by LIFE photographer Ralph Crane at a mine in West Frankfort, Illinois in 1951.  You can see one guy changing in the background.