An Appalachian Christmas Carol Adapted by Merri Biechler Produced by Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble.

An Appalachian Christmas

CarolAdapted by Merri

BiechlerProduced by Brick Monkey Theater

Ensemble

Setting: Southeastern Ohio 1907

The Scrooge and Marley Mine

Inspired by the Monogah Mine disaster, the worst mining disasterin our country with 361 coal miners killed, some of them children.

Miners were paid by the load of coal

(weight) rather than hours worked.

“In 1895, a miner would have worked six days a week for a two week pay period, and mined and loaded 79 five-ton coal cars.

That averages out to mining and hand loading 32.9 tons of coal per day at a pay rate of 40 cents per five-ton car filled, just a little more than half a cent per ton of coal.” (http://kycoal.homestead.com0)

Children often worked in the mines

• In our story, Scrooge is the main character and he owns the Scrooge and Marley Mine.

• Scrooge likes to save money so he sometimes buys cheap materials for his mine, which makes it dangerous for the miners.

The Plot Scrooge must decide between being greedy

and treating his workers poorly OR being fair and treating his workers well. Many

lives depend on Scrooge’s decision.On Christmas eve,

Scrooge is visited by three spirits (coal miners) and they try to help Scrooge make the right decision by showing him his mistakes.

Mary Harris Jones

• During the early 1900’s, Mother Jones was a union supporter for better working & living conditions for coal miners & their families.

• In our play, Mother Jones represents the Ghost of Christmas Present.

Millfield, OH

•Labor unions protected the miners from owners “tipping the scales” or weighing the coal in their favor since miners were paid by weight.

Company Town

• It was common for miners in the coal patch towns to be paid on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.

• This meant a new employee might work as long as one to two months, depending upon when in the month he was hired, before getting his first paycheck.

• Miners had to pay the mining company rent for their lodging, tools, food, clothing, etc. (http://kycoal.homestead.com)

Company Scrip

• “Coal company scrip continued to be used throughout the Appalachian coal regions into the early 1950s.

• Since scrip could only be spent at the company store the miners had to pay whatever the company charged.” (http://kycoal.homestead.com )

Stuart’s Opera House

• Miners and their families were brought in by train for meetings and events at Stuart’s.

Enjoy the show!!!

• What would you do if you were Scrooge?