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September 1938. Capels, West Virginia. "Miner waiting for ride home. Each miner pays twenty-five cents a week to owner of car." Medium format negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
This man's last name was England. I know his son.
Living in Western Pennsylvania, I've known miners like him and they're honest and real to a fault. If we had more people like him today the world would be a much better place.
I wonder how this man would feel if he knew he would appear on Shorpy twice in one week 72 years later.
[This fellow has not appeared previously. -Dave]
But this is ridiculous!
I pay just about the same amount to public transit twice a day, 5 days a week.
Poor guy! This is an image of what it is to be the guy trying to pull yourself up by your bootstraps while your bootstraps are frayed and threadbare.
You can just see how exhausted he is from the way he's sitting there. Looking at his clothes, the patches have holes in them, the gaiters held up by safety pins, the boots with the hole so big his toes are showing through.
When I think how hard people worked just a few generations past, I'm full of gratitude and shame. Would they recognize our lives today?
How tired and exhausted he looks! His shoes are worn out. The car also has seen better days. A fantastic photo!
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