Stu "Shaftdigger" Richards, of Orwigsburg, and Tommy "Mule" Symons, of Primrose, are a musical duo called the Breaker Boys. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE DORMER
Originally published in the Pottsville Republican-Herald on March 8, 2022.
In days gone by, the life of the average anthracite miner in Schuylkill County began as a breaker boy - a youth between the ages of 8 and 12 who would separate the coal by hand. Once they grew up, they would begin a long and hard career as a miner. After decades of toil, the miners, now frail, asthmatic old men, would return to the breakers where their lives began. Once a man, the saying went, twice a boy.
"Once a Man, Twice a Boy" is the latest performance by the Breaker Boys, a musical duo consisting of Tommy "Mule" Symons of Primrose and Stu "Shaftdigger" Richards of Orwigsburg. The show will present "The life and times of the anthracite coal miner, told in story, song and verse in the first person" Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Mountaineer Hose Company in Minersville. The performance is presented by the Minersville Area Historical Society.
Ever since they met at Eckley Miners' Village, Symons, who says he's "70 going on 16," and Richards, 73, have kept the rich folk culture of the coal region alive for over a quarter of a century.
"We got together and started playing our harps and singing songs," Richards said. "I always wanted to keep the history of coal mining in the anthracite region alive because my grandfather died in the mines along with uncles."
Both men are the first of their families not to work in the mines. Symons said in a 2019 Republican-Herald interview that he wanted to honor his father, who died of black lung, with his performances.
"Many of [the miners]," Symons said, "even with no formal education, were poets, storytellers, musicians and even entertainers, and used that to keep our history alive without even realizing it."
Much of their material is passed down from family. Richards' grandmother would tell him stories of life in a patch town. As the Breaker Boys grew in popularity, locals reached out to them with folklore their families passed down to them, creating an ever-expanding repertoire.
Other songs and stories come from the books of George Korson, a folklorist who documented the oral and musical traditions of anthracite miners. Their ballads told of the hardships of a miner's life, labor disputes and mine disasters both real and fictional. Some songs were cautionary tales, others were laments at the injustices miners faced. The miners used whatever they could to make music. Symons plays the guitar, mandolin, banjo, harmonica and washboard, and recently took up the fiddle. Although he likes to say that the instruments play him. Richards plays the guitar and harmonica.
"The troubadours of the old mine patches were a unique breed of men who brought joy and happiness to the people," he said.
Comments