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Here’s Tacki dressed up as a rebelling miner from West Virginia circa 1921. His costume is based on the miners involved in a labor dispute that occurred during that time with several coal miner companies. Basically, the owners didn’t want the miners to unionize. In addition, many of the miners lived in company towns and were paid in company scrip that couldn’t be used anywhere else. If the miners crossed their owners, not only would they lose their job but they would be kicked out of their homes and out into the elements… with their families. The system was designed so that the bosses held all the cards. All this drama culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain which ended up seeing the striking workers crushed and labor rights set back for a few years until the New Deal.

It’s a pretty interesting event in history but doesn’t get covered too well in the US education system. (I wonder why???)

Anyway give me candy or I’ll blow your house up!