Analysis Of Company Store Scrip By Dave Tabler

Personally, I would describe the narrator of the song as hardworking and dedicated to the quality of his work, but also tired and disheartened. Those who listen to the song can tell that the narrator is a hardworking individual when he described, “I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine / I loaded sixteen tons of number 9 coal” (Ford), for collecting sixteen tons of coal is no easy feat but he continues to do so day after day. Additionally, the narrator can also be physically described as well-built and strong due to the impact of his labor on his body, as seen by the lines, “A poor man's made outta' muscle and blood / Muscle and blood and skin and bones / A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong” (Ford). However, listeners can

This shows that the narrator of the song is stuck in a trap: he works his hardest all day but is unable to get ahead, owing his life to the company he works for. In a historical context, this is occurred quite often, trapping hardworking men in a never-ending cycle of debt. According to a post titled “Company Store Scrip,” written by Dave Tabler on the Appalachian History website, many miners were issued something called scrip, which is a token of sorts that was only able to be used in town, where the “only store in town was usually owned or run on behalf of the coal company” (Tabler). Generally, scrip was essentially an “advance against unearned wages and usable only by the employee to whom it was issued” (Tabler), acting as a sort of payday loan for many. However, this had many consequences since scrip wasn’t one’s earning but rather a representation of what they would earn, causing many to blow through their paychecks before they even received them. Due to this practice, “many miners were never able to fully retire their debt to the company store” (Tabler), leaving many individuals, including men much like the narrator of “Sixteen Tons,” in debt to the store, and with that the

a wage), it is safe to say that the narrator’s work was not generalized reciprocity, which is defined as, “Gift giving without any immediate or planned return” (Ember 126). When it comes to whether or not it was a balanced reciprocity, some may argue that it is, simply because balanced reciprocity is defined as, “Giving with the expectation of a straightforward immediate or limited-time trade” (Ember 127). While it can be argued that this is the case because the narrator exchanged his labor for a wage, it’s not necessarily the case for the narrator is not receiving a wage equal to that of his work, so therefore the reciprocity system cannot be balanced. Because of this, it would be most befitting to say that the narrator’s work was negative reciprocity, which is defined as a system where, “one person in an exchanges [sic] tries to get something for nothing or for less than its recognized worth” (“Definitions of Anthropological Terms”). Within the song, this can specifically be seen when the narrator states, “I loaded sixteen tons of number 9 coal / And the store boss said ‘Well, a-bless my soul’” (Ford), which shows that the miner’s work and ability to obtain sixteen tons of coal was exceptional. However, he is not compensated properly, as shown by the lines, “You load sixteen tons, what do you get? / Another day older and deeper in debt” (Ford), revealing that the store boss was giving the