American Toby Jug Museum 

Coal Miner character jug produced by The Mad Potters of the Sydney Mines in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, circa 1965. People have worked as coal miners for centuries, but they became increasingly important during the Industrial revolution when coal was burned on a large scale to fuel stationary and locomotive engines and heat buildings . Owing to coal's strategic role as a primary fuel, coal miners have figured strongly in labor and political movements since that time. Originally using only picks, shovels and hand held lanterns to mine the coal, today coal miners use large machines to remove coal from the earth. Many U.S. coal deposits, called coal beds or seams, are near the earth's surface, but others are deep underground. A pick axe forms the handle of the jug.