American Toby Jug Museum 

Coal Miner toby jug produced by Roy Kirkham Pottery of Tunstall, England, circa 1982. 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. Note the lantern on a metal ring.