Michigan Miner's Pasties

[blissful]

Originally Posted by sparrowgrass

Soudan Underground Mine State Park is an iron mine where you take a ride half a mile down in the original 'man-cage' elevator. I worked there as a tour guide for 5 years, and spent lots of time talking to the old timers who worked in the mine before it closed in 1962.

Sparrowgrass, sometimes I think we may have met or be related, when I read your stories.
My father's family lived in Ely and worked in a mine (which one, I do not know). When we visited, we collected some ore and brought it home (southern wisconsin) and kept it near the patio fireplace while I was growing up. (some of it was shaped like pellets)
I learned to make pasties with grandma in Ely (farm lake). We picked wild blueberries along the road to the cabin. We didn't make fruit pasties, I think we just ate the blueberries with ice cream. Learned to play horse shoes there too.
Around, 1970 to 1974 (?) --around that time, I went on a tour of a mine, and I still remember the elevator like box we went down into the mine in, and how pitch black it was in the mine. If I remember correctly, the box didn't go straight down, it turned a little as it decended and the ride was a little bumpy. I remember how scary it was to think of all the earth/rock over my head and I wondered if I would get out alive.
I haven't thought of it in years!

[chopper]

Originally Posted by sparrowgrass

Miners do some of the most dangerous jobs around, and, remember, if you don't grow it, you have to mine it!!

I have heard of the meat and fruit pasty, but I have never tried one. I have a friend whose grandmother was Cornish, and she would bake the pasties til they were almost done, and then cut a slit and pour cream in, to make a kind of gravy.

Babetoo--I used to lead a group of people underground in the Soudan mine, and tell that story, by candlelight--the first miners worked underground by the light of candles in their hats. As I told the part about tommyknockers getting cranky if they didn't get fed, I would say that they might misplace your tools. or----BLOW YOUR CANDLE OUT!

It is very, very dark underground when the tommies blow your candle out! Of course, I had a light switch at hand, and didn't leave them in the dark long.

On a tour inside of a mine once, they took us in a small area with only candles, and blew the candles out. The absence of light was amazing. That is a dark you don't usually experience. I cannot imagine how it would be to work in a mine. Thanks for the stories, info, and recipe.

[chopper]

Originally Posted by blissful

Sparrowgrass, sometimes I think we may have met or be related, when I read your stories.
My father's family lived in Ely and worked in a mine (which one, I do not know). When we visited, we collected some ore and brought it home (southern wisconsin) and kept it near the patio fireplace while I was growing up. (some of it was shaped like pellets)
I learned to make pasties with grandma in Ely (farm lake). We picked wild blueberries along the road to the cabin. We didn't make fruit pasties, I think we just ate the blueberries with ice cream. Learned to play horse shoes there too.
Around, 1970 to 1974 (?) --around that time, I went on a tour of a mine, and I still remember the elevator like box we went down into the mine in, and how pitch black it was in the mine. If I remember correctly, the box didn't go straight down, it turned a little as it decended and the ride was a little bumpy. I remember how scary it was to think of all the earth/rock over my head and I wondered if I would get out alive.
I haven't thought of it in years!

Growing up in MI, my brother and I used to hang out near the railroad tracks. We would find that ore shaped like pellets that had fallen off of the train cars. I was in "rocks and minerals" in 4-H, and I even had some of those pellets in my collection for the fair. They were a hit, and it was thought that they came from mines in the UP.

[blissful]

Originally Posted by chopper

Growing up in MI, my brother and I used to hang out near the railroad tracks. We would find that ore shaped like pellets that had fallen off of the train cars. I was in "rocks and minerals" in 4-H, and I even had some of those pellets in my collection for the fair. They were a hit, and it was thought that they came from mines in the UP.

Chopper, there were many iron ore mines in Michigan too. From reading, it looks like there were times in history when Michigan mined more iron ore than anywhere else.
Memories! 4-H sounds like fun. I was in Girl Scouts.

[chopper]

Originally Posted by blissful

Chopper, there were many iron ore mines in Michigan too. From reading, it looks like there were times in history when Michigan mined more iron ore than anywhere else.
Memories! 4-H sounds like fun. I was in Girl Scouts.

Oh, I did the Girl Scout thing too! They are great memories too, but I had many varried memories from 4-H. We had a softball team, I learned to cook and sew, and I was able to enjoy other outdoor things with the rocks and minerals, etc. I think those organizations are just wonderful. I only had boys, and they didn't do 4-H, but they were both Boy Scouts. My husband and I were involved with scouting for many years.

[LAJ]

Originally Posted by Bolas De Fraile

Laj a good pasty recipe with an interesting filing I will give it a bash, I live in Wales the name of the little people here is Bwca, in the Cornish Tin mines it is Bucca. Welsh coal miners are some of the hardest men I have ever played rugby with or boxed. There is no history of the Pasty in Welsh coal mines but in the copper mines of Anglesey there is, the pasty had two filings meat one side fruit the other.
I live 4 miles from Gresford 266 men died down the pit on sept 22 1934.
Miners should carry a nations automatic respect.

My hats are off for all miners.

[Bolas De Fraile]

The great tradition of Mining in Wales was ended, before its premature demise the only way to escape(welsh father in general did not want their kids to be miners) from the pit was education or boxing, Howard Winstome MBE the amateur was my hero, he won the 1958 bantam weight World Title, because he lost the tips of three fingers in an accident he had no knock out punch, his jab and move style using both hands was beautiful Mohamed Ali was nearly as good.