Sawmill dollars, scrip, doogaloo

Subject: RE: Sawmill dollars, scrip, doogaloo
From: Barry Finn
Date: 24 Nov 98 - 03:37 PM

16 Tons "I owe my soul to the company store". Barry

Subject: RE: Sawmill dollars, scrip, doogaloo
From: Bill in Alabama
Date: 24 Nov 98 - 10:52 AM

Norman Blake has written a song called "The Last Train from Poor Valley" in which he has the lines as follow:

The mines all closed down, everybody laid around/ There wasn't very much that we could do--/ Except stand in that ol' line, get our ration scrip on time/ And honey I could see it was killin' you.

Subject: Sawmill dollars, scrip, doogaloo
From:
Date: 24 Nov 98 - 10:01 AM

I am looking for songs with references to sawmill dollars, scrip, or being paid in the company store. This was done by mining companies, lumber companies, and was used as a form of barter in small towns all over the U.S. until WWII. I have found references in "Sixteen Tons," "The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore" and "Come All You Coal Miners." I think I have heard others but can't recall, am writing an article on scrip in the southern Appalachians. Thanks for your help!