I ran across a post about this item last week. It's called a Bucket-a-Day. This item played a daily part of my husband's life as he was growing up in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania. Coal was the most used heating fuel for homes in this part of the state. These little burners were used to heat water in the home. Even as recently as the 1970's, when I first met my husband, he would have to put coal into the Bucket a day to heat water so he could take a bath for our weekly date nights. And imagine how much hot water a family with 7 children would use! The Bucket a day's chores did not end there because after the coal that was burned was used up, the Bucket a day had to be emptied of the coal ash which remained. The ashes would be picked up by your garbage hauler each week which you had to take to the curb in ash cans. The ashes did have others uses, most commonly as a non skid material to sprinkle on your sidewalks after shoveling snow. Some people kept an ash can full in the trunk of their car in case they became stuck on a snowy or icy road. Just put some ashes around the tires for traction and, hopefully, away you went.
And don't think the work involved with coal in your home ended there. In order to heat your home, there would be a coal furnace, usually in the basement. Also homes needed a place to store all of the coal that was delivered periodically, usually by the ton. That would be the coal bin that was located where there would be easy access to a small window into which the coal was then able to be transferred from the coal man's dump truck. This was done by running a metal chute from the truck into the small window of the coal bin. The coal would then be easily accessed inside the home. Just like the Bucket a day, the furnace needed to be filled with coal to provide the heat for the home, one shovel full at a time. And emptied of ashes as well. Lots of ash cans to haul to the curb in the winter on trash day.
