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We do not have much information on Italian child labor in mines. We do have some information about sulphur mines. An Italian reader has provided some information on the "carusi". Here we have some images showing boys working in Sicilian sulphur mines in late 19th century. These boys were called "carusi". In Sicilian dialect the word "caruso" (pl. "carusi") means boy. In 1876 an inquiry reports: "The carusi are boys 7-15 years old, that carry the sulphur from the tunnels. The boys work underground 8-10 hours everyday". The boys worked semi naked, sometime also naked. I'm not sure why this was. Heat may have been a factor. I know little about it, but assume that sulphur mines were located near volcanos, explaining the heat. Perhaps the sulphur damaged clothes. It must have also afected their skin and lungs. A reader writes, "The carusi and also the adult men miners worked naked or semi-naked because of the the hot temperature. That continued over the time. Photographs exist even after World War II showing Sicilian miners at work without clothes, although by this time child labor was being ended. There is a monument dedicated to the dead miners in Comitini, a Sicilian village. The boys were "rented" by the miners from the boys' parents. The miners paid the parents and the carusi had to work in the mine for a fixed time, therefore they lived like slaves for the "rental" period. A movie was made about the carusi in 1992. It was titled "La discesa di Aclą a Floristella" (Aclas descending into Floristella). Floristella was one of the sulphur mines.
Mines have played an important role in Italian history, melenia before Rome rose to dominate the island. Although Italy was relatively poor in mineral resources, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians founded colonies on the Italian pensinsula and islands, including Corisca, Sardinia, and Sicily. And metals were one of the primary driving factors. The fight for Sicily and its mineral wealth played a key role in the Pelopensian War< and the Punic Wars.
We do not have much information on Italian child labor in mines. We do have some information about sulphur mines. An Italian reader has provided some information on the "carusi". Here we have some images showing boys working in Sicilian sulphur mines (late-19th century). These boys were called "carusi". In Sicilian dialect the word "caruso" (pl. "carusi") means boy. In 1876 an inquiry reports: "The carusi are boys 7-15 years old, that carry the sulphur from the tunnels. The boys work underground 8-10 hours everyday". The boys worked semi naked, sometime also naked. I'm not sure why this was. Heat may have been a factor. I know little about it, but assume that sulphur mines were located near volcanos, explaining the heat. Perhaps the sulphur damaged clothes. It must have also afected their skin and lungs. A reader writes, "The Carusi and also the adult men miners worked naked or semi-naked because of the the hot temperature and we suspect damage the sulphur caused to their clothes. This was apparently the case for centiries. We even note this after World war II. A photographic report dated 1953 shows the Sicilian miners working barefoot and naked or, at most, wearing loinclothes." This was about the time that child labor in the mines was being ended.
The boys were 'rented' by the miners from the boys' parents. The miners paid the parents and the carusi had to work in the mine for a fixed time, therefore they lived like slaves for the "rental" period. Besides the formal condition of slave, there were many similar legal arrangements that were very similar arrangements similar to slavery. And the Carusi were virtual slaves. The working conditions were horendous and there was a real lack of freedom. The "renter" paid poor families an amount equivalent to the salary for some years of work, that salary was very low. So the boy was essentially 'rented' and had to work for the stipulated time. He received only his food. If the boy tried to run away, fell ill, or died, the family had to return the amount or provide the services of another child. As the family was involved in the forced labor scheme, there was virtually no way for a boy to escape. When a ruaway boy was caught, as was often the case, he was severly punished, usually beat with a stick.
A movie was made about the Carusi in Sicily (1992). It was entitled 'La discesa di Aclą a Floristella' (Aclas descending into Floristella). Floristella refers to the name of one of the sulphur mines. Caruso was the slang name for boys in Sicily. Carusi is the plural. These were boys that poor parents rented out to wotk in the sulphur mines. They were essentially slaves during the rental period. We have little information about the film at this time.
The sulpher mines on Sicily have been worked since ancient times. Miners were often slaves and condemned crimilals. We are not sure when the practice of renting boys began. We suscpect that the demand for suphur increased during the medieval era with the introduction of gunpowder from China to Europe. The Europeans begann employing it in warfare (14th century). We assume this practice of using boys originated in medieval times. Situations like this persisted longer on Sicily than the Italian mainland. We note boys working in quaries even after World War II. An example is a Sardinian quary after the War. This probably reflects the aftermath of World War II which devestated Italy, although Sardinia was a poor area of Italy and a very traditional place where it took some time for the modern economy and child labor laws to become effective.
The first Italian child labor laws were specifically directed at the mining industry where working conditions were particularly hard. The Kingdom of Sardinia forbade children under 10 nyears old from working in mines (January 20, 1859). This became the first Italian child labor law when the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed (1861). it is one thing to pass a law. It is quite another matter to actually implement it, especially if they attempt to end long established
practices and among poor people with few economic alternatives. These early laws were often not enforced very strictly. A problem was that many Italian families were so poor that they depended on what ever money the children could bering in for the family. This is the principal reason that so many Italians emigrated to American and other countries during the late-19th and erly-20th centuries.
These mines were very dangerous places to work and accidents were common. A serious accident took place in a sulphur mine on February 14 1958, with 14 dead and many wounded miners. The Italian parliment as a result passed a new law
about mining (1959). The law forbade miners to go naked and barefoot in the mines. The miners had to wear at least trousers and shirt, boots and helmet. There is a monument dedicated to the dead miners in Comitini, a Sicilian village near the mine.
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