CODEBOOK AND USER'S MANUAL: A SURVEY OF 230 MALE WAGE-EARNERS IN OHIO, 1879 REPORTED IN THE THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OHIO BUREAU OF STATISTICS OF LABOR Version 2.1 July 10, 1993 Susan B. Carter Roger L. Ransom Richard Sutch Hongcheng Zhao Historical Labor Statistics Project Institute of Business and Economic Research, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 This codebook is a preliminary draft. The data described here and accompanying this version of the codebook is still in a preliminary format and may contain errors. Those wishing to use this data for research purposes should check with the authors for an update. Neither the collectors of the data or those sponsoring the data collection wish to bear responsibility for the use to which others may make of this data. The financial support of the National Science Foundation, the All-UC group in Economic History, and the Institute of Business and Economic Research and the Laboratory for Historical Research, both of the University of California is appreciated. Neither the collectors of the data or those sponsoring the data collection wish to bear responsibility for the use to which others may put them. For further description of the Historical Labor Statistics Project, discussion of the social, economic, and political context in which the data were collected, and an assessment of data quality, see Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "The Historical Labor Statistics Project at the University of California," Historical Methods 24 (2) (Spring 1991): 52-65, and Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, and Richard Sutch, "Doing the Wright Thing: Carroll Wright and the State Labor Statistics Movement." Paper Presented at the Conference on Historical Labor Statistics, Lawrence, Kansas, June 1991. Suggested Citation: Susan B. Carter, Roger L. Ransom, Richard Sutch, and Hongcheng Zhao. Codebook and User's Manual: Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners in Ohio in 1879, Reported in the Third Annual Report of the Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics. Berkeley: Institute of Business and Economic Research, 1993. A SURVEY OF 230 MALE WAGE-EARNERS IN OHIO, 1879 In 1879 the Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics mailed out 781 "blanks" containing questions on nationality, occupation, work experience, time lost, wages, family composition, earnings and expenses to "workingmen in the several sections of the State" (Ohio BLS, 1880, p. 208). "Of the number issued, three hundred and sixty-seven were returned, representing seventy-five occupations or trades, in forty cities and towns of the State" (Ohio BLS 1880, p. 209). Of these, 224 were deemed to have had sufficiently complete information on employment and lost time to warrant publication. Ninety-seven returns were deemed to have sufficiently complete information on family expenditures to justify publication in a second table. Consistent numbering of the returns and a repetition of certain questions on the two tables allowed us to match the information from both tables to create a data set of 230 respondents. The Historical Labor Statistics Project has transformed these data into machine-readable form using the procedures and codes outlined in this Codebook. Table 1 lists the questions asked in the survey and the variable names assigned to each response. Tables 2 through 13 present descriptive statistics on the values and distribution of responses to the questions, including, where necessary, the numeric codes used in entering the data into the computer. Since version 2.0, some of the variable names and variable codes have been changed. Users are reminded to be aware of these changes. This survey of 230 male wage-earners in Ohio in 1879 has been archived at the Laboratory for Historical Research at the University of California, Riverside. For additional information regarding the availability of this data please contact: Professor Roger Ransom Department of History University of California Riverside, CA 92521 FAX [909] 787-5299 Reference Ohio Bureau of Labor Statistics. Third Annual Report for the Year 1879. Columbus: Nevins and Myers, State Printers, 1880. Table 1 Questions Asked of Respondents Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners in Ohio, 1879 Name Description Characteristics of Male Wage-Earners, 1879 ID Identification Number [assigned by HLSP] SUB_ID Number of Return OCC Occupation YRSOCC Years at Present Occupation YRSEMP Years with Present Employer PERIOD Payment Method WAGEWK79 Weekly Wages in 1879 WAGEWK72 Weekly Wages in 1872 WAGEWK60 Weekly Wages in 1860 WLOST78 Weeks Out of Work 1878 WLOST79 Weeks Out of Work 1879 to April 1. HEADEAR Head of Family Earnings 1878 OTHEAR Others in Family Earnings 1878 ADULTS Adults in Family KIDSOV16 Children over 16 in Family KIDSUN16 Children under 16 in Family Family Expenses by Category, 1878 RENT Rent, Taxes or Repairs EXPGROC Groceries EXPMEAT Meats and Vegetables EXPCLOT Clothing, etc. EXPFUEL Fuel and Light EXPSHOES Boots and Shoes EXPEDU Education EXPSICK Sickness EXPRECR Recreation OTHEXP Other Expenses TOTEXP Total Expenses SURPLUS Excess of Receipts over Expenses DEFICIT Excess of Expenses over Receipts SURPLUS5 Have Earnings for 5 Years Exceeded Expenses? Table 2 Occupations [OCC] Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 11 1 At planing machine 1 2 Ax maker 1 3 Basket maker 1 4 Blacksmith 8 5 Blacksmith helper 1 6 Blast furnace laborer 1 7 Boiler maker 2 8 Brass founder 1 9 Bricklayer 4 10 Brush maker 1 11 Cabinet maker 4 12 Car builder 1 13 Car painter 1 14 Car repairer 2 15 Carpenter 14 16 Carpenter car shop 1 17 Carriage blacksmith 1 18 Carriage finisher 1 19 Carriage painter 1 20 Carriage smith 1 21 Carriage trimmer 1 22 Carriage wood worker 4 23 Cigar maker 18 24 Cigar packer 1 25 Clothing cutter 2 26 Compositor 1 27 Contractor 1 28 Cooper 5 29 Engine wiper 1 30 Engineer 6 31 File maker 1 32 Fireman 1 33 Flour mill employee 1 34 Foreman pottery 1 35 Furnace mason 1 36 Furniture finisher 1 37 Gas stoker 1 38 Glass blower 4 39 Glass finisher 1 40 Glass flatner 1 41 Hollowware molder 1 42 House and sign painter 1 43 Iron and steel temperer 1 44 Iron boiler 2 45 Iron heater 1 46 Iron melter 1 47 Iron molder 12 48 Iron worker 2 49 Jeweller 3 50 Job printer 1 51 Joiner 1 52 Laborer 5 53 Locomotive fireman 1 54 Machinist 24 55 Mason 1 56 Mechanic 1 57 Mechanical engineer 1 58 Miller 1 59 Molder 2 60 Painter 3 61 Painting safes 1 62 Paper hanger 1 63 Paper maker 1 64 Pattern maker 4 65 Plasterers laborer 1 66 Polisher 1 67 Potter 4 68 Printer 1 69 Puddler 1 70 Railroad fireman 1 71 Rip sawyer 1 72 Roll turner 1 73 Roller 2 74 Rougher in rail mill 1 75 Saw filer 1 76 Sawyer 1 77 Shaft bender 1 78 Shoe cutter 1 79 Shoemaker 5 80 Silver glider 1 81 Spoke finisher 1 82 Stationery engineer 1 83 Steam pipe fitter 1 84 Stone cutter 2 85 Stoneware turner 1 86 Stove molder 4 87 Stove mounter 1 88 Superintendent 1 89 Tailor 1 90 Tanner 1 91 Teamster 1 92 Tinsmith 2 93 Turner 1 94 Upholsterer 1 95 Varnisher 1 96 Vise hand 1 97 Watchman 1 98 Wood turner 1 99 Wood worker 1 Total 230 Table 3 Years at Present Occupation and with Present Employer Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Years Present Occupation Present Employer or code [YRSOCC] [YRSEMP] -9(No response) 19 38 0.25 - 5.00 years 26 120 5.01 - 10.00 45 44 10.01 - 15.00 57 21 15.01 - 20.00 40 4 20.01 - 25.00 25 3 25.01 - 30.00 11 0 30.01 - 35.00 5 0 35.01 - 42.00 2 0 Total 230 230 Table 4 Payment Method [PERIOD] Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 7 1 Hour 1 2 Day 79 3 Month 2 4 Year 2 5 Piece 134 6 Job 3 7 Ton 2 Total 230 Table 5 Weekly Wages in 1879, 1872, and 1860 Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Wages 1879 1872 1860 or code [WAGEWK79] [WAGEWK72] [WAGEWK60] -9(No response) 6 43 161 $0.50 - 5.00 1 1 0 5.01 - 10.00 77 8 39 10.01 - 15.00 112 75 20 15.01 - 20.00 22 71 8 20.01 - 25.00 10 18 1 25.01 - 30.00 2 6 1 30.01 - 35.00 0 3 0 35.01 - 40.00 0 3 0 40.01 - 45.00 0 2 0 Total 230 230 230 Table 6 Weeks out of Work, 1878 and 1879 Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Days 1878 1879 or code [WLOST78] [WLOST79] -9(No response) 80 128 1 - 5 days 44 72 6 - 10 37 19 11 - 15 26 11 16 - 20 17 0 21 - 25 14 0 26 - 30 7 0 31 - 35 2 0 36 - 39 3 0 Total 230 230 Table 7 Earnings, Head of Family and Others Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Value Head of Family Others or code [HEADEAR] [OTHEAR] -9(No response) 0 183 $5.00 - 100.00 0 24 100.01 - 200.00 4 11 200.01 - 300.00 23 6 300.01 - 400.00 45 3 400.01 - 500.00 63 2 500.01 - 600.00 41 0 600.01 - 700.00 25 0 700.01 - 800.00 17 0 800.01 - 900.00 6 1 900.01 - 1,000.00 4 0 1,000.01 - 1,300.00 2 0 Total 230 230 Table 8 Number of Adults, Children over 16 and under 16 in Family Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Children Number Adults Over16 Under 16 or code [ADULTS] [KIDSOV16] [KIDSUN16] -9(No response) 9 191 37 1 person 0 14 45 2 185 16 56 3 27 5 39 4 9 2 26 5 0 2 18 6 0 0 8 7 0 0 1 Total 230 230 230 Table 9 Expenditures on Rent, Groceries, Meats and Vegetables, and Clothing Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Value Rent Groceries Meat/vegt. Clothing or code [RENT] [EXPGROC] [EXPMEAT] [EXPCLOT] -9(No response) 138 133 146 133 $4.00 - 50.00 21 0 32 52 50.01 - 100.00 49 15 41 37 100.01 - 150.00 17 32 7 4 150.01 - 200.00 3 24 4 4 200.01 - 250.00 2 14 0 0 250.01 - 300.00 0 8 0 0 300.01 - 350.00 0 4 0 0 Total 230 230 230 230 Table 10 Expenditures on Fuel and Light, Shoes, Education, Sickness, Recreation, and Other Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Value Fuel & Educa- Sick- Recrea- or code Light Shoes tion ness tion Other [EXPFUEL] [EXPEDU] [EXPRECR] [EXPSHOES] [EXPSICK] [OTHEXP] -9(No response) 133 136 155 152 183 155 $0.30 - 10.00 2 7 49 20 26 15 10.01 - 20.00 26 43 17 20 9 14 20.01 - 30.00 37 23 5 19 5 13 30.01 - 40.00 24 11 1 5 1 4 40.01 - 50.00 8 8 1 5 5 12 50.01 - 417.80 0 2 2 9 1 17 Total 230 230 230 230 230 230 Table 11 Total Expenditures [TOTEXP] Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Value or code Frequency -9(No response) 133 $242.00 - 300.00 9 300.01 - 400.00 20 400.01 - 500.00 24 500.01 - 600.00 18 600.01 - 700.00 20 700.01 - 800.00 4 800.01 - 891.92 2 Total 230 Table 12 Excess of Receipts over Expenses and Expenses over Receipts Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Frequency Value Surplus Deficit or code [SURPLUS] [DEFICIT] -9(No response) 133 133 -8("None") 49 75 $2.80 - 50.00 16 75 50.01 - 100.00 11 14 100.01 - 150.00 10 3 150.01 - 200.00 4 3 200.01 - 250.00 5 1 250.01 - 295.00 2 1 Total 230 230 Table 13 Have Earnings for Five Years Exceeded Expenses? [SURPLUS5] Survey of 230 Male Wage-Earners, Ohio 1879 Code Response Frequency -9 No response 133 1 No 43 2 Yes 54 Total 230