THROWBACK THURSDAY: MASTERPIECE #2179 (4/12/19)

/// This scene shows us how charcoal was made;
an important, but dangerous trade.
These skilled Charcoal Burners
at Work were quick learners.
If they messed up, then no one got paid.

/// The first industry in times long past
required metals be melted and cast.
The Bronze Age first began
after primitive man
learned a campfire’s heat can be surpassed.

/// Heat and light came from burned peat or wood
and, for cooking, those fuels were quite good.
But for heat hot enough
to smelt metal… that’s tough,
until charcoal became understood.

/// The main thing that men needed to learn
was a slow and precise controlled burn.
Wood was set ablaze where
it could get little air
and was monitored at every turn.

/// The kilns needed to be placed outside.
(From monoxide indoor workers died.)
When all moisture’s removed
from burnt wood, charcoal proved
the best fuel mankind ‘til then had tried.