Ghost Baskets

Images of an abandoned German colliery. The hanging cages, or Kaue, were individually numbered and used as storage lockers for miners’ belongings.

  

Via Industrial Decay.

Comments

[alan b]

The Industrial Decay site is amazing. Thanks.

[newbie]

Wow. It's like a set from Hellraiser.

[Anna]

The ID site has some gorgeous shots. A great find.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideon_thecat/3531131733/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrej/3567390155/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gideon_thecat/3529172684/

[JuliaM]

"Wow. It's like a set from Hellraiser. "

Oooh, yes! Creepy...

Why suspended storage, though, rather than 'locker' type, I wonder?

[David]

Julia,

Given the rudimentary facilities and the number of miners getting washed and changed simultaneously, I’m guessing it was partly a space-saving measure. Maybe it was also an attempt to keep belongings clean and safe from pilfering. (I think each chain could be locked in place individually.)

[JuliaM]

Ah, that makes sense, I suppose.

[Timo the Squid]

It is both space saving & anti-pilfering, especially the latter. The military, like all large, impersonal organizations, has the same problem - with theft severely punished owing to the disunity it causes. In the dangerous world of industrial mining, the last thing the union and management needed was workers fearing their belongings would be nicked when they are half a mile deep in the ground.