An undated, colorized photo post card entitled, “Mules for the Coal Mines.” This probably represents an unidentified mule breeder. Mules were the primary beasts of burden used in coal mines prior to electrification.
According to a definition of a mule found on the web:
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). A horse has 64 chromosomes, and a donkey has 62. The mule ends up with 63. Mules can be either male or female, but, because of the odd number of chromosomes, they can’t reproduce.
This was a generic post card sold in many mining communities.
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