Humberstone’s General Store

The isolation of Humberstone and Santa Laura, located far away from main cities, made it necessary for the companies to provide food, water and other elements to the mine-workers and their families. Each office had its own general store (called pulpería), where the employees could get all they needed to survive, from groceries to clothes. Miners did not receive money for their job, as their salary consisted of tokens that were handled periodically. Made of metal or plastic, they were delivered by the offices and could only be used at the general store in exchange for a variety of products. This allowed the store owners to fix higher prices compared to other towns and made it extremely difficult for workers to return to their native lands.
Presently, Humberstone has transformed its general store into an Interpretation Centre, where visitors can have a grasp on how the token system worked.