TIL many US companies in the late 1800s-1938 would pay their employees in company scrip, a currency issued by the employer and can only be used in company owned stores where they upcharged exorbita...
I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine
I loaded 16 tons of number nine coal
And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"
You load 16 tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store.
I used to think my daddy was a black man
With script enough to buy the company store
Now he goes to town with empty pockets
And his face is white as February snow