What's In A Name?

It's been too long since my last blog post.  I've been thinking about all of you, and wanted to post, but I was in serious design mode for the last ten days or so, working on new fabric collections, and quilt designs.  My next collection is already well under way, and I submitted a new one last Friday.  All that new stuff is something I can't yet share with you, so that meant not as many blog posts while I was working on it all....But...it also means new fun stuff to look forward to!

Now that the bulk of that design work is over, I will be working to wrap up a few things that have been works-in-progress, and those I can share with you later this week.  

For now, however, I have some fun trivia to share.  When I'm reading about life in the 1800's for the Prairie Women's Sewing Circle club, I often come across great information that isn't really suited to the club, but is rather fascinating, to me anyway, and I thought perhaps you'd enjoy it, too.

1800's Trivia

What's in a name?  Back in the day, your last name could say a whole lot about what you did for a living.  With a last name of Miller, Potter, Wheeler, Carpenter, Weaver, Baker or Taylor, you knew his profession.  But...what if your last name was Cooper?

A cooper was a tradesman skilled in the art of making a wide variety of wooden, leak-proof (both wet and dry) containers.  His craft provided items that were very necessary to early American living, such as buckets and pails, firkins, butter churns, and barrels.  The earliest settlers brought coopered items with them as storage containers for any number of things.  

Barrels large and small held liquids, and of course, are still used today for wine and other spirits. Butter churns, like mine, may still be used today, but not so much!  Thank goodness!  

Quilt design is Fritzie's Closet pattern by Heartspun Quilts

Among the most collected items are firkins and buckets.  Basically, a firkin (Dutch origin) is a bucket with a cover.  The term, firkin, originally meant one-fourth of a barrel, but later in the nineteenth century after firkins were made in numerous sizes, just simply meant a covered bucket.

All of these items are highly collectible by those of us who love colonial living.  Having a grand stack of firkins in graduated sizes is a prize collection.  For me, firkins (and any treenware) with original paint is a real prize!  Especially those with a lovely patina of wear showing it's years of service.

Hope you enjoyed reading about a little known profession that has deep roots in early American living.  I think these hand-made items are a true American treasure!  Stay warm and cozy....it's cold out there!