Barrels

Barrels

Tight, also referred to as wet, barrels carried liquids; dry barrels carried fine powdery products such as flour; slack barrels a variety of small bulk products.

Tight barrels required the greatest skill to make. They were made of hard woods such as oak and elm; dry or slack barrels could be made with less care, and of softer wood. Slack barrels “should be as light and cheap as they can be, and have sufficient strength and durability to a single trip to market, as it is not expected that they will be returned when sent long distances” (The Canada Farmer, November 1, 1867).

An old Barrel in the Black Creek Pioneer Village. Photo: Megan (Elena)

The Cooperage

A cooper made wooden containers in which to store and transport a wide range of items such as flour, sugar, molasses, gunpowder, apples, salt, meat, whisky, beer, and even nails. Coopers often located their businesses near mills to ensure a regular market for their barrels. In many cases, mill owners employed coopers so that they need not pay independent artisans.

The Coopeerage, originally located on Brant Street, Paris, Ontario, was owned and operated by John Taylor, who began his operation soon after arriving from Scotland in 1853. The building was taken down, board by board and reassembled at Black Creek Pioneer Village in 1975.

The staves were trimmed with hand adze and smoothed with a sun plane.

Barrel Construction

The containers were made up of staves which were shaped using curved drawknives, curved to be larger at the centre to form the barrel’s bulge and the sides bevelled to fit exactly to the next stave.

A set of shaped staves were assembled and held tight by a trussing hoop. The staves, confined at their base, flare outward at the top. A rope was passed around their tops and, using a windlass, the cooper bent the staves and pulled them evenly together. When each stave was edge to edge a permanent hoop was fitted to hold them fast. Further hoops were added and the cooper’s windlass released. Metal hoops were used for tight or wet barrels, and wooden hoops were used for slack or dry barrels.

Pails and chums tapered from one end. The cooper made them as he made a barrel but since neither bulged in the middle, both were easier to make.