Shaker Shed
Encyclopedia
Shaker Shed is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum
in Shelburne, Vermont
. It exhibits the Museum's collection of hand-tools and household equipment.
, a large Shaker community in Canterbury, New Hampshire
. Dubbed “Shakers
” because of the frenetic dancing involved in their worship service, their religious sect was formally known as United Society of Believers in the First and Second Appearance of Christ (see The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing). Guided by self-sufficiency, hard work, and celibacy
, the Shakers were widely known in the nineteenth century for the quality of their crafts and garden products. They produced unadorned and finely crafted furnishings, seeds, and herbal medicines for the community, which they eventually sold nationwide by wagon and by mail.
pillars, visible between the carriage bays, strengthen the heavy timber framework. The original proprietors enlarged the basic structure twice over a period of thirteen years: in 1850 an addition of one and a half upper stories provided storage space for brooms made and sold by the Canterbury community then, in 1853 the Shakers added shed to the rear of the building to store their farm machinery.
s, joiner
s, cabinetmakers, and coopers
, used to provide essential goods and services to their local communities. Craftsmen, who worked primarily with readily available, native woods, required specialized tools to create their products.
To construct buildings, early settlers would fell trees using axes and shape the logs into heavy, squared lumber with adzes. They would then interlock the lumber using mortise and tenon
joints, secured with wooden pins, to create a structure’s frame. Unlike iron nails, the wooden pins would expand and contract with the building’s frame. All of the museum’s historic structures, but most clearly the second floor of Horseshoe Barn (see Horseshoe Barn and Annex
), reflect mortise and tenon joinery.
The American building trade became highly specialized: sawyers would work in teams to saw boards and planks from felled timber; carpenters would frame houses, lay floors, and build staircases; joiners focused on finer work, such as fitting joints, framing doors and windows, and preparing paneling, moldings and trim; while cabinetmakers, who employed many of the same skills as joiners, created chests-of-drawers, desks, tables, and other furniture.
Planes
, used to prepare surfaces, fit joints, and cut particular decorative shapes for moldings and trim, remained the most specialized tool that woodworkers used. Craftsmen developed dozens of different planes for precise use. A typical joiner or cabinetmaker’s tool chest contained twenty to fifty planes.
Coopering, or barrel making, remained an important occupation through the nineteenth century. Using froes to split barrel staves and curved “sun” planes to shape the ends of mounted staves, coopers produced containers of all sizes. Ranging from small water and liquor kegs to 206-gallon hogsheads, their barrels stored goods including tobacco, whale oil, whiskey, molasses, flour, apples, sugar, and hardware. Household appliances such as water tubs, sap buckets, butter churns, milk pails, and drinking or ladling mugs called piggins, reflected the extensive reach of a coopers’ trade. The United States 1850 census recorded forty-three thousand practicing coopers, but by the late nineteenth century, the introduction of metal drums and other machine-made storage and shipping containers greatly diminished the demand for wooden cooperage so that today the craft is almost nonexistent.
The inaccessibility of processed metals in early American meant that people incorporated wood into all aspects of construction including plumbing. Early American underground water pipes were made of cedar or pine logs that had been cut while still green, hollowed out with special augers and fitted together. They linked supply sources such as springs or reservoirs with homes and businesses. These pump logs were virtually indestructible so that some were still used in Philadelphia as late as the 1950s.
Shelburne Museum
Shelburne Museum is a museum of art and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the Museum grounds...
in Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne, Vermont
Shelburne is a town in southwestern Chittenden County, Vermont, United States, along the shores of Lake Champlain. The population was 7,144 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. It exhibits the Museum's collection of hand-tools and household equipment.
Background
Shaker Shed, an unornamented structure, originally served Canterbury Shaker VillageCanterbury shaker village
Canterbury Shaker Village, is a historic site and museum in Canterbury, New Hampshire. It was one of a number of Shaker communities founded in the 19th century....
, a large Shaker community in Canterbury, New Hampshire
Canterbury, New Hampshire
Canterbury is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,352 at the 2010 census. Canterbury is home to Ayers State Forest and Shaker State Forest. On the last Saturday in July, the town hosts the annual .- History :...
. Dubbed “Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
” because of the frenetic dancing involved in their worship service, their religious sect was formally known as United Society of Believers in the First and Second Appearance of Christ (see The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing). Guided by self-sufficiency, hard work, and celibacy
Celibacy
Celibacy is a personal commitment to avoiding sexual relations, in particular a vow from marriage. Typically celibacy involves avoiding all romantic relationships of any kind. An individual may choose celibacy for religious reasons, such as is the case for priests in some religions, for reasons of...
, the Shakers were widely known in the nineteenth century for the quality of their crafts and garden products. They produced unadorned and finely crafted furnishings, seeds, and herbal medicines for the community, which they eventually sold nationwide by wagon and by mail.
History
Built in 1840 as a one-story horse and carriage stand, the five graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
pillars, visible between the carriage bays, strengthen the heavy timber framework. The original proprietors enlarged the basic structure twice over a period of thirteen years: in 1850 an addition of one and a half upper stories provided storage space for brooms made and sold by the Canterbury community then, in 1853 the Shakers added shed to the rear of the building to store their farm machinery.
Relocation
The Shelburne Museum moved Shaker Shed to the grounds in 1951 to serve as exhibition space for the collection of hand-tools and household equipment.Woodworking tools
Shelburne Museum’s collection of woodworking tools encompasses a wide variety of hand tools and machinery that craftspeople, such as carpenterCarpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
s, joiner
Joiner
A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
s, cabinetmakers, and coopers
Cooper (profession)
Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...
, used to provide essential goods and services to their local communities. Craftsmen, who worked primarily with readily available, native woods, required specialized tools to create their products.
To construct buildings, early settlers would fell trees using axes and shape the logs into heavy, squared lumber with adzes. They would then interlock the lumber using mortise and tenon
Mortise and tenon
The mortise and tenon joint has been used for thousands of years by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, mainly when the adjoining pieces connect at an angle of 90°. In its basic form it is both simple and strong. Although there are many joint variations, the basic mortise and tenon...
joints, secured with wooden pins, to create a structure’s frame. Unlike iron nails, the wooden pins would expand and contract with the building’s frame. All of the museum’s historic structures, but most clearly the second floor of Horseshoe Barn (see Horseshoe Barn and Annex
Horseshoe Barn and Annex
The Horseshoe Barn and Horseshoe Barn Annex are two exhibit buildings located at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. Both buildings exhibit a variety of Horse-drawn vehicles, including carriages, trade wagons, stagecoaches, and sleighs.-History:...
), reflect mortise and tenon joinery.
The American building trade became highly specialized: sawyers would work in teams to saw boards and planks from felled timber; carpenters would frame houses, lay floors, and build staircases; joiners focused on finer work, such as fitting joints, framing doors and windows, and preparing paneling, moldings and trim; while cabinetmakers, who employed many of the same skills as joiners, created chests-of-drawers, desks, tables, and other furniture.
Planes
Plane (tool)
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood. When powered by electricity, the tool may be called a planer. Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber. Planing is used to produce horizontal, vertical, or inclined flat surfaces on...
, used to prepare surfaces, fit joints, and cut particular decorative shapes for moldings and trim, remained the most specialized tool that woodworkers used. Craftsmen developed dozens of different planes for precise use. A typical joiner or cabinetmaker’s tool chest contained twenty to fifty planes.
Coopering, or barrel making, remained an important occupation through the nineteenth century. Using froes to split barrel staves and curved “sun” planes to shape the ends of mounted staves, coopers produced containers of all sizes. Ranging from small water and liquor kegs to 206-gallon hogsheads, their barrels stored goods including tobacco, whale oil, whiskey, molasses, flour, apples, sugar, and hardware. Household appliances such as water tubs, sap buckets, butter churns, milk pails, and drinking or ladling mugs called piggins, reflected the extensive reach of a coopers’ trade. The United States 1850 census recorded forty-three thousand practicing coopers, but by the late nineteenth century, the introduction of metal drums and other machine-made storage and shipping containers greatly diminished the demand for wooden cooperage so that today the craft is almost nonexistent.
The inaccessibility of processed metals in early American meant that people incorporated wood into all aspects of construction including plumbing. Early American underground water pipes were made of cedar or pine logs that had been cut while still green, hollowed out with special augers and fitted together. They linked supply sources such as springs or reservoirs with homes and businesses. These pump logs were virtually indestructible so that some were still used in Philadelphia as late as the 1950s.