Colonial American Trades and Crafts

In colonial times, there were no factories. If someone needed a wagon or a horseshoe, that object had to be made by hand.

Craftspeople made furniture, utensils for the home, and tools for the farmer. Each of these important artisans was skilled in one particular craft.

Gunsmith The gunsmith was always busy making and repairing guns.

Long ago, almost everyone owned a gun for hunting and protection.

Cabinetmaker Fine furniture was built by cabinetmakers in colonial cities.

Cabinetmakers also made items like cupboards, candle stands, highboys, and chairs.

Coopers The cooper crafted casks, barrels, buckets, and pails.

These containers stored liquids from wine to milk and held flour, gunpowder, and tobacco.

Silversmith The silversmiths used their talent to create elegant serving pieces and delicate jewelry. Forming a sheet of silver into a bowl required experience and skill.

Examples of fine silver:

FOUNDER Brass founders melted both brass and bronze and poured them into molds. These molds helped to form andirons, bells, coach and harness fittings, shoe buckles, sword hilts, furniture, hardware, weathervanes, and many other things.

Pouring the molten into a mold was a very dangerous job!

The founder had to do a lot of polishing and filing to finish.

Weathervanes let people know which way the wind was blowing: North, South, East or West.

Blacksmiths Blacksmiths fashioned items from iron and steel for the their fellow tradesmen to use in their work and also made things for household use.

From steel, he made cutting edges for axes and smooth faces for special hammers.

From iron, he made horseshoes.

Wheelwright The wheelwright made wheels for carriages, wagons, and carts. Made of wood and bound with iron, the wheels of the carriages and wagons navigated rugged colonial roads. They had to be strong and tight. First and foremost, though, the wheels had to be round.

Wheelwrights inspect the wheels they have made for a carriage.

Bookbinder The bookbinder bound a book by sewing and fastening it to a cover. Bookbinders made fine leather bookbindings that were tooled, stamped, and decorated with designs. They were sometimes even rendered in gold leaf.

Brickmaker The brickmaker made bricks from clay, which was found in the soils of the land. Here, bricks are loaded into the drying shed.

Spinning The clothing worn by the colonists was made from flax, sheep’s wool, or cotton. The yarn was spun on a spinning wheel.

The Weaver Weavers created the cloth by weaving the yarn on a loom.

This is a woven coverlet made on a loom.

Fabrics were dyed in a large iron pot over a fire.

Milliners Milliners sewed and sold – among other things – cloaks, mantles, hats, hoods, caps, gloves, petticoats, hoops, riding costumes, and dresses for masquerades – all in the latest fashion.

Fancy dresses from the milliner’s shop…

Tailors Tailors made clothes for both men and women.

And, yes, men sewed.

Shoemaker A shoemaker made boots and shoes.

Ladies made quilts…

…and did needlework.

Here are some samplers…

…and pincushions.

Wigmaker Wigs were worn by those who could afford the expensive prices. In the early days of the colonies, large wigs were considered fashionable. These hairpieces were available in horse, goat, yak, or human hair.

Candlemaking Candles were made by dipping string into hot wax. Each candle had to be dipped at least 25 times.

candles

Potters The potters made pots, bowls, and vases out of clay.

Pottery

Basket makers Since baskets were used for carrying and storing a wide variety of objects, the basketmaker was a busy craftsperson!

Families made their own baskets, which lasted many years. Long, thin, flexible pieces of wood were woven together.

egg basket