Tom on the phone, "Gotta go, I'm digging the best dump of my life!"

[RedGinger]

Okay, so I can't spell today. Wish that edit button still worked!

 

[RedGinger]

They're going to look at the building, but have other long winded adventures planned for afterwards, so I'll send the camera with Joe.

 

[JOETHECROW]

ORIGINAL: Wangan

ORIGINAL: JOETHECROW

I sure have new respect for barrel makers, or "coopers"? It took me alot of ingenuity and patience to reassemble this little guy! (About three hours) Joe

Very cool barrel Joe,and yes we Coopers were barrel makers.The place of our business was a Cooperage.

The smallest Wine volume is a Rundlet at 18 gallons.The smallest Ale or Beer volume is a Firkin at 8 gallons.Standard "barrel" volume sizes are Wine/31 1/2 Gal. and Ale or Beer/32 Gallons.The largest being the Tun at 256 gallons originally,then reduced to 252 Gallons for division purposes.

Then there are food barrels,crackers,pickles,etc.The shape allowed them to be rolled with the tapered ends allowing for easy turning,although some held bottles inside and were not meant to roll. I believe yours probably held bottles for the drug store and is smaller than some for easier handling and if it were full of glass bottles with liquid in them,Im sure it would have been hefty.I saw a picture of a small barrel packed with bottles once and should have kept it.[&o]

There is a shaper tool that made exact bevels on the staves.I have a friend who either has one or knows where there is one.I would think the bigger the barrel,the less of an angle,so there must be an adjustment or a different angle similar tool.I have been looking for tools to build my own barrel.Its one of the things on my "bucket list". I have seen the wire "hoops" like yours,the metal bands and even wooden ones like on some of the potato barrels they use up in the "County" here in Maine.Too bad that hadnt been stored in the corner full of bottles! Thanks for showing us.

Wangan,..Thanks for all the (as usual) interesting info....I think it would be cool (if I ever get the darn time machine perfected)[] To visit such a place as a cooperage, and watch the whole process, right after I got done poking around behind the old saloon dump...[sm=lol.gif] That lends me new insight into why you'd like to have a "Greely's". or other barrel shaped bottle, too. On the barrel above, the original bands were corroded away, and I had to use soft wire (and temporary hose clamps, strung together) to reassemble him.... Again, thanks! Joe

 

[JOETHECROW]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

Well, we went up into the building today,.....It's funny how a mental image can differ so much from reality....[sm=rolleyes.gif] Pretty much two story, with a small low ceiling attic area at the very back,....random boards laid down to walk on....The main downstairs area was alot of trash, broken up computers,....nasty old carpeting,....the stairs went up the "creek" side inside wall of the building and were surprisingly nice,...the second floor was largley empty,...you could see where kids were in there and sprayed obscene grafitti, etc,....The few items found were in the attic area in back,...under the floorboards. I did the 'crawl' for awhile, looking for more of these antique rubber stamps.

 

[JOETHECROW]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

*

 

[JOETHECROW]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

This exact style buttermilk carton was usually found in our fridge when I was a kid,.....[] My Grandmother, who helped raise me, she loved the stuff,....oddly just before Fred and I left to go explore with Tom, Laur was making buttermilk sorbet,and asked me if the buttermilk was still okay, and Fred and I started talking about the old green and white "checkerboard" cone shapedcartons that It came in...So how surprised was I to see this laying between the flooring? We also found an early Bradford Milk bottle, Neilly Dairy, that I gave to Fred,....But that was about the extent of it. Joe

 

[RedGinger]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

Neat. It's weird when things like that happen! This is unrelated, but I was telling Joe how the other day I was laying in bed trying to decide if I wanted some potato chips or not. Shortly after that, our older cat, Oliver who LOVES chips, hopped onto my bed and started sniffing around. Since he's old, he doesn't hop up on my bed often and he has his own spots where he likes to sleep and hang out around the house. Weird coincidences.

 

[swizzle]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

That looks cool. I can imagine how many times kids used those for a megaphone or a make shift hearing device. Is that all cardboard? Its gotta be tough to find items like that still in excellent shape after all these years. Well it looks like the Old Drugstore Saga is slowly coming to a close. I wish all of you guys the best of luck finding another score like that. Thanx for bringing this story to life for us all. This has got to be one of the grandest threads in ABN history. Swiz

 

[Wangan]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

Joe,maybe you and Fred should talk about revolutionary war flasks next time.[][] Speaking of coincidences,I went to a flea market a few towns over today and a fella had what he called a barrel hammer.It was a short handled tool with a hammer like head on one side and a curved axe like cutter on the other,similar in looks to a peat cutter.Maybe I should start talking about old flasks too! []

 

[JOETHECROW]

RE: Last of the drugstore finds?

ORIGINAL: Wangan

Joe,maybe you and Fred should talk about revolutionary war flasks next time.[][]

My Gawd but we have some very funny and insightful members on this forum! Thanks for making me laugh enough to spit out coffee, Wangan.....and that's great about the barrel hammer,...did you get it or was it too much moolah? (If not did you take a pic?) Sounds cool and I can picture it well enough with your discription. Laur and I were watching a great episode of "Time Team" on our public broadcast channel, and they brought up a colonial hammer from the old well they'd excavated at Jamestown Va. Gotta love the old stuff. Joe