Tools of the Trades:

Hands-On Learning Opportunities in a Seaport Town

I
by Nancy Hughes, Mystic Seaport Educator

n order to ensure a next generation of museum-goers, Living History to take back to the classroom, raise a bucket, drive hoops on and off a and a hole or two for inserting a hardie (tool for cutting) or swage (tool for
Museums such as Mystic Seaport need to present history in a lively hogshead, and roll a cask. In good weather, the Cooperage’s double doors shaping round items).
and engaging manner. Exhibits, whether boats, buildings or select are wide open to catch the breeze off the Mystic River. There, the cooper
artifacts, must attract and challenge students, and the experience can keep an eye on the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling
needs to be a memorable one. How can we do that? Mystic Seaport is vessel in the world. There’s a close connection between coopering and
well positioned to provide hands-on learning. Every day brings scheduled whaling, as almost everything that was taken aboard a whaleship to sustain
opportunities for visitors to raise or lower a sail, touch a codfish eyeball the crew for the two to five years of the voyage was stored in watertight,
during a fish split, make some rope, or take a horse and carriage ride. Some easy-to-roll barrel-shaped containers called “casks”. And, when the crew
exhibits have buttons to push and levers to pull; at others, interpreters aboard whalers got lucky and caught, killed and processed a whale, they
may let students hold a harpoon or roll a cask. All these interactions make needed to store the precious oil in something for the long voyage home.
history “come alive” for our visitors. They used casks for this task. Depending on its size, a cask may be called
by different names, including barrel, keg, hogshead, and pipe. They vary
Mystic Seaport has another important mission – to preserve the trades considerably in size and shape, but all have the same basic elements. All
that defined 19th-century Mystic as a town world famous for building casks are comprised of carefully shaped wooden pieces called “staves” Photo credit: Mystic Seaport
wooden vessels. Today, Museum shipwrights work in an active restoration that are uniform in length, wider in the center, and tapered at each end. To make a hook, two students at a time will join the shipsmith at the forge
shipyard to build and restore wooden vessels of all types and sizes. In our When heated, staves can be bent and then drawn together and held in and anvil. One student will tend the fire and pull the bellows as needed.
recreated seafaring village, trades supporting the shipbuilding industry place with bands of metal or wood called “hoops”. Each end of the cask The other will work at the anvil under close supervision of the shipsmith.
are represented by a ship carve shop, a cooperage, a shipsmith, and a print is fitted with has a circular “head” set into a groove near the ends of the Using a hammer, the student will begin or continue the process of
shop. Skilled craftsmen not only produce items used by the Museum but staves. The heads can be removed by loosening the nearest hoop. Because “drawing down” a hot iron rod by executing a series of well-placed strikes
also teach their craft, so that skills of the 19th century are actively used in of the bend and wide center width of each stave, the cask is fatter in the to make the iron longer and thinner. Once tapered, the rod will be given
the 21st. All visitors are welcome to visit the shops and see our craftsmen middle. This is the cask’s bulge or “bilge”. This combination of bulging an “eye”, turned around the horn of the anvil to create a hook, cut to the
at work, but only students on a pre-arranged basis have the chance to go middle and tapered ends give the cask the perfect shape for maximum proper length using a hardie, given a flattened decorative top, and punched
“behind the barrier” on a Hands-On-History Guided Tour and try out a maneuverability. A cask can be rolled, pivoted, and rocked, making it the or drilled so that it can be hung. The rod will need to “take the heat” (be
trade. During the tour, students will participate in three hands-on activities, perfect container for loading cargo on a ship. Coopers make other kinds returned to the forge) several times during this process. All students will
including at least one of which will be a trade. (Other activities chosen of containers, too. Think about what you might need around your house pull the bellows and strike the iron.
may include a chantey performance, a roleplayer encounter or a take-home if you lived in 19th-century Mystic. You might need a churn for making
sailor’s craft.) Next we will discuss the different trades and the hands-on
activities that students can do together.
butter, a tub for doing the wash, a bucket for the well, a bucket for the
horse, a pail to carry when picking berries or apples. Still watertight, these
The Print Shop
In groups of up to eight, each student, in turn, will use the historic
containers are made with straight, not curved, wooden staves and may be
Washington Press to print a pre-typeset handbill and will have a chance
The Ship Carve Shop open at one end, but still are held together with removable hoops.
to use wooden type to set their initials in a chase and print them out on
In groups of up to eight, students will be shown how to use a gouge and paper. To walk into the Print Shop at Mystic Seaport is to enter the hustle
a mallet and will carve a leaf on a block of wood to take home. Enter and bustle of 19th-century small town America. We are confronted with
the village at Mystic Seaport, and students will soon spy the brightly the latest technology in the shape of great, looming black machines to
painted sign for the Ship Carve Shop. Inside the shop, they will find an cut paper and impress upon paper whatever job the printer has taken on
array of products made by the carver for use on a vessel. Each of these and composed. He might be setting the type for the weekly paper, the
items was unique, commissioned by the owner or shipbuilder to adorn Mystic Pioneer or the Mystic Press, depending upon the year of our visit.
a specific vessel. Name boards and trail boards, while often beautifully He might be printing a handbill or poster sized advertisement for a ship
gilded, served the practical purpose of identifying a vessel by name and newly built in one of Mystic’s several shipyards, or for a cough remedy
homeport. A figurehead rides beneath the bowsprit at the front, or bow, of carried in the Drug Store around the corner. To say that he is printing, is
a vessel. Its purpose is strictly ornamental, and is meant to impress, tell to really say that he making an impression, for he is most likely using a
a story or honor a particular person or country. Instead of a figurehead, a large, workhorse press called a Washington Press. Here, a large waffle-like
modest scroll (or billethead) would be used on a hardworking ship such as weight called the “platen” is lowered onto the “chase”, or metal frame that
a whaleship. holds the job to be done. The chase sits upon the “bed” of the press, which
is rolled under the platen by means of a handle. Then the platen is lowered
Photo credit: Mystic Seaport
by moving a lever called the “tail”.
Students will be instructed in safe work practices, and invited into the
cooper’s work area. Seated at the “shaving horse”, each student will have
a chance to pull on a “draw knife” or “hollowing knife” to shape a stave,
and perhaps, under close supervision, plane the edges of the stave on the
“joiner plane”. Without a proper angle or bevel on the edges, staves cannot
form the tight circle needed for a “tight” or watertight container. Students
will also see how the cooper uses a small anvil or “bick” to fashion a metal
hoop and will have a chance to use a “driver” to drive on and take off a
hoop. Students will also “raise” or assemble a pre-made bucket and have a
chance to maneuver a truly elegant moving machine – the humble cask.

The Shipsmith
In groups of up to eight, students will collectively make at least two hooks
to take back to the classroom. Each student, in turn, will have a chance
Photo credit: Mystic Seaport to strike the iron on the anvil with a hammer and pull on the bellows
The ship carver is part artist and part tradesman. He uses wood that is easy while another student is working. Even on a cold day, the Shipsmith is the Photo credit: Mystic Seaport
to carve, but also durable at sea. Before beginning their carving project, place to be. Moved to Mystic Seaport in 1944 from its original location, But, wait. What’s in the chase, exactly? Students will learn that in the
students will learn a little about the different kinds of wood samples the historic James D. Driggs Shipsmith shop comes from New Bedford, 19th century, a printer had to compose his job by hand-setting type. All
displayed in the shop. What is the difference between soft wood and hard Massachusetts, once the busiest whaling port in the world. At the time the around the shop, we see segmented trays called “cases”, which neatly sort
wood? What do the rings of a tree signify? What does density mean, and shop closed in 1924, it was the last surviving whalecraft manufactory still individual letters of a certain style (font) and size (measured in “points”).
why is it important to a carver? What does grain mean and how does it making harpoons, cutting spades, and killing lances. The terminology “upper case” and “lower case” comes from the sorting
affect a carver’s work? How can we identify a hard wood tree from a of capital and small letters. The printer chooses the letters he needs and
soft wood when we walk through the woods? (Hint: Leaves vs. Needles). Students will immediately be attracted to the fire burning brightly in the places them sequentially in a “composing stick” to form words and spaces
Students will also learn about tools. The three key tools of the ship carver forge, a large brick structure of which the shop has two. They will notice that create a line of type. The letters appear backwards, or the mirror
are the chisel, the gouge, and the mallet. The chisel is a cutting tool with a the bellows above, a large wood and leather apparatus which, through image of how they will print. Once transferred to the chase, surrounded by
flat blade used to make a vertical cut in the wood called a “stop-cut”. The pumping by pulling a handle, forces air through a pipe into the base of wooden spacers called “furniture” and locked in with metal locks called
carver uses the mallet, or double-headed wooden hammer, to tap the chisel the fire. This stimulates the fire to burn more efficiently and produce more “quoins”, we are ready to move the chase to the bed of the press. Now,
to make the “stop-cut”. The gouge is a cutting tool with a curved blade for heat. Hard to see, but can you tell what the shipsmith is using for fuel? what else do we need? Ink, of course, which is applied to the tops of the
cutting rounded grooves in the wood. Blade curvature varies from nearly He burns coal, more precisely, soft or bituminous coal to create a fire with reversed letters by means of a roller called a “brayer”. Each student, in
flat to very round, and a good set of tools provides the carver with great a temperature of about 3,000 degrees. This is the temperature needed to turn, will have the chance to ink the chase and work the Washington Press.
flexibility and precision while carving. Finally, and most importantly, heat iron, the so-called “black” metal, to about 2,000 degrees. Have you His or her take-home souvenir will be a fine “first impression”.
students will learn and practice good safety practices while executing their ever heard the expressions “strike when the iron is hot?” The shipsmith
carving project. The carve shop even has a private, back room equipped knows when the iron is hot enough to strike when it turns an orange- Each student will also have an opportunity to set type in a chase,
with student-height tables. yellow color. “Red-hot” is not quite hot enough! The shipsmith quickly using large wooden letters, under the supervision of a Museum teacher
uses tongs to remove the hot iron from the forge and transfer it to an anvil, accompanying the group. Once set, each student will again use the
The Cooperage the sturdy metal base upon which he pounds and shapes the hot iron. The Washington Press to create a piece of personalized stationery. How fun is
that? ________________________________________________
In groups of up to eight, students will have a chance to shape two staves anvil consists of a flat surface for forging, a horn at one end for turning,

Find out how your students can experience Mystic Seaport here:
http://www.mysticseaport.org/learn/k-12-programs/field-trip/

Did You Know

C
-Benjamin Franklin Literature, Art & Science
Famous Tradesmen

Paul Revere, Silversmith: Paul Revere was born in Boston in the year 1734, and at the age of 13, he left school to apprentice with his father, a
silversmith. Paul eventually took over his father’s shop and produced beautiful and today highly collectible silver. After the Revolutionary War, he
diversified into other kinds of metals. Paul cast iron, cast bells, and cannons of bronze, forged bolts and spikes from copper, and developed a process to
onnections
make rolls of copper sheathing for use on ships and buildings, A favorite book and fun link: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Tools of the Trades Vocabulary Scramble
A favorite book: Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes Can You Match These Tools or Products to the Trades?
(Hint: all are mentioned and defined in this article.)
John Alden, Cooper: In the year 1620, at the age of about 21, John Alden was hired in Southampton, England, to serve as the cooper aboard the
Mayflower and was charged with taking care of the cargo, stored in casks. Although not a Separatist himself, he decided to remain in America and Shipcarver:
signed the Mayflower Compact. In 1623, he married fellow passenger Priscilla Mullins and they had 10 children. Cooper:
Shipsmith:
A fun link:
Printer:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/mayflower-john-alden-ships-cooper
Anvil, Chase, Stave, Chisel, Hardie, Press, Mallet, Forge, Bilge,
Colby and Campbell, Ship Carvers: While not household names, these two men were well-known carvers in Mystic in the 1850s through 1870s. Hoop, Figurehead, Hogshead, Quoin, Bellows, Head, Tongs, Bick,
During this time, Mystic shipyards were busy building fast wooden, clipper ships, as well as schooners and steamships, all of which needed decorative Composing Stick, Cask, Gouge, Hammer, Brayer, Draw Knife, Platen.
carvings. Colby and Campbell were also baseball fans, and in 1866, they helped to form a local baseball team called the Mystic Oceanics. On July 31,
1869, the following article appeared in the local paper, the Mystic Pioneer, describing the launching of a full-rigged ship named Frolic: “We notice that
she (Frolic) has a splendid figurehead carved by our artistic townsmen, Campbell & Colby. It is a lady with a bat in one hand in an act of striking a ball
which she holds in the other, enjoying a frolic. It is very appropriate.”

Benjamin Franklin, Printer: Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, one of 17 children. Although he excelled at reading and writing, he
left grammar school at the age of 10 to assist his father in the family tallow-chandler and “sope-boiler” business. For two years, he cut wicks and filled
dipping molds, but was most unhappy. At 12, afraid that he would run off to sea, his father allowed Benjamin to become indentured to his elder brother, For more information or to book a Hands-On-History Tour
James. He agreed to take Benjamin on as an apprentice, to teach him the art of printing and provide him with food, lodging, and other “necessaries” until use this link:
he turned 21. Benjamin never earned journeyman’s wages from James, because he left before his tenure was up. The brothers quarreled, and Benjamin http://www.mysticseaport.org/learn/k-12-programs/field-trip/
quit, reporting that James sometimes beat him. Benjamin ran away to Philadelphia, and eventually opened his own printing shop where he printed many guided-tours/
things, including currency, his own newspaper called the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richard’s Almanack.
“Though he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, though he had rendered to his country service of incalculable importance as the Interested in a more extensive experience for your students?
ambassador of the colonies at the court of France, though he had attained eminence in many branches of science – when he came to write his last will Ask about our Apprenticeship or Overnight Programs!
and testament, he began it this way:

I, Benjamin Franklin,
Printer”
(Taken from: The Story of Printing and Bookmaking, by Douglas C. McMurtrie)