The Log Cabin Living: Artifacts from 19th Century Life exhibit at Job Carr Cabin Museum encourages visitors to take a closer look at more than 20 objects in the museum's collection.
Ceramic storage containers on display at Job Carr Cabin Museum.
In addition to wooden barrels, another popular form of storage was the ceramic stoneware crock. Crocks were a popular tool in many American kitchens from the 16th to early 20th century. Before and during the American Revolutionary War, crocks were imported to the colonies from Europe. The high cost of these storage containers, however, led American potters toeate their own ceramic crocks.
Crocks are made out of ceramic stoneware, with a waterproofing rating under two percent, meaning they are very watertight. Stoneware can be made from multiple types of clay, creating different colors or textures. Many types of antique American stoneware, however, are gray or brown with a salt glaze. The salt glaze is a firing technique where salt is thrown into the kiln, which creates a shiny coating on the vessel. Even if the vessel was not coated with a finishing glaze, they were still watertight. Antique crocks also generally feature cobalt blue embellishments. Most of these decorations, which included birds, animals, flowers, and trees, were painted directly on the crock. However, older crocks were etched, and then the cobalt blue was painted in the etching.
Crocks can hold a variety of foods and beverages like salted meat, butter, flour, or beer. And if the crock had a lid, this kept insects, animals, and pets out of the contents of the container. Crocks are also used to ferment foods like cabbage or cucumbers into sauerkraut and pickles.
The 25 gallon ceramic crock at Job Carr Cabin Museum.
The crock in the cabin was made by Red Wing Stoneware, a company which was in business from the late 1800s until they closed in 1967. Although before the early 1900s, the salt glaze was very common, in 1896, Red Wing Stoneware decided to replace the salt glaze with a cream-colored zinc glaze. The crock at the museum was produced between 1906 and 1967 based on the red wing stamp (below the 25). The 25 on the crock shows the carrying capacity in gallons.
Similar to wooden barrels, large ceramic crocks became less popular in the early 1900s as lighter tin, glass, and plastic containers were easier to transport and became the new standard in self-service grocery stores.
Take a closer look at the Museum's ceramic stoneware crock in this short video:
Sources
“Craft Traditions – Cooperage (Wooden Barrel Making).” Cooperage | Learning Center | New Hampshire Folklife, State of New Hampshire, www.nh.gov/folklife/learning-center/traditions/cooperage.htm. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.
“John Alden.” MayflowerHistory.Com, MayflowerHistory.com, mayflowerhistory.com/alden. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.
Morgan, Murray, and Michael Sullivan. Puget’s Sound: A Narrative of Early Tacoma and the Southern Sound. University of Washington Press, 2018.
“Red Wing Pottery Sales, Inc. - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Red Wing Pottery Sales, Inc..” Reference for Business, Advameg, www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/57/Red-Wing-Pottery-Sales-Inc.html. Accessed 1 Dec. 2023.
Twede, Diana. “The cask age: The technology and history of wooden barrels.” Packaging Technology and Science, vol. 18, no. 5, 13 June 2005, pp. 253–264, https://doi.org/10.1002/pts.696.
Williamson, Paul. “Value of Antique Crocks (Full Stoneware Price Guide).” True Legacy Homes, 6 Aug. 2020, www.truelegacyhomes.com/antique-crocks/.
About the Author
Madeline Teddy completed an internship with Job Carr Cabin Museum in Fall 2023. She was a graduate of University of British Columbia majoring in history and classical Near Eastern religious studies. She hoped to take her studies further and become a museum curator.