Little Book of Early American Crafts and Trades

by Peter Stockham (Editor)

Charming 1807 children's book explains large variety of crafts and trades, with a full chapter devoted to each: spinner, basketmaker, hatmaker, jeweller, brickmaker and bricklayer, potter, dyer, plumber, apothecary, and others. 23 copperplate illustrations are excellent examples of early commercial art.

Genres: History, Crafts

192 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1976

Reviews

[Alice Sather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical - reprint of an early 19th century book for young people (reading level much higher than books for young people nowadays!). Very interesting.

[Smellsofbikes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written in 1804 as a guide to kids who were thinking about what they wanted to do with their lives. While it's called "American" the author was obviously British and much of the writing had to do with fairly British issues: a long discussion of watermen on the Thames and how the one who did best each year got a prize that exempted him from being impressed into the Navy in case of a war, for instance, is probably not so relevant to an American kid. Still, it was interesting reading about the state of technology (the section for 'plumber' mentions that hygiene is necessary, particularly hand-washing before eating, because of the hazards of working with lead) and the approximate cost of equipment and weekly/yearly pay ranges for different trades.

[Cws]

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