Selections from The Chronicle

For the past 58 years, some of the most interesting and informative articles on early tools, trades, and technology have appeared in the pages of The Chronicle, the quarterly journal of the Early American Industries Association. From this rich source, fifty-five examples have been chosen, some written by recognized experts, others the first-hand reminiscences of early craftsmen, pioneers, and travelers. These fifty-five articles provide fascinating reading on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from blacksmith's hammer signals to horsehair sieves, from early burglar tools to building a New England home in 1831. Others include the education of New England apprentices during the colonial period; the harvesting of ice; Hammacher Schlemmer, the country's largest tool store in 1900; lumber rafting down the Delaware; how tinsmiths used their tools; the "mysterie" of the cordwainer; shot towers; hewing and squaring a beam; early household irons; the wooden leg of Governeur Morris; the spinning wheel; Mr. Hewlett's tool chest; all about the Gunter rules; and many, many more. It's a wonderful "selection" of entertaining and valuable information on how people worked and lived in earlier times.