Author: Cindy Lambert

From the late 1800s until the 1950s, grapes were sent to local markets mostly by wooden baskets, boxes or crates. A method was needed to legibly label crates and barrels. Here we look at tool to do just that.

A division in the wine industry became evident; some “chemists” rejected the grafting solution that was determined to solve the destruction. They persisted with the use of pesticides and chemicals for the vineyards. I’m going to discuss in this article tools that were utilized to dust or spray those pesticides and chemicals on vineyards.

This article continues on the same venue as the previous article written on “Chiv, Croze, or Howel,” in describing the hand tools used by coopers. The date range represented by these chamfers, knives, and shave tools in the Wine History Project’s collection are from the early 1800s through 1910.

This article focuses on the cooper, a maker or repairer of casks, and the cooperage tools used to make cuts at the ends of the barrels, a specific size of cask.

Spigots control the flow of liquid from a large container and have been in use since ancient Greeks and Romans installed them in their bathhouses. The Wine History Project’s collection includes twelve different objects actively utilized between 1860 and 1910.