CONTAINERS AND BUCKETS KEEP COOPERS BUSY & WEALTHY

Before plastic buckets and cheap tin made their work redundant, coopers were kept busy making the countless containers that every household needed for daily life.

Barrel-making was the central business, but coopers also produced many other wooden household containers for moving, storing and cooking food and drink. The milk from cows ended up in buckets; beer and dairy products were made in tubs; wooden ‘cans’ were a practical way of bringing drinks on journeys.

Farmers and workshops were other big customers for the cooper, ensuring a healthy and potentially wealthy all-year trade in cooper-made products.