3/1/2024 0 Comments A township tale carpentry![]() His mother Sarah Woodrow was a member of an experimental community in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Woodrow.” Richard Bushnell Woodrow was a member of the Second Order of Mount Lebanon’s Church Family (now referred to as the Center Family). On the bottom of one of the small drawers is a faint and partly obliterated inscription that appears once to have clearly read, “Dec. The quality of this bench speaks to why its proper name is a shoemaker’s bench rather than a “cobbler’s bench.” Although the terms shoemaker and cobbler are now used interchangeably, historically a shoemaker refered to the trained tradesperson who made shoes and boots, whereas a cobbler, as Webster informed people in his dictionary (1900 edition), was “A mender of shoes … a clumsy workman.” This is much like what has happened to the differentiation between a tinsmith and a tinker – the tinsmith being the maker of tin ware and the tinker “the itinerant mender of domestic tin utensils … a clumsy workman a botcher.” That being cleared up, this shoemaker’s bench has more to tell us about the Shakers than that they were well-shod by trained artisans. Shoemakers sat low on their benches as they used their laps for much of their work – the knees being a suitable vise for holding something as irregularly shaped as a shoe or boot. The seat is usually carved into the top of the bench without much or any padding. Many of these benches only have trays fastened to the bench top to hold tacks, nails, and shoe pegs, with maybe a single drawer slung underneath for tools. It has ample drawers for tools and a back rest and padded leather seat. 1845, Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, 1961.12839.1.Īs shoemakers’ benches go, this Shaker example is a luxury version of a basic workbench. Shoemaker’s Bench, Center Family, Mount Lebanon, NY, ca. ![]()
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