The 8x10" window glass was a standard size then. And when photography (wet plate) came along that was the glass the photographers would use to make their plates. Thus, why 8x10" is a standard print size today.
Koehli _ it’s a lot easier to make things if all of your components are standardized. In this situation, it’s a lot easier to make a wooden frame to fit a standardized pane, than to try and fit an unstandardized pane to a standard frame.
Agreed. The most elusive parts of history tend to be what average people were doing at the time. What did they eat? What were their jobs? How many hours every day would they work, and how many were spent on recreation? I can read all I want about military campaigns and power politics but apparently nobody thought it was worth writing down things like the trades you could find in an average 17th century village.
@@aidanwarren4980 well tbf, it literally was just everyday life to most people living, so it's only natural such things would be less noteworthy to write down. All the things most well recorded in history were big, special, or otherwise extraordinary/crazy events that very well may have altered, evolved, or otherwise disrupted everyday life of the appropriate times (whichever you're discussing in question).
I have several log/inventory books that you might be interested in looking at. My family had a store/trading post back in the early 1800's. Maybe we can find a way to get them in your hands if interested.
My Aunt owned a General Store that was passed down through her husbands family. It was established in 1894 and closed in 2004. I remember looking at the old inventory documents and the credit slips for individual customers and companies. It was some interesting stuff.
You spend so much time thanking us but really, I just wanted to post and say thank you! to everyone involved in the production, it's a real pleasure to watch your show! I really have to note the passion you guys extol about history is fantastically infectious. and I hope I can someday be priveleged to make the trip across the pond from Scotland to visit you guys sometime!
With age, even the most mundane things become fascinating relics. That has always been true in human history, even for the Romans who considered the great Egyptian pyramids as ancient! Weird how we humans find old stuff interesting.
"Romans who considered the great Egyptian pyramids as ancient!" Your exclamation point indicates you consider the Romans ignorant fools for considering the pyramids as ancient. But: ". Archaeologists believe Egypt's large pyramids are the work of the Old Kingdom society that rose to prominence in the Nile Valley after 3000 B.C. Historical analysis tells us that the Egyptians built the Giza Pyramids in a span of 85 years between 2589 and 2504 BC." www.aeraweb.org/projects/how-old-are-the-pyramids/ So, the pyramids ere 2,000 years old during Roman Republic, 2,500 years old when Rome took control of Egypt starting in 50 BC. That's pretty ancient even now. Don't e consider the Roman Empire "ancient," and that fell only 1,500 years ago. Education is NEVER ancient, Iron Drapes.
It's like opening up the Goods and Services section of a Dungeons & Dragons player's handbook. Such interesting materials and an idea of how valuable or easily an item could be replaced. This also gives a great guide to the purchasing power of a dollar on the frontier. A fist full of dollars could set up a full household it sounds like.
I used to work as an auditor and needed to review the court records for real property filings. I loved that part since I went into the back rooms and searched the huge, old, record books and was amazed at the wills that gave a glimpse into what was considered valuable at the time. The records went back in time until the land was part of the Spanish Acquisition (Florida) and it was hard to quit work at 5 PM. Anyone can do this, and many counties now have the records on-line, therefore for anyone interested just research he oldest records page by page and you will never be bored again! My husbands great grandmother used to keep a daily journal (over 30 years worth) detailing weather, daily work, any costs, unusual happenings, and births/deaths/etc. She would always write down her grocery list with cost - so fun. Don't have any idea what happened to all those books but they were over 150 years old.
It sure made me proud to be a quilt maker and cast iron cooking utensils were really passed down carefully. We're sure on the right YT site for our shared love of old records!
He mentions 3 point blankets. This was a measure of the size of a blanket first used by French weavers in the mid 18th century. A 3 point blanket would be a small twin bed size, about 60 X 80 inches. Hudson's Bay Company in Canada still sells 'point' blankets as they have since the 18th century. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_point_blanket
My mother recently passed away at 102 years old. As a young bride she kept a notebook of income and expenses. I hope one of my siblings kept it! They built their first house (3 br) for $3400
Jaidvt vantu. My father told me about his grandfather that built a two story, columbed front house in Kansas in the 1870s for the astronomical cost of $5,000. He said that people would come for miles around to view the "Mansion".
Our neighbors bought their house for 30,000 DM (about EUR 15,000). And their grandchildren now had the house demolished and built a semi-detached house in its place. I've been watching real estate prices in the region and I'm sure it would fetch at least EUR 650,000 if they were to sell it, probably even a bit more since it's new.
You may not realize, but your channel is very useful for fleshing out my fantasy tabletop role-playing games. I've gleaned so much information that helps me make my worlds seem more rich and alive. Being able to tell the players what's stacked in the back of a pantry, or filling a shop's shelves, even if its something they'll never buy or need, helps make the game feel less like sitting around a table looking at pieces of paper and dice. Thank you.
0:03 Doggie nose poking into the video! So informative. I find it interesting to try and picture the goods that stores would have back then. I always strive to lead a simple quality over quantity life which often leads me to mindfully purchase more ‘vintage’ designs and wares. I love your website and am ordering a pencil soon!
Those inventories can have a use that many would not expect. I have heard of several African Americans who were able to trace their families by using inventories, wills, and bills of sale. It's also useful to see what things were specifically mentioned in wills because it gives you the information concerning what items were valued enough to be included in a bequest. In Elizabethan wills, for example, people are very specific about to whom they left their clothing and bedding. People don't often realize how profound an effect the automation of spinning and weaving had on economics, but you will if you realize that a decent, new suit of clothing was beyond the means for most people unless they were middle class or higher. For someone in those days, unless you had a flock of sheep, a field where one could grow and process flax, a couple of family members who could spin (not an easy thing to do!), a loom and someone who could weave and sew, a suit of clothing represented a pretty big investment and possibly, a trip to a settlement where clothing could be purchased.
I would add that clothing styles didn't alter radically over the generations (as compared to today) So a gown or suit could be worn for a very, very long time and then became a source of fabric for trimmings, clothing for children, or "good enough" for servants to wear.
One of my biggest crowd pleasers at Civil War reenactments is my Housewife, ...not Diane, my field sewing kit! "Men sewed back then?", is the leading response to it. Go figure. The other is, "what's a sutler?", even though there are three or six of them on site. 21st Centuryites have no clue what "we" went through back in "our" day. I reenact. Therefore I was. Great talk, Jon, thanks!
I will never forget my 8th-grade history teacher Ned Beck. You remind me of him. I will never forget our amazing field trip to Sturbridge Massachusetts and all the fascinating stops along the way Furnaces and waterfalls in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and Hyde Park New York and touring FDR's home. There is a corner of the house that has an air vent where you can listen in on any conversation going on in any room.
I Once Worked For A Waterproofing Company That Had The Records Of Projects That Went Back To The 1930s Right Up To The Time Before They Went Out Of Business In The 2000s! Love Going Over The Items For Sale And The Prices They Charged. Great Video!
A person can definitely see the joy this type of life brings you by the smile it puts on your face when you talk about it. This channel is hands down my go to source for Learning more about this era
So my Grandmother was raised by her grandmother because her mother died of bloodclots after giving birth. They say she was up and walking around but then she just died. Nanny was my great great grandmother's name or how kids knew her. Anyhow, I remember my grandma's old stories about things seeing she was raised by her grandmother who grew up in the 1800s. I remember the bricks that used to be heated in fire and slid between bedsheets. My grandmother obviously was raised by people who survived the great depression and WWII. FASCINATING how houses were heated and I love examining old items. Old Lang Syne, or times gone by. I understand why Townsends are so into history and if we all have to live somewhere the past is an interesting place to do it. Also educational. I was born in an extremely old town by American standards called Portsmouth, New Hampshire, established 1623, I believe. There is a section of downtown called Strawberry Bank and it's a preserved section of town as it was in the 16 and 1700s. Literally the section is the original houses from the time period. Incredible. It's an experience unlike any other to be able to walk into a town as it was back then. I know you are building a homestead and if you ever come to New England and find yourself in NH you should check out Strawberry Bank 🍓 in Portsmouth, NH.
I love inventories and read more than just my family. I spin and weave so find the fiber tools and cloth most interesting. But the numbers of items compared to the number of people in the home is also fascinating. Such as spoons, forks, knives, plates, etc. seems for most there are fewer items than people.
In those days, or a bit before, the children were not expected to be seated at the table, but instead, waited behind their parents and were given food from their parents' plates. Only the fairly wealthy expected their children to sit through meals and have their own dishes and utensils, which they generally did under the supervision of a servant. In poorer households, the men ate first and the women "waited on" them. If there was enough food afterwards, the women would sit down and eat their own meal out of what was left over.
As an amateur genealogist, I LOVE seeing the inventories in my ancestors' probate records-- fascinating to see what they owned. You'll see beds mentioned a lot because they were worth so much. When William Shakespeare left his wife his second-best bed, he wasn't being chintzy.
I had an original catalog from 1917-18 and I always thought to myself “why is everything so expensive now?” I was like 6 and I was disappointed that my dollar couldn’t buy me anything good.
I do some writing, and one particular story I'm working on takes place in a frontier. This channel has been a godsend for random bits of information about that type of day-to-day living.
I found a collection of general store/hardware store receipts from my great(x4) grandfather’s farm. He was a soldier in the American Civil War, and it was fascinating to see the things he bought to keep his farm going.
This is why I love your videos. I think we are kindred spirits when it comes to researching daily life and first-person accounts. What better way to piece together what life was like, than to read inventories, bills of sale, property transfers and survey records. I've been blessed to have a job with a County Surveyor's Office here in Indiana, where digging deep into this sort of information is part of my job description. One of my fascinations is with old, abandoned roadways and trails. Being able to physically retrace and rediscover routes that our ancestors took to get where they were going means searching old maps and having an eye for the "lay of the land." Using historic aerial photography has become a real ally when trying to figure out when and where land changes occurred. Keep up the great work. You always seem to bring a certain passion and excitement that makes me what to dig even more!
It dispels a lot of myths propagated by conjecturing historians as well. Not particularly relevant to the time period you're focused on, but one such myth was that "medieval swords were expensive and regarded as a status symbol of the nobility" and while that's true in the early medieval period, it is false during the late. We know that because of estate sale records and wills that list the price of old swords, and we can compare it to the wages of certain professions of the time period. Some were valued at no more than a day or two's pay because by then, they were being mass produced and plenty were already in circulation from dead fathers and grandfathers.
Sword cost also depends on Steel Quality in the middle ages. High Quality swords came from Crucible, Damascus, Wootz steel and low quality swords were usually pig iron.
@@nigelis2345 Owning a cheap sword back then would have been like someone owning a Hi Point pistol or obsolete gun today . Someone owning a good sword back then would be like owning a good AR weapon today . Don't get me wrong , owning a cheap weapon is better than nothing and may get the job done .
They start to bang out things like munitions armour, rapiers and polearms in large numbers. You can use sumptuary law to try making swords exclusive. Only this and that class of people in town can carry around a sword in their daily business. And you can use a sword to score style points just as with any other tool, and spend on details like engravings. Something like a suit of ringmail and a metal helmet used to be high status in the nordic countries. The basic military protection for most is a large, round wooden shield.
Wow, It's Great To See Jon Get Excited Over An Inventory Of Common Everyday Items In Use. Kind Of Like Looking Through An Old Sears & Roebuck Catalog! Keep Up the Great Work.
I love your channel so much, I wish I could work any historical kitchen setting that would be so interesting so many awesome delicious Rich recipes I absolutely love your cooking videos keep making them you are the best
I completely understand being fascinated by "boring history" documents. I'm moving soon and have been researching the neighborhood and wound up reading a State of Wisconsin department of Agriculture report from 100 years ago, because it had some stuff that is relevant to the development of the place I'm going to live. For example, I finally figured it out why a street that seemed to be nowhere central is named Main Street when there's no big business district there. (It's actually the main street that runs through the State Fair Park. So I always wondered this thing and I found out because of an old state report. I wound up reading most of the report. Thank you for your channel. It's one of the best for sure.
You might want to look for trade journal from old stores. A lot of shopkeepers would list the things people bought and what they receive then balance there inventory at the end of the day. I saw one in a museum and it showed a daily transaction,.
Mr Townsend, Your positive attitude about living history, is infectious and a breath of fresh air! My Partner and myself have been slowly building our 18th century kits! You have been a great inspiration and always provide a smile for us when the journey gets hard and frustrating! Thank you so much and please continue your wonderful work!
I know you normally focus on the British Colonies in mainland North America but i would like to see some videos that cover other areas of the Americas at the time, like say Colonial South America or the European Colonies of the Caribbean. I know that you may be limited on resources from these areas but if you deviate to these other parts of America i would be extremely happy. Keep up the good work!
My grandfather, Issac Levan, was Gen. Wayne's aide! He details it in his pension application. He speaks of being there when Wayne was wounded and he also tells of delivering a dispatch to Gen. Washington from Wayne and the bringing Washington back to Wayne's camp. Fascinating stuff!!
Andrew Shook that is awesome thanks for sharing something i didnt know. Haven't had much chance to dig into the history so much. Been spending so much time in genealogy tracking ancestors.
I have family who served in Connecticut and Continental forces during the revolution, and an uncle who was a surveyor in New York and Pennsylvania after the war. I wonder if our families ever met?
Ken, Grandpa Nathaniel fought in both the F&I and Rev wars, in Connecticut Militia and Continental Army. Uncle Nathaniel. To add to the confusion, his eldest son, Nathaniel, also served! One of then was in Sedgewick's Co. in 1776 and Yeats in 1777 (Peekskill). We can also place one of them in Col. Sam Webb's regiment. Uncle Ithuriel was captured outside Montreal (with Ethan Allen), but then returned to Connecticut as a sergeant with Sam Webb's regt. Uncle Gabriel was with Charles Webb's regt, and then Sheldon's Light Horse. (Gabriel responded to the Lexington Alarm before the Conn Militia was called out and did not sign in until outside Boston.) Uncle Zephon also served, I think with dragoons, but the records are sparse. I cannot help but wonder what Grandma Huldah thought with her husband and four sons all off fighting the British! (My connection to the family, Raphael, was still a baby.)
A pudding pan is usually square, 12"×12"×2" deep. A pudding is a white cake with a layer of berries (wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or plums) on the bottom, and served with a sauce made of carmelized butter and brown sugar, and (this is key) plenty of brandy or rum. That's how my great-aunt Katie Moreau used to make it. Through my Moreau side I'm a descendant of Ezekiel Solomon, fur trader and owner of a general store, first at Ft. Michillimackinac, and later on Mackinac Island, from 1761-1806.
One way to measure the prices is using gold and silver. Precious metals have retained continuous value over centuries and were important for currencies. The Spanish dollar, for example, was widely circulated in the U.S
i started thinking that too, and what is interesting is that He listed a pair of shoes at 1.25 and a rifle at 12 dollars and when you think of those items in todays terms some of them still match up, a decent pair of shoes will run between 100-200 dollars and i good rifle will be 1000-1500.
Many of us limit our knowledge of history to exploration, wars, discoveries, etc. and pay little attention to what happened day-to-day with the “every man” population (90% of what 90% of the people did 90% of the time). Thank you bringing us these videos that remind us the folks in the 18th Century lived lives very similar to what most of us live today without the modern conveniences. There is so much more to recreating history (the fun part of history) than discovering Kentucky, crossing the Delaware with Washington, landing on the Moon.
i love learning stuff like this. If you were my history teacher I wouldn't have fallen asleep at my desk, knocked off all the books and fallen on the floor...True story.
$4.oo for a single person wool blanket sounds rather high for back then. I recently got a good one, brand new, for $85.oo *Edit ~* Just found a reliable conversation rate calculator for 2019, in terms of 1811 prices. A $4.oo wool blanket big enough for one person actually equals $78.20 today. Looks like I got slightly ripped off.
Fascinating video! My grandfather was a trapper/trader who especially dealt in Indian artifacts. Their lives hadn't changed all that much over the years, it seems.
What is a day's pay in the 18th century, about a shilling a day? So twelve pennies, if going by the US/GB exchange rates at the time. 454 grams per pound, average nutmeg is about 4 ounces. That's about 112 nutmegs per pound. I'm assuming that's about three days pay for one nutmeg? One nutmeg yields about two teaspoons, and you're dropping at least a teaspoon of nutmeg in these recipes. That's quite the expensive habit.
No way does a single nutmeg weigh 4 ounces. Wikipedia says 5 - 10g for one nutmeg or .18 - .35oz. If you take an average of .25oz per nutmeg that means there are 64 nutmegs to the pound.$3 a pound = 4.6 cents per nutmeg
0.078 oz of nutmeg is equal to 1tsp of nutmeg. That means there is around is a minimum of 2.3 tsp per nutmeg or around 2 1/4tsp (0.18oz). There is 4.48 (.35oz) maximum or around 4 1/2tsp. Most recipes call for around 1/4tsp. Some call for 1/2tsp at most. Assuming the recipe only needs 1/4tsp per meal, you can get 9 to 18 meals out of each nutmeg. You can get around 13.5 meals per nutmeg on average. With an average of 64 nutmegs per pound, you can get 864 meals per pound. However, the average weight of a nutmeg is more like 0.265oz instead of 0.25oz making there around 60.377 nutmegs per pound producing 819.09 meals. One can make 819 meals per pound of nutmeg using only 1/4tsp for each meal. I added it up again using 0.078oz = 1tsp and 16oz=1lb and came up with around 820.5 meals per pound given that only 1/4tsp is used each time. Between 819-820.5 meals per pound on average using only 1/4tsp per meal. 40.5 meals worth of nutmeg per one day's pay according to your calculations and 13.5 meals per nutmeg calculation.
I just love your channel. I randomly stumbled across a year ago and watched every episode. Thanks for bringing our history to the forefront. I hope a lot of young youtubers find your channel and appreciate our history.
Paul, are you able to be a patron* on Patreon? He might respond to your request if you become one. *I'm not a patron, but I have heard that a lot of CZcamsrs with Patreon accounts take suggestions from there so they get bombarded with suggestions/requests/demands from everyone. That being said, I'm rooting for you; these potential recipes sound interesting.
Squirrel brains and scrambled eggs was a childhood favorite. Grandma used to send my brother and I out early in the morning to shoot squirrels with our pellet guns. She would serve it with fried polk pulled out of the back yard.
I’m addicted to your channel! I just discovered it the other day and the information you are providing is helping me how my ancestors lived in the early days in Ohio when they settled in Cleveland. It’s been so hard for me to picture what their daily lives were like, but I’m starting to be able to because of you. This is invaluable to me as an amateur genealogist. Thank you so much!
Another fascinating episode. As a youth I loved to look through the archives of my village newspapers, accessible through bound volumes and on microfilm in our local library. We had a 'Republican' newspaper and a 'Democrat' newspaper. There were accounts of early county fairs. ALSO in this video, we get a good look at some of the details of your linen Frontier overcoat with its fringe detail.
In medieval times 'scarlet' was a very fine wool cloth similar to today's Melton Cloth. It was dyed with a very expensive red dye so was the most expensive cloth available. It was not necessarily just dyed red as other colours were added but the red dye was the base (derived from a relative of cochineal).
Of all the museums I have been to one of the best is the Wreck of the Arabia in KC. A whole steamboat load of cargo saved. 3/4 of the goods were just plain tools and work-a-day items. 1/4 luxury goods. Tin ware, silver ware, cast iron, knifes, chisel, hammers,saw, medicine, books,boots,childrens dolls, shoes,cloth, pipes, ect , good bad and plain all the stuff a frontier store would pack.
When I was hunting many years ago, I came across an old house which had been abandoned many years before. The people had used newspapers to insulate their walls, the papers were from the 1920's , I found the advertisements to be one of the most interesting parts. So, in a very small way I know what you mean.
I reenact at the Old Fort in Fort Wayne a couple of times every year. This trade goods list is fascinating to learn about being this close to the exact area that it was written.
Thank you for another friendly and informative video! I've just had this thought now: Kids in elementary and high school would enjoy watching videos like these to supplement what they learn in history class.
I am fascinated by historical commerce. As a previous “big box” employee it’s eye opening to see history from something other than wars and government. We survive this world by our daily lives, how did the average guy get by day to day? Love it.
Enjoying this content. Such a lovely presentation in every video. So educational, fun to watch and listen. I've quietly wondered about these things for as long as i can remember and am so blessed that i can incorporate some of it into my life.
You're a welcome change from the serious issue of Our day. Shining a light on the 18th century AMERICAN life. You're truly appreciated. I know this is hard & tedious to research & then plot & plan the filming.
The 8x10" window glass was a standard size then. And when photography (wet plate) came along that was the glass the photographers would use to make their plates. Thus, why 8x10" is a standard print size today.
Cool!
🎶 The more you know! 🎶
Sounds like they need to do a glass blowing episode
Koehli _ for window panes
Koehli _ it’s a lot easier to make things if all of your components are standardized. In this situation, it’s a lot easier to make a wooden frame to fit a standardized pane, than to try and fit an unstandardized pane to a standard frame.
This man is a treasure.
Holly Nicole An American treasure.🇺🇸
so true
maybe he is god
who knows
YES!!
Adjusted for today's prices.
Moccasins: $4.44
Shoes: $19.53
Calico shirts: $22.19
wool blanket: $71.01
Rifles: $221.89
Belt knife: $3.02
Tomahawk: $11.89
Pewter teaspoons: $0.36
Pitsaw: $71.01
Hand saw: $22.19
Grindstone: $142.01
Spinning wheel: $62.13
Cloves per pound: $14.20
Nutmeg per pound: $53.25
Mace per pound: $124.26
Ivory comb: $4.44
Horn comb: $0.53
Spectacles: $2.84
Damien Paroski very cool man
Some of these prices i would call reasonable even today, only the wool blanket is waaaaay off the mark. :D
Damlen Paroski, Thank you so much for this listed money equivalents. I really loved seeing it.
Nutmeg.......out of stock
$221 for an up-to-date (at the time) rifle? Yes please.
Inventory is, in some ways, is more facinating then reading about Kings and generals.
Agreed. The most elusive parts of history tend to be what average people were doing at the time. What did they eat? What were their jobs? How many hours every day would they work, and how many were spent on recreation? I can read all I want about military campaigns and power politics but apparently nobody thought it was worth writing down things like the trades you could find in an average 17th century village.
@@aidanwarren4980 well tbf, it literally was just everyday life to most people living, so it's only natural such things would be less noteworthy to write down.
All the things most well recorded in history were big, special, or otherwise extraordinary/crazy events that very well may have altered, evolved, or otherwise disrupted everyday life of the appropriate times (whichever you're discussing in question).
Nutmeg, apparently a frontier necessity
Mr Danforth 374 Conan would've probably enjoyed nutmeg too, had he been an actual person.
I have several log/inventory books that you might be interested in looking at. My family had a store/trading post back in the early 1800's. Maybe we can find a way to get them in your hands if interested.
David Maxey I hope they see this, it would be so cool to see more videos like this.
JustThatWallflower
I hope the see it too. I would be more than happy to mail them to Jon to look at
I look forward to seeing a video about that!
what area were they in?
Steven Johnson
Louisiana
Your enthusiasm is infectious as nutmeg. Plus, the rain in the background make this a very soothing video to watch.
My Aunt owned a General Store that was passed down through her husbands family. It was established in 1894 and closed in 2004. I remember looking at the old inventory documents and the credit slips for individual customers and companies. It was some interesting stuff.
Send it in!
You spend so much time thanking us but really, I just wanted to post and say thank you! to everyone involved in the production, it's a real pleasure to watch your show! I really have to note the passion you guys extol about history is fantastically infectious. and I hope I can someday be priveleged to make the trip across the pond from Scotland to visit you guys sometime!
Fascinating!
I worked in a bakery in England. A pudding is a little cake. So I assume it was a little cake pan.
With age, even the most mundane things become fascinating relics. That has always been true in human history, even for the Romans who considered the great Egyptian pyramids as ancient! Weird how we humans find old stuff interesting.
2000 years ago: Townsendum Romanum showing the plebs interestintg stuff about how the Egyptians lived XD
Can't know where you're going if you don't' know where you've been.
I wonder if the Roman world had Egyptian reenactors or cosplayers.
Akios Eres only in parades
"Romans who considered the great Egyptian pyramids as ancient!" Your exclamation point indicates you consider the Romans ignorant fools for considering the pyramids as ancient.
But: ". Archaeologists believe Egypt's large pyramids are the work of the Old Kingdom society that rose to prominence in the Nile Valley after 3000 B.C. Historical analysis tells us that the Egyptians built the Giza Pyramids in a span of 85 years between 2589 and 2504 BC."
www.aeraweb.org/projects/how-old-are-the-pyramids/
So, the pyramids ere 2,000 years old during Roman Republic, 2,500 years old when Rome took control of Egypt starting in 50 BC. That's pretty ancient even now. Don't e consider the Roman Empire "ancient," and that fell only 1,500 years ago.
Education is NEVER ancient, Iron Drapes.
It's like opening up the Goods and Services section of a Dungeons & Dragons player's handbook. Such interesting materials and an idea of how valuable or easily an item could be replaced. This also gives a great guide to the purchasing power of a dollar on the frontier. A fist full of dollars could set up a full household it sounds like.
I used to work as an auditor and needed to review the court records for real property filings. I loved that part since I went into the back rooms and searched the huge, old, record books and was amazed at the wills that gave a glimpse into what was considered valuable at the time. The records went back in time until the land was part of the Spanish Acquisition (Florida) and it was hard to quit work at 5 PM. Anyone can do this, and many counties now have the records on-line, therefore for anyone interested just research he oldest records page by page and you will never be bored again! My husbands great grandmother used to keep a daily journal (over 30 years worth) detailing weather, daily work, any costs, unusual happenings, and births/deaths/etc. She would always write down her grocery list with cost - so fun. Don't have any idea what happened to all those books but they were over 150 years old.
mary w oh my, I could read/study that kind of stuff for hours!!
It sure made me proud to be a quilt maker and cast iron cooking utensils were really passed down carefully. We're sure on the right YT site for our shared love of old records!
Yes, this would be awesome to see in future videos! Wills and personal diaries or really any form of writing, notes and letter, etc.
My mother's cast iron set she handed to me, were in my family for over 150 years. Stuff that lasts, is stuff I'd prefer.
He mentions 3 point blankets. This was a measure of the size of a blanket first used by French weavers in the mid 18th century. A 3 point blanket would be a small twin bed size, about 60 X 80 inches. Hudson's Bay Company in Canada still sells 'point' blankets as they have since the 18th century.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_point_blanket
My mother recently passed away at 102 years old. As a young bride she kept a notebook of income and expenses. I hope one of my siblings kept it! They built their first house (3 br) for $3400
Jaidvt vantu. My father told me about his grandfather that built a two story, columbed front house in Kansas in the 1870s for the astronomical cost of $5,000. He said that people would come for miles around to view the "Mansion".
Norman Osburn $5000 in the 1870's! That was a lot of $$$. I hope you are still living large in the 20teens....
Our neighbors bought their house for 30,000 DM (about EUR 15,000). And their grandchildren now had the house demolished and built a semi-detached house in its place. I've been watching real estate prices in the region and I'm sure it would fetch at least EUR 650,000 if they were to sell it, probably even a bit more since it's new.
You may not realize, but your channel is very useful for fleshing out my fantasy tabletop role-playing games. I've gleaned so much information that helps me make my worlds seem more rich and alive. Being able to tell the players what's stacked in the back of a pantry, or filling a shop's shelves, even if its something they'll never buy or need, helps make the game feel less like sitting around a table looking at pieces of paper and dice. Thank you.
0:03 Doggie nose poking into the video!
So informative. I find it interesting to try and picture the goods that stores would have back then. I always strive to lead a simple quality over quantity life which often leads me to mindfully purchase more ‘vintage’ designs and wares. I love your website and am ordering a pencil soon!
Those inventories can have a use that many would not expect. I have heard of several African Americans who were able to trace their families by using inventories, wills, and bills of sale. It's also useful to see what things were specifically mentioned in wills because it gives you the information concerning what items were valued enough to be included in a bequest. In Elizabethan wills, for example, people are very specific about to whom they left their clothing and bedding. People don't often realize how profound an effect the automation of spinning and weaving had on economics, but you will if you realize that a decent, new suit of clothing was beyond the means for most people unless they were middle class or higher. For someone in those days, unless you had a flock of sheep, a field where one could grow and process flax, a couple of family members who could spin (not an easy thing to do!), a loom and someone who could weave and sew, a suit of clothing represented a pretty big investment and possibly, a trip to a settlement where clothing could be purchased.
I would add that clothing styles didn't alter radically over the generations (as compared to today) So a gown or suit could be worn for a very, very long time and then became a source of fabric for trimmings, clothing for children, or "good enough" for servants to wear.
Better times, and better days, without all our abominable sin today.
Love the joy you get from sharing history...thank you for your videos
5:23 Pudding pans are stamped tins for baking various products standard or individual-sized, in british isles pudding synonym for a dessert.
One of my biggest crowd pleasers at Civil War reenactments is my Housewife, ...not Diane, my field sewing kit! "Men sewed back then?", is the leading response to it. Go figure. The other is, "what's a sutler?", even though there are three or six of them on site. 21st Centuryites have no clue what "we" went through back in "our" day. I reenact. Therefore I was. Great talk, Jon, thanks!
I will never forget my 8th-grade history teacher Ned Beck. You remind me of him. I will never forget our amazing field trip to Sturbridge Massachusetts and all the fascinating stops along the way Furnaces and waterfalls in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and Hyde Park New York and touring FDR's home. There is a corner of the house that has an air vent where you can listen in on any conversation going on in any room.
I Once Worked For A Waterproofing Company That Had The Records Of Projects That Went Back To The 1930s Right Up To The Time Before They Went Out Of Business In The 2000s! Love Going Over The Items For Sale And The Prices They Charged. Great Video!
A person can definitely see the joy this type of life brings you by the smile it puts on your face when you talk about it. This channel is hands down my go to source for Learning more about this era
This is one of those few channels that are informative and fun to watch here on yt. Very nice work, subbed!
Really cool listening to this. I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is a treasure, probably Townsends not far from where I grew up.
I love the enthusiasm in your voice! It is easy to hear (and see) just how much you love what you do! Thanks for sharing. :o)
So my Grandmother was raised by her grandmother because her mother died of bloodclots after giving birth. They say she was up and walking around but then she just died. Nanny was my great great grandmother's name or how kids knew her. Anyhow, I remember my grandma's old stories about things seeing she was raised by her grandmother who grew up in the 1800s. I remember the bricks that used to be heated in fire and slid between bedsheets. My grandmother obviously was raised by people who survived the great depression and WWII. FASCINATING how houses were heated and I love examining old items. Old Lang Syne, or times gone by. I understand why Townsends are so into history and if we all have to live somewhere the past is an interesting place to do it. Also educational. I was born in an extremely old town by American standards called Portsmouth, New Hampshire, established 1623, I believe. There is a section of downtown called Strawberry Bank and it's a preserved section of town as it was in the 16 and 1700s. Literally the section is the original houses from the time period. Incredible. It's an experience unlike any other to be able to walk into a town as it was back then. I know you are building a homestead and if you ever come to New England and find yourself in NH you should check out Strawberry Bank 🍓 in Portsmouth, NH.
I love inventories and read more than just my family. I spin and weave so find the fiber tools and cloth most interesting. But the numbers of items compared to the number of people in the home is also fascinating. Such as spoons, forks, knives, plates, etc. seems for most there are fewer items than people.
In those days, or a bit before, the children were not expected to be seated at the table, but instead, waited behind their parents and were given food from their parents' plates. Only the fairly wealthy expected their children to sit through meals and have their own dishes and utensils, which they generally did under the supervision of a servant. In poorer households, the men ate first and the women "waited on" them. If there was enough food afterwards, the women would sit down and eat their own meal out of what was left over.
I’m sure dining tables to accommodate the entire family where also not that common.
As an amateur genealogist, I LOVE seeing the inventories in my ancestors' probate records-- fascinating to see what they owned. You'll see beds mentioned a lot because they were worth so much. When William Shakespeare left his wife his second-best bed, he wasn't being chintzy.
I used to have a reprint of a 1908 Sears and Roebuck catalog when I was a kid. More fun than a comic book!
I had an original catalog from 1917-18 and I always thought to myself “why is everything so expensive now?” I was like 6 and I was disappointed that my dollar couldn’t buy me anything good.
I do some writing, and one particular story I'm working on takes place in a frontier. This channel has been a godsend for random bits of information about that type of day-to-day living.
Yes, you are right, that was very interesting! I love your enthusiasm and your videos!
I found a collection of general store/hardware store receipts from my great(x4) grandfather’s farm. He was a soldier in the American Civil War, and it was fascinating to see the things he bought to keep his farm going.
This is totally fascinating, what a great idea for a video!
This is why I love your videos. I think we are kindred spirits when it comes to researching daily life and first-person accounts. What better way to piece together what life was like, than to read inventories, bills of sale, property transfers and survey records. I've been blessed to have a job with a County Surveyor's Office here in Indiana, where digging deep into this sort of information is part of my job description. One of my fascinations is with old, abandoned roadways and trails. Being able to physically retrace and rediscover routes that our ancestors took to get where they were going means searching old maps and having an eye for the "lay of the land." Using historic aerial photography has become a real ally when trying to figure out when and where land changes occurred. Keep up the great work. You always seem to bring a certain passion and excitement that makes me what to dig even more!
It dispels a lot of myths propagated by conjecturing historians as well. Not particularly relevant to the time period you're focused on, but one such myth was that "medieval swords were expensive and regarded as a status symbol of the nobility" and while that's true in the early medieval period, it is false during the late. We know that because of estate sale records and wills that list the price of old swords, and we can compare it to the wages of certain professions of the time period. Some were valued at no more than a day or two's pay because by then, they were being mass produced and plenty were already in circulation from dead fathers and grandfathers.
Sword cost also depends on Steel Quality in the middle ages. High Quality swords came from Crucible, Damascus, Wootz steel and low quality swords were usually pig iron.
Rag Plays So you watch Scholagladiatoria too huh?
Yep, quality channel. Like this one.
@@nigelis2345 Owning a cheap sword back then would have been like someone owning a Hi Point pistol or obsolete gun today . Someone owning a good sword back then would be like owning a good AR weapon today . Don't get me wrong , owning a cheap weapon is better than nothing and may get the job done .
They start to bang out things like munitions armour, rapiers and polearms in large numbers.
You can use sumptuary law to try making swords exclusive. Only this and that class of people in town can carry around a sword in their daily business. And you can use a sword to score style points just as with any other tool, and spend on details like engravings.
Something like a suit of ringmail and a metal helmet used to be high status in the nordic countries. The basic military protection for most is a large, round wooden shield.
Wow, It's Great To See Jon Get Excited Over An Inventory Of Common Everyday Items In Use. Kind Of Like Looking Through An Old Sears & Roebuck Catalog! Keep Up the Great Work.
I love your channel so much, I wish I could work any historical kitchen setting that would be so interesting so many awesome delicious Rich recipes I absolutely love your cooking videos keep making them you are the best
I completely understand being fascinated by "boring history" documents. I'm moving soon and have been researching the neighborhood and wound up reading a State of Wisconsin department of Agriculture report from 100 years ago, because it had some stuff that is relevant to the development of the place I'm going to live. For example, I finally figured it out why a street that seemed to be nowhere central is named Main Street when there's no big business district there. (It's actually the main street that runs through the State Fair Park. So I always wondered this thing and I found out because of an old state report. I wound up reading most of the report.
Thank you for your channel. It's one of the best for sure.
Love this kind of video, lots of interesting information on history and the information that was normally overlooked. Thank you!
I just love your positive vibes. Your such a fun person to take a moment to listen to. Thank you
You might want to look for trade journal from old stores. A lot of shopkeepers would list the things people bought and what they receive then balance there inventory at the end of the day. I saw one in a museum and it showed a daily transaction,.
Mr Townsend, Your positive attitude about living history, is infectious and a breath of fresh air! My Partner and myself have been slowly building our 18th century kits! You have been a great inspiration and always provide a smile for us when the journey gets hard and frustrating! Thank you so much and please continue your wonderful work!
I know you normally focus on the British Colonies in mainland North America but i would like to see some videos that cover other areas of the Americas at the time, like say Colonial South America or the European Colonies of the Caribbean. I know that you may be limited on resources from these areas but if you deviate to these other parts of America i would be extremely happy. Keep up the good work!
One of the best channels on CZcams, love the historical content. Learn something new every episode. Keep it up!
1:45 sounds like you're singing a merry tune.
"We don't have as much,
on the deep frontier"
Always a pleasurable and informative viewing experience. Thanks.
NUTMEG.
natives travelled for miles to trade skins for a few pounds of nutmeg lol
$3.00/lb.
*n u t t m e g*
*N U T T M E G*
No. We're buying pemmican and lard. And you're gonna like it. I'm not made of silver.
Meanwhile, in another channel...
PASHTIET
You are the best history maven EVER!!!! You make the most regular items seem absolutely mesmerizing. Ty. 🙌🙌🙌
I really really hope this is seen my 8th great maternal grandfather was Major General Anthony Wayne and one of the reasons i watch this channel.
My grandfather, Issac Levan, was Gen. Wayne's aide! He details it in his pension application. He speaks of being there when Wayne was wounded and he also tells of delivering a dispatch to Gen. Washington from Wayne and the bringing Washington back to Wayne's camp. Fascinating stuff!!
Andrew Shook that is awesome thanks for sharing something i didnt know. Haven't had much chance to dig into the history so much. Been spending so much time in genealogy tracking ancestors.
I have family who served in Connecticut and Continental forces during the revolution, and an uncle who was a surveyor in New York and Pennsylvania after the war. I wonder if our families ever met?
Douglas MacCullagh i would say they was a good chance of it. Especially if he did any work for the Colonial Millitary.
Ken, Grandpa Nathaniel fought in both the F&I and Rev wars, in Connecticut Militia and Continental Army. Uncle Nathaniel. To add to the confusion, his eldest son, Nathaniel, also served! One of then was in Sedgewick's Co. in 1776 and Yeats in 1777 (Peekskill). We can also place one of them in Col. Sam Webb's regiment. Uncle Ithuriel was captured outside Montreal (with Ethan Allen), but then returned to Connecticut as a sergeant with Sam Webb's regt. Uncle Gabriel was with Charles Webb's regt, and then Sheldon's Light Horse. (Gabriel responded to the Lexington Alarm before the Conn Militia was called out and did not sign in until outside Boston.) Uncle Zephon also served, I think with dragoons, but the records are sparse. I cannot help but wonder what Grandma Huldah thought with her husband and four sons all off fighting the British! (My connection to the family, Raphael, was still a baby.)
I've always enjoyed your channel. Your enthusiasm and joy in bringing us these views of another time have always been a delight..Thank You
Amazing! Loved the bit about nutmeg!
A pudding pan is usually square, 12"×12"×2" deep. A pudding is a white cake with a layer of berries (wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or plums) on the bottom, and served with a sauce made of carmelized butter and brown sugar, and (this is key) plenty of brandy or rum. That's how my great-aunt Katie Moreau used to make it. Through my Moreau side I'm a descendant of Ezekiel Solomon, fur trader and owner of a general store, first at Ft. Michillimackinac, and later on Mackinac Island, from 1761-1806.
What's interesting to me is putting the actual cost into today's dollars and how long did they have to work/trade/barter to afford these store items.
One way to measure the prices is using gold and silver. Precious metals have retained continuous value over centuries and were important for currencies. The Spanish dollar, for example, was widely circulated in the U.S
i started thinking that too, and what is interesting is that He listed a pair of shoes at 1.25 and a rifle at 12 dollars and when you think of those items in todays terms some of them still match up, a decent pair of shoes will run between 100-200 dollars and i good rifle will be 1000-1500.
right one cent then was like 20$ today
Many of us limit our knowledge of history to exploration, wars, discoveries, etc. and pay little attention to what happened day-to-day with the “every man” population (90% of what 90% of the people did 90% of the time). Thank you bringing us these videos that remind us the folks in the 18th Century lived lives very similar to what most of us live today without the modern conveniences. There is so much more to recreating history (the fun part of history) than discovering Kentucky, crossing the Delaware with Washington, landing on the Moon.
I'm telling ya, you should go to Exchange Place in Kingsport, Tennessee. It's a living history trading post/currency exchange..
Fascinating, your channel is a tremendous platform for fleshing out the every day lives of people in our past.
We already know! Wagon tongues, sets of clothing, boxes of bullets.
Nutmeg broke his arm.
Nutmeg has died of dysentery.
I so enjoy your enthusiasm for historical things and how they lived way back when!
You seem like the coolest dad ever.
i love learning stuff like this. If you were my history teacher I wouldn't have fallen asleep at my desk, knocked off all the books and fallen on the floor...True story.
$4.oo for a single person wool blanket sounds rather high for back then. I recently got a good one, brand new, for $85.oo
*Edit ~* Just found a reliable conversation rate calculator for 2019, in terms of 1811 prices. A $4.oo wool blanket big enough for one person actually equals $78.20 today. Looks like I got slightly ripped off.
@Rich 91 abacus. Very reliable. 😁
Fascinating video! My grandfather was a trapper/trader who especially dealt in Indian artifacts. Their lives hadn't changed all that much over the years, it seems.
Seems sites like Fort Wayne were the Wal-mart of the 18th century.
attention Fort Wayne shoppers, due to Indian attack, we will be closing our gates shortly, so make ya final selections and leave.
Them sounds like Fightin' Words to me. The crap in a Wallcrap store would be worth less than straw and manure.
ger du Political, Military/Territory control, tourism?
Rocky Mountain rendezvous were the
Armani 5th avenue!
I love this man's attitude. This show is great.
What is a day's pay in the 18th century, about a shilling a day? So twelve pennies, if going by the US/GB exchange rates at the time. 454 grams per pound, average nutmeg is about 4 ounces. That's about 112 nutmegs per pound. I'm assuming that's about three days pay for one nutmeg? One nutmeg yields about two teaspoons, and you're dropping at least a teaspoon of nutmeg in these recipes.
That's quite the expensive habit.
No way does a single nutmeg weigh 4 ounces. Wikipedia says 5 - 10g for one nutmeg or .18 - .35oz. If you take an average of .25oz per nutmeg that means there are 64 nutmegs to the pound.$3 a pound = 4.6 cents per nutmeg
Mr Danforth 374 so a days pay buys three nutmegs, or six meals?
0.078 oz of nutmeg is equal to 1tsp of nutmeg. That means there is around is a minimum of 2.3 tsp per nutmeg or around 2 1/4tsp (0.18oz). There is 4.48 (.35oz) maximum or around 4 1/2tsp. Most recipes call for around 1/4tsp. Some call for 1/2tsp at most. Assuming the recipe only needs 1/4tsp per meal, you can get 9 to 18 meals out of each nutmeg. You can get around 13.5 meals per nutmeg on average. With an average of 64 nutmegs per pound, you can get 864 meals per pound. However, the average weight of a nutmeg is more like 0.265oz instead of 0.25oz making there around 60.377 nutmegs per pound producing 819.09 meals. One can make 819 meals per pound of nutmeg using only 1/4tsp for each meal. I added it up again using 0.078oz = 1tsp and 16oz=1lb and came up with around 820.5 meals per pound given that only 1/4tsp is used each time.
Between 819-820.5 meals per pound on average using only 1/4tsp per meal. 40.5 meals worth of nutmeg per one day's pay according to your calculations and 13.5 meals per nutmeg calculation.
12 pennies = 1 schilling ?
How much in a dollar, 100 schilling or 100 pennies ?
I just love your channel. I randomly stumbled across a year ago and watched every episode. Thanks for bringing our history to the forefront. I hope a lot of young youtubers find your channel and appreciate our history.
Could you please do some squirrel and deer cooking?
Hang in there, Paul. We are pulling for you.
God bless this man
Paul, are you able to be a patron* on Patreon? He might respond to your request if you become one.
*I'm not a patron, but I have heard that a lot of CZcamsrs with Patreon accounts take suggestions from there so they get bombarded with suggestions/requests/demands from everyone. That being said, I'm rooting for you; these potential recipes sound interesting.
Jillian Romick Jon is well aware of my request 😂 but thanks for the advice
Squirrel brains and scrambled eggs was a childhood favorite. Grandma used to send my brother and I out early in the morning to shoot squirrels with our pellet guns. She would serve it with fried polk pulled out of the back yard.
This was one of my favorite episodes yet! I liked the visuals that accompanied the video too. John can make any topic fascinating!
Tomahawks @ 67¢?
I love America so much!
Glad to know I was not alone in being fascinated with history!!!
Excited for the video, very interesting subject!
I’m addicted to your channel! I just discovered it the other day and the information you are providing is helping me how my ancestors lived in the early days in Ohio when they settled in Cleveland. It’s been so hard for me to picture what their daily lives were like, but I’m starting to be able to because of you. This is invaluable to me as an amateur genealogist. Thank you so much!
Jon,
Is there anyway of getting a copy of this inventory list ?
Would they have it for sale ?
If you are able to find out where to get this I would love a copy also
Another fascinating episode. As a youth I loved to look through the archives of my village newspapers, accessible through bound volumes and on microfilm in our local library. We had a 'Republican' newspaper and a 'Democrat' newspaper. There were accounts of early county fairs. ALSO in this video, we get a good look at some of the details of your linen Frontier overcoat with its fringe detail.
Spanish Florida recipes please.
PickelJars ForHillary Agreed. There's enough material.
French Montana recipes please
In medieval times 'scarlet' was a very fine wool cloth similar to today's Melton Cloth. It was dyed with a very expensive red dye so was the most expensive cloth available. It was not necessarily just dyed red as other colours were added but the red dye was the base (derived from a relative of cochineal).
hello trading of goods daddy
Hi unique Nicole!
:)
😊 I know it's silly, but this cracks me up every time!
Natasha S. Same😊 it’s a great, everlasting meme.
Good ol' Nicole
Good ol' Mr Danforth 374
Of all the museums I have been to one of the best is the Wreck of the Arabia in KC. A whole steamboat load of cargo saved. 3/4 of the goods were just plain tools and work-a-day items. 1/4 luxury goods. Tin ware, silver ware, cast iron, knifes, chisel, hammers,saw, medicine, books,boots,childrens dolls, shoes,cloth, pipes, ect , good bad and plain all the stuff a frontier store would pack.
When I was hunting many years ago, I came across an old house which had been abandoned many years before. The people had used newspapers to insulate their walls, the papers were from the 1920's , I found the advertisements to be one of the most interesting parts. So, in a very small way I know what you mean.
I love that your talking about my home town and it's historical contribution. Thank you!
This bloke loves what he does and is a happy chappy! So entertaining and educational, cheers mate!
Thanks for creating one of the few peaceful places online.
It always brightens my day when I see how excited you get talking about these subjects in your videos. Just great to watch.❤️
I reenact at the Old Fort in Fort Wayne a couple of times every year. This trade goods list is fascinating to learn about being this close to the exact area that it was written.
Just discovered this series and am really enjoying it. Much appreciated.
Thank you for another friendly and informative video! I've just had this thought now: Kids in elementary and high school would enjoy watching videos like these to supplement what they learn in history class.
I so enjoy your videos! The calmness of them, the education value of them, and the simple Joy of them!
I'm not a big frontier nerd but you're making me one. Your channel is wonderful. Thanks for all you do
It's indeed very fascinating, it's incredible how many items listed on the inventory wouldn't look out of place in a modern home.
i have NO idea how you find this stuff, but it is SO mesmerizing! YOU ARE AMAZING! many blessings to you and yours. luv ya
I love your enthusiasm! Old inventories, newspaper clippings, lists and things like that are so interesting!!
I am fascinated by historical commerce. As a previous “big box” employee it’s eye opening to see history from something other than wars and government. We survive this world by our daily lives, how did the average guy get by day to day? Love it.
I’ve lived in Fort Wayne all my life, and I love my city. If you ever travel there the old fort is still up and standing so go check it out!
Enjoying this content. Such a lovely presentation in every video. So educational, fun to watch and listen.
I've quietly wondered about these things for as long as i can remember and am so blessed that i can incorporate some of it into my life.
Your passion and excitement is awesome and contagious, you are the perfect guy for this kind of content! Thanks!
You're a welcome change from the serious issue of Our day.
Shining a light on the 18th century AMERICAN life.
You're truly appreciated. I know this is hard & tedious to research & then plot & plan the filming.
Thanks for the video. I enjoy learning about the past.
This is awesome to see someone so fascinated with history.