29 Results for tag "Trades"

• Anderson Blacksmith Shop

  The Revolutionary War wasn't won through battles alone. To keep pace with the might of British industry, Virginia desperately needed a new armoury. Watch our blacksmiths take red-hot iron from the fires of their forges and hammer it into a variety of tools, hardware, and weapons.

• Apothecary

  What was it like to be sick or injured in colonial times? Meet the apothecaries and learn how medicine, wellness, and surgical practices of the 18th century compare to today.

• Brickyard

  During the summer, brickmakers mold and dry thousands of bricks. In the autumn, the bricks bake in a giant wood-fired oven. Keep an eye out for bricklayers using these bricks in all sorts of projects around town.

• Cabinetmaker & Harpsichord Maker

  Cabinetmakers made fashionable furniture like tables, chairs, desks, and chest of drawers. Watch expert woodworkers fashion the intricate details of luxury products with period hand tools. In the same workshop, visit the Harpsichord makers, specialized craftsmen who build stringed keyboard musical instruments that sound by quills plucking strings. See how woods, wire, and feathers come together for delightful music and beautiful workmanship.

• Historic Gardening

  Meet a historic gardener and handle the specialty tools used in the 18th century for planting and harvesting crops. Learn about the herbs and vegetables that were commonly grown for food and the flowers that ornamented the landscape.

• Cooper

  What are buckets, piggins, firkins, and hogsheads? Ask a cooper. Watch coopers transform flat boards into precisely shaped staves and join them — all by eye — into barrels of these oddly-named sizes.

• Foodways

  What did Williamsburg’s 18th-century residents eat — and how did they cook it? Visit the Governor’s Palace Kitchen to meet our Historic Foodways interpreters and see them prepare authentic colonial dishes, using the equipment and recipes that fueled the colonists.

• Foundry

  The Geddy family included gunsmiths, cutlers, founders, and silversmiths. On the site of their home and shop, watch founders cast and finish buckles, knobs, bells, spoons, and other objects in bronze, brass, pewter, and silver.

• Joinery

  Joiners were woodworkers who produced the finish work for buildings including doors, windows, shutters, fireplace surrounds, and built-in cupboards. Watch our experts use saws, planes, hammers, and other tools to fashion wood into the pieces of a future building.

• Milliner and Mantua-maker

  Fancy yourself an 18th-century customer, shopping for boxes, drawers, and bundles full of the latest ornaments and accessories, called millinery. Consult with the mantua-maker about updating old gowns to bring them into the newest 18th-century fashion.

• Printing Office

  In an age before TV, radio, and the internet, the printed word was the primary means of long-distance mass communication. Watch and learn as printers set type and use reproduction printing presses to manufacture colonial newspapers, political notices, pamphlets and books.

• Shoemaker

  How were men's shoes made before modern glues and rubber soles? Visit our shoemakers at the Public Leather Works to speak with them about their work and how shoes shaped the experiences of people 250 years ago.

• Silversmith

  Silver cups, teapots, and spoons were not just for show. They were a good way to "store" your assets. Skilled smiths transformed coins and outdated silverware into fashionable pieces for the dining room, parlour, and personal adornment. Drop in and see how our silversmiths turn ingots into works of art.

• Weaver

  When English imports were cut off by the Revolution, local weavers came forward to fill the need for everyday items. Watch how flax, cotton, and wool are converted from tangled masses into orderly, precise fabrics - ranging from simple linens for shirts and shifts to blankets, towels, dyed wool for needlework, and stout woolens for military uniforms.

• Wheelwright

  Wheels kept things rolling in the 18th century - from carriages of the wealthy to farm wagons, ox carts, and cannons. Designed to meet the stresses of unpaved roads, wheels were feats of good engineering and careful craftsmanship. Come see how the wheelwright combines several different types of wood, iron tires and bands, and sophisticated construction to make their functional, but elegant wheels and vehicles.

• Wigmaker

  Fashion was just as important in the 18th century as today - maybe even more so if you wanted to be part of the "in crowd". Routinely wearing a wig may seem strange to us, especially for men, but it communicated the wearer's elegance, his station in society, and even his occupation to his fellow colonists. With the skill of a barber and hairdresser combined, our wigmakers fashion "perukes" of quality and distinction.

• Tailor

  Touch and feel the many different sorts of fabrics and garments that clothed colonial Americans, from elegant suits in the latest London styles to the sturdy uniforms of Revolutionary soldiers. Stay in the shop long enough, and you may be the next "customer" to be measured.

• Historic Farming

  Discover the work that most people did in the 18th century. See crops common to what was grown on the Virginia plantations.

• Public Armoury

  Witness the effort of diverse individuals to support the Revolutionary War at this industrial complex.

• Tin Shop

  Soldiers valued tinware for its durability, low cost, and light weight. To supply the army during the Revolution, Virginia's government established a tin shop to produce kettles, cups, plates, and other items. Stop by to see how our "tin men" snip, shape, and bend this flexible material.

• Governor's Palace Kitchen

  What did Williamsburg’s 18th-century residents eat — and how did they cook it? Visit the Governor’s Palace Kitchen to meet our Historic Foodways interpreters and see them prepare authentic colonial dishes, using the equipment and recipes that fueled the colonists.

• Carpenter's Yard

  Carpentry was one of the most common trades in Williamsburg. From one end of town to another, houses, shops, sheds, dairies, smokehouses, kitchens, and storehouses exhibit the handiwork of carpenters. Discover how our experts use hand tools to transform trees into lumber, cut and raise heavy timber building frames, and enclose new structures with siding and roofing.

• Gunsmith Shop

  See how our gunsmiths make rifles, pistols, and fowling pieces using the tools and techniques of their 18th-century predecessors and uniting many skills from forging iron to working wood.

• Public Leather Works

  See how expert tradespeople cut, mold, and stitch leather and heavy textiles into a variety of necessary products for Virginia’s fighting men.

• Bindery

  Today we might take books for granted, but in colonial America only the rich could afford a large library. Binding books—especially fancy ones—was a specialized and time-consuming craft. Talk with a binder and learn the "arts and mysteries" of the trade.

• Engraving Shop

  Engraving a silver or gold object would not only create a beautiful design, but would add security in the 18th century, showing ownership with a family crest or a monogram. Watch as our Engravers carry on the same tradition as engraver William Waddill did in late 18th-century Williamsburg. You’ll see engraving on silver, gold, copper, pewter, brass, and bronze items, often made by our Foundry and Silversmiths shops.

• Leather Breeches Maker

  Discover the practice and history of one of the 18th century's most common garments, leather breeches. The Shop follows the trade in all branches: making, mending, and cleaning leather breeches.

• Ewing Field

  Encounter various 18th-century trades as they prepare Ewing Field-a new historic farming site and home to Robertson’s Windmill. Farmers are opening new ground for future crops, the Carpenters are making material for two small buildings, and a milling trade is being established to demonstrate the art of grinding grain.

• Preparing for Dye Days

  Every month we, the Weavers, head out to our dye yard to experiment with various dye recipes, where we invite guests to see this process in action. But before you join us, here’s a little background on all of the work that goes into these monthly “Dye Days.”Our shop master, …