Historic Trades Demonstrations - Coopering

Some of the best traditional artisans in the country practice their trades at more than twenty Colonial Williamsburg sites. Coopering, pictured above, is an ancient trade, which dates back centuries and involves skill and strength.

Colonial coopers crafted casks, which were used as shipping containers for commodities such as gunpowder, tobacco and flour. The containers were also used for storing milk, wine and an array of other liquids as well as for churning butter. Coopering tools were, and continue to be, frequently handed down for generations.

Other Historic Trade Demonstrations at Colonial Williamsburg include:

• Apothecary Shop


• Basketmaker


• Blacksmith


• Brickmaker


• Cabinetmaker


• Carpenter


• Foodways


• Founder


• Gunsmith


• Milliner


• Printer and Binder


• Rural Trades


• Saddler


• Shoemaker


• Silversmith


• Tailor


• Weaver


• Wheelwright


• Wigmaker

^{Source: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation}