5 Common Items From Colonial America You’ve Never Heard Of
Life in colonial America was undeniably challenging, and early settlers had to be resilient and resourceful in order to survive. Many of the items that colonists used in day-to-day life were either brought from Europe or based on tools they had used in their old lives. While some remnants of the colonial era, such as spinning wheels and quill pens, remain a part of our collective memory, many lesser-known items have faded into obscurity or been replaced by modern innovations. Here are five once-common objects you may not have heard of before, each of which served an important role in sustaining family life and building communities in colonial America.
Hornbook
A simple, durable tablet used as a primer for children’s studies, the hornbook originated in England around 1450 and was a staple of early childhood education in colonial America. Hornbooks were crafted by affixing a single page of parchment or paper onto a paddle-shaped wooden board and covering it with a translucent protective sheet made from an animal’s horn. This was created by soaking the horn in cold water to separate the parts, then heating and pressing the needed part into a thin, clear layer. A fundamental lesson was printed on the paper, such as the alphabet in lowercase and capital letters, simple vowel-consonant combinations, Roman numerals, and religious texts. Hornbooks remained popular well into the era of mass-printed books because they were both sturdy and functional.
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Salt Cellar
Dating back to ancient Greece, the salt cellar (or salt-box) was a practical and decorative piece of tableware that colonists brought with them to the Americas. Traditionally, a salt cellar was not only useful for storing salt, but could also signify the hierarchy of those who were seated at the table. Those who were seated “above the salt,” typically closer to the host at the head of the table, were considered esteemed guests, while individuals of less prominence, including children, were seated “below the salt,” toward the middle or opposite end of the table from the host.
Sugar Nippers
Sugar was considered a luxury in colonial America. The crop was generally harvested by enslaved people on sugar cane plantations in the Caribbean, then shipped to refineries where it was processed and shaped into cones that were wrapped in paper and distributed throughout the colonies. Sugar nippers were specialized steel tools that were used to cut chunks off a sugar “loaf,” which could weigh as much as 10 pounds. The smaller pieces were then crushed into granulated sugar using a mortar and pestle.
Warming Pan
Shaped like a frying pan with a long handle and hung by the fireplace when not in use, a warming pan was typically made of wrought iron and fitted with a decorative brass or copper lid. Warming pans were popular throughout Europe by the 17th century, and were indispensable household items for settlers in the northern American colonies during the harsh winter months. Before retiring for the evening, a family would fill the warming pan with hot coals or embers, place it between the layers of bedding, and gently move it around to warm the sheets. The pans themselves were considered valuable family heirlooms that were handed down from generation to generation.
Flail
The flail is an ancient hand tool that colonial farmers used for threshing grain, such as wheat, barley, and oats. Commonly used until the widespread availability of mechanical threshers in the mid-19th century, the flail consisted of two wooden sticks of different lengths joined by a short, flexible thong made of rope, leather, or chain. The longer rod, called a handstaff or helve, provided leverage, while the shorter rod, called the beater, was used to strike the grain over and over, separating the edible part of the grain from the husks or chaff. Using a flail, one person could thresh around seven bushels of wheat, 15 bushels of barley, or 18 bushels of oats in one day.
