Traditional Cooper Shows How it's Done
Watch a traditional cooper make a simple bucket come alive.
One of the great outcomes of our modern world’s technology is the ability of traditional artisans to share what they know with the world. Browse the Internet and Youtube and you’ll easily be able to find numerous videos and articles about crafting longbows, blacksmithing, bushcrafting, black powder shooting, and many other traditional skills that were less known to the average person 20 years ago. It has opened up doors for people to learn about and explore these traditional skills who would never have had access to them before the advent of computers. But while there is a tremendous amount of content available, the vast majority of it is something you’ve already seen. I mean, Google “Bow Drill Fire” and you’ll get over 20 million results. Every once in a while though, you stumble across a traditional artisan doing something unique and interesting.
If you are looking to learn about a unique and interesting traditional skill, this video showcasing a traditional cooper might be what you are looking for. Coopers were responsible for making buckets and barrels for frontier communities. Although it is not a skill that would has a lot of romance, it certainly was an important skill that somebody needed to know.
If you’ve got a few minutes, and are interested in the subject, this video is worth a watch.
Personally, I have no desire to become a traditional cooper. It’s just not for me. That being said, what a great process to be able to watch unfold. I imagine any traditional woodworkers out there might find this sort of project very challenging and I hope someone out there continues to live out this historical skill. Fortunately, we have modern technology that allows us to share information like this with a community of people who may actually use it and put that information into practice. In the end, videos like this are great, but it takes people actually living it out to keep these historical skills alive.