Glass cabinet devoted to the wood chopper’s trade.
The farmer would have been unable to do his job without the help of an entire series of tools that he used throughout the year. These tools were the product of the painstaking, meticulous work of wood choppers, blacksmiths, string makers, harness makers, potters and clog-makers. These are just some of the artisans of the trades that assisted farmers. This third floor in the old building surveys some of these trades, which required a long apprenticeship along with patience and a steadfast predisposition to do a job well done.
There was a series of trades which were essential to farming. Without the work of blacksmiths, locksmiths and carpenters there would have been no tools; without the harness maker the carts could not have been drawn nor the livestock tacked; without the efforts of the potter or basket-weaver nothing could have been stored or transported; and there would have been no wood if the wood chopper had not previously done his job.
These complementary trades made a decisive contribution to the development of the rural world.
Sharing these trades, along with the techniques and tools of the old artisans, is one of the missions of the Museum of Rural Life.
