Upper Canada Village Pt II - the later 1800s

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Part I of this series gave general information on Upper Canada Village (UCV), concentrating on buildings and activities typical of the "pioneering days" of the early 1800s. In Part Two, we will look at some of the newer buildings with better furnishings that made up a typical village of the mid-19^thcentury and beyond. As you'll see, while the amenities that we take for granted today were not yet available, living conditions were becoming much improved by then. A couple of local arts deserve particular mention:

Cheddar cheese production:

The first Canadian cheese factory was established in Ingersoll in 1864. Soon hundreds more sprang into being, and during the latter part of the 19^th century, most villages in Upper Canada had one. Canadian cheddar was exported to Britain and elsewhere, and was a valuable source of cash. As a child I lived near Ingersoll, and visited the modern cheese factory where Kraft’s “Velveeta” ™ cheese is said to have originated long ago. There was also a cheese factory in our little village, and I can remember watching the owner stir the vat, and separate the curds from the whey, which for many years was a popular food for hogs. The UCV re-enactors gave demonstrations in the building shown here, but it was too crowded to get a good photo of the equipment.

Tin-smithing:

Every village and town had a tinsmith, who imported tin-plated iron from Britain and fashioned it into practical articles for household and farm use, sealing the seams with lead-based solder. That would not be tolerated in our health-conscious modern era, but even back then copper was sometimes used, to avoid possible dangers. One might say that the tinsmith was to Upper Canada what the potter had been to earlier civilizations. You can get an idea of how important he was in the 1800s when you realize that there were not many durable household articles that he hadn’t produced. For more information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinsmith .

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Comments

[Rainyb]

ooooooooo I love this clock!!

[Misty]

I'm always amazed at how the people of previous centuries lived their lives so efficiently... without the assistance of all the technology we have at our disposal this day in age! Very impressive buildings and artwork to boot! Love the Daguerre church photo and the chicken feather "painting" :)