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At right, this is an 1800s label for
General Edwin Rodolphus Yale, an
American military officer, Britannia
ware manufacturer and merchant,
maker of “Pocket Lanterns” and
“Plain and Japaned Tin Ware” from
Meriden, Connecticut. He was also
the proprietor of the “United States
Hotel,” the largest hotel in America
in the mid-1830s. Britannia ware is
a specific type of pewter alloy,
favored for its silvery appearance and
smooth surface. The composition by
weight is typically about 92% tin,
6% antimony, and 2% copper.
The Yankee Peddler, c. 1851. This painting was previously
named A Peddler Visiting a Farmhouse, and prior to that, The photo: Judy Gonyeau at Old Sturbridge Village
Pill Vendor. Oil on canvas painted by William Tolman Carlton
(Amer., 1816-1888).

chandeliers. They would carry at least 60-80 papermaking. At that time, cotton and rags were
pounds of goods on their backs as they traversed used to make paper. Damaged or scrap metal
across the area to small towns and homes. would be recycled to make new items.
Some of the traveling was able to be done And, as the sales territories grew, Tinsmiths
with a horse and sometimes a wagon, but for the would set up a “branch office” in many hubs in
most part, the early peddlers traveled on foot. cities such as Richmond, Charlestown, Albany,
There were no trains, barely any maps, and and Montreal. Peddlers would hand over traded
much of the information about homesteads items, re-stock, place orders for customized
seeking goods came from word-of-mouth. Long pieces, and get right back out there to their
narrow boxes would be balanced on each customers with finished goods and maybe sell a
shoulder as the peddlers went through mud, and few other things.
dense woods with insects and wild animals,
Native Americans who may or may not Show Me Your License
welcoming, and any number of other hazards in At the turn of the 19th century, there were
all types of weather. eight licensed peddlers in Virginia. By 1831-35,
Even though this was not the most enticing that number had increased to 824. New England
of careers for some, many of the young men taking states were also licensing peddlers in ever-
on the task came from across New England growing numbers. Licensing not only helped to
where industries were starting to take over the verify who the peddler was but also provided a
farms where children would have been working. way for the government to keep track of and
On the plus side, peddlers would establish a make a fee from each license issued. As the
route and work with their customers to get a number of licenses granted grew, there was some
meal or even a place to stay overnight dissent amongst legislators from state to state,
before going to their next destination. Some saying the peddlers “stole” business from their
even bought land for a future home and met Copy of an actual Tinsmith’s price list. Whistles: 2 citizens. At one point, a Kentucky legislator put
lifelong friends. cents. 5-Quart Open Pail: 34 cents. Sausage Horns: forth a bill to raise license fees in 1819 because
The number of peddlers on the road grew as 18 cents. Half-Gallon Dippers: 25 cents. Sugar peddlers traveling there from New England kept
the tin business began to network with other Scoops: 18 cent; Large Sugar Scoops: 40 cents. growing in number.
industries. The major factor in the growing Flour Boxes with Punched Bottoms: 8 cents. Contracts also were put together between the
number of peddlers was the growing population photo: Judy Gonyeau at Old Sturbridge Village Tinsmith or company and the peddler. A typical
of the U.S. The population from the end of the
Revolutionary War to 1800 had just about doubled from 2.8 million to
5.3 million. By the end of the War of 1812 (1812-1815), it had grown
to around 8.7 million people. More people expanding to the Midwest,
more people needing household and other goods, and more peddlers
out there supplying goods made by their suppliers.

From Peddler to Recycler and Reuser
As other industries started to boom in the early 1800s, Tin peddlers
worked to diversify what they sold along with what they were looking
for in payment. Tinsmiths often networked with other businesses to
enhance the supply of goods and raw ingredients they could sell to the
companies via what was gathered by their peddlers. Peddlers were given
a list of what was acceptable as payment and the value therein, and the
Tinsmiths would use these goods to sell to other businesses as raw
materials or needed products.
Buyers/negotiators (almost always the woman in charge of the
household) were able to trade any scrap metal, leather, fur, cotton,
moonshine, produce, scrap metal or broken metal items, and rags. As
an example, the rags were valued at 3½ cents per pound according to
an 1854 ledger from Morillo Boyes, a successful wholesaler and scrap
trader in Bennington, Vermont. Rags were collected by peddlers The Tin Merchant (1779) by Louis Joseph Watteau (1731-1789),
because they were used in making fabric and in the huge industry of known as the Watteau of Lille.

18 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles