The Young Campaigner

Redware and Brown Earthenware and its Use in the 19th Century

by William Chapman

Surely almost everyone in the living history community is familiar with the sometimes primitive, sometimes beautiful glazed pottery that has come to be known as Redware. This earth-toned pottery has been known for ages for its strength, its rich color, and its versitility. Commonly, this type of pottery is associated with the 18th century, but it has enjoyed a much longer history than that. Miriam Webster's dictionary defines redware as "earthenware pottery made of clay containing considerable iron oxide". It is this iron oxide that gives it its beautiful rust-colored appearance. Redware has been found extensively in archaeological digs all over the western hemisphere, and there is no doubt that its use was widespread. However, by the mid nineteenth century, who was using it? What was it used for? Was there any particular social class that used it more than others?

19th century redware pitcher with brown glaze.

Let's start with some background on redware. Redware is one of the oldest forms of pottery, found in Europe long before recorded history (some dating back to the 12th century BC). It is composed of one of the several major types of potter's clay, red-firing clay, which is prevalent in America. Red-firing clay, because of its high iron content, turns red when exposed to high heat. In its unglazed form, redware is also known as terra cotta, and has been used for flowerpots and tiles for hundreds of years. Redware has been in production on American soil since the 1600's. In the recent excavations at Jamestown, evidence of earthenware made in Europe as well as on-site has been dug in large quantities. Redware is glazed, just like most pottery, and certain glazes can be identified with different areas. Most glazes were clear, but a black glaze appears on English-made pottery. Elaborate artwork can be done on the pottery either by scratching the surface and glazing over it or "slip trailing", which is done by drawing designs on with a different color of clay, usually yellow.

In its mineral composition, brown earthenware is not much different from redware other than the fact that it contains less iron oxide, giving it less of a rust color.

By the dawn of the 19th century, England had moved on to producing more fashionable pearlware and china, leaving America to produce inexpensive and durable earthenware. America's elite and growing middle class bought the British-made goods, while the lower class relied on red, brown, yellow, and cream colored earthenware for their everyday needs.

Redware has turned up in the excavation of Five Points, a 19th century neighborhood in New York city, in use for common domesic items such as chamber pots, pitchers, and even piggy banks. The use of redware in a middle and lower class area such as the Points would suggest that it was definately present in 19th century daily life. Most of the Five Points redware is fairly plain, sometimes bearing pressed designs or other small decoration, but it is far simpler than the elaborate slip-trailed redware of past centuries.

Redware makes appearances in lower-class 19th century context quite often, and there is even concrete evidence of its use by civilians in the Civil War years.

This image shows an officer in camp during the war with his wife and children. On the table is some kind of white-glazed pot, while a brown or red earthenware pot sits on the ground.

From the evidence that we have today, it appears that redware was most common among the lower and middle classes. Finding it in Five Points, other archeaological sites, and period photographs all seem to point towards this conclusion. Redware was inexpensive, practical for use in the kitchen and in the field, and easily obtained by the working class.

An Examination of Five Occupational Photos

The common people in 19th Century America worked hard. Often, the way thy behaved or dressed was affected by their line of work. Tradesmen were proud of their hard work as well. That is why occupational photographs were popular with working-class Americans before the Civil War. Here is an examination of four of those photos from the Library of Congress. These images are all 1850's and they all show the common man's pride for his work.

This image shows a carpenter with his various tools. He is wearing a white work shirt with a large collar, which he wears down over a cravat or kerchief. Such work shirts were commonly worn by tradesmen in 19th Century America as a rugged, practical garment. These shirts were not worn with braces and commonly fit more loosely that regular shirts. This carpenter appears to be wearing hickory or jean cloth trowsers. A small chair sits beside him (possibly some of his work) and a plane and two chizels sxit on top of it. The carpenter wears a low-crowned straw hat with a wide band around it. He has a close-cropped beard of the style that was popular fo young and middle-aged men in the 1850's and 1860's. In his hands, he holds a hammer and a small cut nail. This man makes his profession very evident in his portrait by displaying his tools.

This daguerrotype shows a traveling salesman displaying his wares. He holds two palletes filled with books, pencils, hairbrushes, and other various items (pomade?). A small japanned conical object in the center of the lower pallette is possibly a small child's trumpet. The salesman wears a paletot coat and two straps over his shoulders for carrying his peddler's trunks. Under his coat, the salesman wears a shawl-collar vest (possibly silk) with covered buttons. Around his neck is a black cravat. His hair is parted on the right side and slicked backwards. It also appears that he is wearing a pocket watch (a small chain is visible to the left of his fourth button down). This man was probably a door to door peddler such as the one in this photograph:

This peddler is quite similar to the other one. He is very well dressed in a frock coat and has a cravat on. In this photograph, his trunks can be clearly seen with the japanning being worn off. Both salesmen are displaying their "tools of the trade", but there are some major differences between them and some other tradespeople of the time period. One thing that is very noticeable is that both salesmen are fairly well dressed, which probably means that they made a little bit better living than a common tradesman (they also needed to be well dressed for their job).

This image shows a surveyor and all of his equipment. Surveyors made good money in the 19th century for their work, partially because surveying required a great deal of education as opposed to some other occupations. Behind him is a transit on a tripod. He his holding a map and a set of calipers. He wears a dark wool sack coat and an off-white shawl collar vest underneath it. A simple black cravat is around his neck. Like other occupational photos, this man is displaying his tools with pride for his line of work.

Two teamsters and their oxen standing in front of a wooden fence or barn wall appear in this image. Both of the teamsters are wearing large smocks with pockets on the front. These garments are fairly unusual. Both are wearing oilcloth mechanic's caps and high riding boots. The one on the left holds a crop in his hand. The oxen are yoked and prepared to go. This image is fairly unusual for an occupational photo. It is large and taken outdoors. Most are taken inside and show only the torso of the subject. Obviously, these two teamsters wanted to show their oxen as well as themselves.

As different from one another as all of the trades and occupations in the 19th century were, one thing that everyone was familiar with was photography. Photography allowed tradesmen to show pride in their occupation. Today, they provide a valuable resource to researchers looking for the way a person with a specific way of life would have looked.

Experimenting With Brick Baking Ovens, Part 1.

by William Chapman

I had the day off of school today, so I decided to build a brick baking oven of the style that was used in army bakeries and permanent camps during the Civil War. I used old bricks (many of which were 1850s/1860's era), wood, and mud to build the oven, plus an old cooking grate.

The oven is constructed in a circular fashion with two doors, one for feeding the fire and one to access the rack. Both doors are constructed in a post-and-lintel style with a wooden slat holding up the top of the door. The chimney on top is constructed out of sticks crossed in log-cabin style and then covered with about two inches of mud. When the mud dries, I will try the oven out and see if it works.

When I was looking around for designs, I found this description of the construction of a Union army bakery near Savannah, Ga. in 1864. It is a lot more elaborate than my design, but it is still interesting.

"Here's how they build a bake oven in the army: About fifteen or twenty men get a large log or a piece of timber and proceed to the next empty brick house and, with their improvised battering ram bust the corner out of it. The bricks were cleaned as well as possible and carried to the site of the oven. The heavy work was done mostly by the colored camp followers of whome there were thousands everywhere. And willing workers they were, too. When the bricks arrived at the camp six posts were erected in the form of a rectangle, their tops about three feet above ground. A frame of joists was mortised on the tops of these posts, the lumber of which was appropriated from a dwelling nearby. A floor was nailed on top of this with nails that came from the lumber. In the meantime the carperenters had been constructing a number of semi-circular frames. These were erected on the floor of the oven and when covered with thin siding from the house formed a perfect arch. This was then overlaid with bricks laid in mortar of blue clay and water. The ends were then filled in leaving a hole for the door, and one for the chimney for which we commandeered the smoke stack of a nearby tannery. A fire was now built inside the oven and all the interior woodwork burned out. The brick arch held up beautifully." - Corporal Thomas W. Moffatt, 12th Illinois Infantry