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Barrel maker

The barrel maker made wooden barrels that was used as storage and cooking containers by early Singaporeans. Barrel makers were Chinese with barrel making shops concentrated around Victoria Street.

History
Early barrel makers came to Singapore from China in the 1920s and 1930s. The golden age for barrel makers in Singapore was from the 1930s to 1950s and even until the 1960s when there were over 300 shops making barrels. Barrels were multipurpose items that could be used for various purposes. On the domestic side, they were used for household chores such as washing clothes, cleaning vegetables and dishes. It was also used for storing rice and water. Some used the barrels to cook rice. Small barrels were used as ice buckets. Barrels were also used as buckets to hold water for bathing. In industries, they were in demand with manufacturers of soya sauce, chilli sauce, beansprouts and beancurd. Different barrels were made for different purposes. Barrels could be custom-made according to an industry's needs or an individual's specifications. The Japanese occupation did not affect their business and wine barrels were in demand by the Japanese then.

Job Scope
A barrel maker  was commonly called a cooper. A cooper worked on a high slatted workbench. He started by planing down narrow wood strips or staves from imported pre-sawn wood which came from Thailand. The wood used was teak or oil wood, called you mok in Cantonese. After planing the staves, they were sawn to a required size and holes were bored through the narrow edge of each stave on both its ends with a drill. Headless wire bards were inserted into the holes and hammered until a semi-circle was formed. The cooper used his big toes to hold the stave in place and to hold the nails. The semi-circular barrels were then left to dry and shrink. Semi-circular barrels were joined together to make one complete circular water-tight barrel. This was achieved by using metal strips made of lead which were hammered in over the staves for a base. Putty was then smeared round the rim of the bottom to seal the barrel. It was left for one day for the wood to expand filling any gaps. Barrels were sometimes painted. Barrels were made from 33 cm in diameter to 16.5 cm high, with larger barrels costing another S$2 for every 2.5 cm added to the diameter or height.

Development
With the introduction of inexpensive plastic containers, the market for wooden barrels shrunk rapidly. In 1985, only one shop operated along Victoria Street. The trade was semi-mechanised sometime in the 1980s. It helped the cooper make one barrel in 2½ hrs while the traditional method took 6 hrs. Nevertheless, it was considered a tiring job with a limited market. The art of barrel making and the role of the cooper have long since vanished leaving Singapore poorer by one trade.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References
Lo-Ang, S. G, & Chua, C. H. (Eds.). (1992). Vanishing trades of Singapore (pp. 93-97). Singapore: Oral History Department.
(Call no.: SING 338.642095957 VAN) 

Sullivan, M. (1993). "Can survive, la" cottage industries in high-rise Singapore (pp. 138-139). Singapore: Graham Brash.
(Call no.: RSING 338.634095957 SUL)

The barrel maker. (1985). Goodwood Journal, 4th Qtr., 14, 16-17.
(Call no.: RCLOS 052 GHCGJ) 


List of Images
National Archives of Singapore. (n.d.). Archives & Artefacts Online, Singapore. Retrieved December 9, 2002, from www.a2o.com.sg/public/html/ 

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Commerce and Industry>>Labour and Employment>>Vanishing Trades
Manual work--Singapore
Unskilled labor--Singapore
Coopers and cooperage--Singapore
Business, finance and industry>>Economics>>Labour economics



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