!
These cards can be used as a concentration game or like Go Fish. The only difference would be that 3 cards need
to be matched together. As your child learns the different occupations, you might want to just have them match the tools
and products together.
After printing out the cards, cut out each card. You may want to glue them onto construction paper to give them extra
weight to make it easier to hold them and so the pictures can’t be seen. !
Colonial Occupations
Tools for each occupation
Products from each occupation
Blacksmith
The blacksmith melted iron in large
pots called forges and used tongs to
hold the iron while he pounded the
iron on an anvil into nails, hinges and
tools. He even used his iron pincers
to remove teeth (Yikes!) since there
were no dentists.
Farriers made horseshoes.
Blacksmith’s tools:
★ tongs
★ anvil
★ flatter
Blacksmith’s finished product:
latch and nails
Cooper
Barrels were used for storage, curing
meat and shipping. They were made
of oak planks, rope and hickory
hoops. A cooper could make 10
barrels a day.
Cooper’s tools:
★ curved “sun plane”
★ oak planks
Cooper’s made: Barrels
Cordwainer
A Cordwainer would cut and sew
leather shoes by hand with wooden
forms called “lasts”.
Cordwainer’s tools:
★ shoe last
★ sole knife
★ boot last
Cordwainer’s finished product:
boots
Tanner’s tools:
★ hides
★ de-hairing knife
Tanner
A tanner was usually located outside
of town on a river because of the
smell and the need for lots of water.
Cow, horse and other animal hides
were used to make into leather for
shoes, harnesses and clothes.
Tanner’s finished products:
★ leather apron
★ breeches
Miller’s Tools
★ grain
★ millstone
Miller
The miller would run his grist mill
along a river where the water turned a
huge wooden wheel. Turning the
millstone would grind the grain into
flour.
Miller’s finished product:
sacks of flour or meal
Shipwright’s Tools:
★ ship’s block
★ ship carpenter’s adze
Shipwright
A shipwright built ships using as many
as 30 different craftsmen. It took over
a year to build the frame of a ship.
Since hardware was scarce, nails
were usually made with wood.
Shipwright’s finished product:
ships
Whitesmith’s tools:
★ punch
★ tin snips
Whitesmith
A whitesmith used thinly sheets of
iron coated with tin to make spoons,
cups, pots and pans since it could be
easily hammered and formed into
objects. Tin peddlers sold these
items from door to door.
Whitesmith’s finished product:
tin lamp
Pewterer’s tools:
★ molder’s ladle
★ tongs
★ spoon mold
Pewterer
Pewter was a mixture of tin and lead
which was affordable and easy to
mold into useful household tools and
dishes.
Pewterer’s finished products:
spoons and a tankard
Storekeeper’s tools:
★ local post master - mail
★ supplies like cones of salt
Storekeeper
The storekeeper supplied
necessaries like salt, nails and gun
powder and luxuries as tobacco,
coffee, sugar and spices. He also
served as the local post master.
Storekeeper’s finished product:
a store
Silversmith’s tools:
★ crucible
★ flattening hammer
Silversmith
Silversmith’s melted coins from
wealth colonist into beautiful teapots
and bowls. The owner’s initials were
stamped into each piece for
identification.
Silversmith’s finished product:
silver bowl
Joiner’s tools:
★ wooden clamp
★ miter box
Joiner
A joiner was highly skilled and made
fine furniture and cabinets.
Apprentices worked with a “master”
craftsmen to learn the trade.
Joiner’s finished product:
Chippendale chair
Fuller’s tools:
★ teasel
★ shears
Fuller
A fuller cleaned, dyed and finished
woolen cloth with a fulling mill teasel
and trimming shears.
Fuller’s finished product:
woolen cloth
Gunsmith
Rifles could be as long as 6 feet.
Better designed guns helped colonist
save precious lead and powder and
replaced English rifles.
Gunsmith’s tools:
★ barrel gauge
★ bullet mold
Gunsmith’s finished product:
pistol
Glassblower
Working with hot liquid glass to make
goblets and glass bottles in molds
took many hands. They used
furnaces that melted glass in clay
pots. Long tubes called “pontils” are
dipped inside for a blob of the melted
glass which was then blown into
shape before it cooled.
Glassblower’s tools:
★ glassblower’s hammer
★ pontil
Glassblower’s finished product:
glass bottle and goblet
Hatter
Hats made from beaver hides were
very popular. The beaver fur was
shaved from the hide, matted
together, boiled in acid then beaten
and cut into felt. The felt was put on
wooden blocks to form the hats.
Hatter’s tools:
★ hatter’s iron
★ hat block
Hatter’s finished product: riding hat
Tavern Keeper
Most villages were 6 or 8 houses and
no “hotel” or “inn”. A tavern would
have 2 - 3 rooms for travelers to use.
The tavern keeper would also sell
food and drink. People would come
to the tavern to learn the current
news.
Tavern Keeper’s tool:
★ tavern sign
★ mug of cider
Tavern Keeper’s finished product:
a tavern
Wig Maker
The local wig maker would also be
the barber, shaved beards and pulled
teeth. He created wigs out of cow,
horse and human hair. There were
as many as 115 different types of
wigs.
Wig Maker’s tools:
★ wig block
★ curling iron
Wig Maker’s finished product:
wig
Printer
The printer published, edited and
printed newspapers and books. He
used separate letters that he put into
a composing stick. Ink was rolled
onto a flat slab of stone and the
pages were printed one at a time.
Printer’s tools:
★ printers type
★ composing stick
Printer’s finished product:
books
House Wright
A house wright was a skilled
craftsmen. He did woodworking,
cabinetry, stonework and bricklaying.
He would design homes and even
make his own putty and paints.
House Wright’s tools:
★ hand saw
★ trimmer hammer
House Wright’s finished product:
house