A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Saturday 10 March 2012

A Waterproofing Recipe Of The 18th Century.

Please Note: This is the original text from the book which I scanned, so it is in 18th century script. The small s looks a little like the lower case f but it only has a stroke at the back of the letter, not right through it like the f.








Taken from "An Essay On Shooting" 1789 Edition.

Shoes and moccasins.



14 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

I saved the recipe for future reference. Thanks for posting it.

Unknown said...

Gotta love that medial S they used. I have no idea what they were thinking back then. No doubt something perfectly sensible that no longer matters.

Great post Le Loup! With waterproofed envy...

Craig Meade
pioneerhandbooks.blogspot.com

Keith said...

Good one Gorges, & you are very welcome.
Keith.

Keith said...

Thank you Craig.
Keith.

Carrie Fancett Pagels said...

Thanks so much for this great post!!! I can use this info in my writing.

Keith said...

Hi Carrie. There is nothing that spoils a story more for someone who knows about period life, than the wrong information. I have often read accounts of fire lighting in the story & known that it would not have worked.
With the correct information you can manipulate your story, because you not only know what it takes to make something work properly, but you also know how you can make something fail.
Keith.

Ingrid said...

My Grandfather in Germany use the same recipe for Waterproofing his Boots and Shoes. Pretty neat.:)

Keith said...

Ingrid, very neat, & interesting. Thanks for the feedback.
Regards, Keith.

buddeshepherd said...

It sounds a lot like Hubbard's Shoe Grease, which was once made near where I live.
Wonder why the fellow wrote with a lisp? War injury?

PaoloinUAE said...

I've tried on my new cow knee and it quite surprising how well it works.

Keith said...

Good one Paolo, thank you for the feedback.
Regards, Keith.

Archivist777 said...

The 's' being mentioned is a holdover from written calligraphy. It was a special character used to make writing a double 's' quicker and easier for the scribe to write. As the author mentioned, it is not an 'f', but a special character, which, when examined closely is different from an 'f'.

Unknown said...

Tallow? Beef fat?

Keith said...

Unknown. Tallow is melted & cleaned animal fat, it could be anything, but I believe the original definition of tallow was indeed beef or mutton fat rendered & cleaned.
Regards, Keith.