Heirlooms Inc.

                                       Shaker Barn, Sabbathday Lake, Maine                                                        

 

 The Shakers

In 1774 a woman named Ann Lee left her home in Manchester, England and, along with eight followers, immigrated to America in search of religious freedom.

The small group soon settled at a place called Watervilet, N.Y., near the modern city of Albany and, from that location, began to travel the countryside seeking converts.  Ann Lee died in 1884 and, thus, was never able to see the fruits of her labors.  However, from that small group sprang the largest, and most successful Utopian Movement America has ever known. 

They called themselves " The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearance" and became commonly known as "The Shakers". 

 

Spiral Staircase at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky

 

The Shaker Movement reached it's peak in the mid-1800's when it numbered around 6000 members living in 21 communities throughout New England and as far West as Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.  For a very brief time there were also communites in Georiga and Florida.

However, industrilization and lack of new converts began to have significant effect on the growth of the Movement and in the late 1800's their numbers began to dwindle.  By the mid-1900's most of the Shaker communities had closed and, by the latter part of the Century, only one remained at Sabbathday Lake, Maine.  

The core of the Shaker belief system was in joint ownership of property, open confession of one's sins, celebacy (this, perhaps, was the most significant item contributing to their demise). and separation of the sexes in work, worship and living conditions.  

 

Handled Carriers in Cherry

 

The Shakers were a peaceful, honest people and were admired for their farming skills  and for the peaceful order in their communities. They were inventors and were responsible for inventing a machine that was used to turn broom handles.   They also gave us the rotary harrow, the clothespin, the flat broom and the wheel-driven washing machine.  At one time they were the largest producers of medicinal herbs in the United States, and pioneers in the sale of seeds in paper packages. Shaker dances and songs are a significant aspect of folk art.  But both are, for the most part, unrecognized.  Some of the Shaker inventions are connected to an individuals name.   For example, a woman by the name of Tabitha Babbitt is responsible for inventing the first circular saw. She is also the co-creator of cut nails. 

But for all their contributions, the one item that is perhaps most instantly recognizable as "Shaker" is the Oval Wooden Box.

 

The Shakers used these boxes strictly for utilitarian purposes.  They were used for storage of foodstuffs in the pantry, nuts and bolts in the workshop, tools for the seamstress and any other item that needed to be stored in an orderly fashion.

Today's use of the oval box has changed considerably.  My boxes are certainly meant to be used and they are used for storage of various items.  However, they are primarily used as accent pieces in one's home.  This is why we use so many decorative types of woods.  The authentic Shaker Boxes were made primarily of maple side-bands with pine tops and bottoms and were made for purposes of utility.  Today they serve a more decorative function and the box-maker takes much more liberty in his use of different woods.  This difference in choice of materials is perhaps the greatest difference between my boxes and those made by the Shakers over 200 years ago.