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The Shakers: Right Place, Right Time? Season 2, Episode 23.
35 Plays3 years ago
Were The Shakers just in the right place, at the right time? Have a listen and let us know what you think.
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Transcript
Introduction and Partnership Announcement
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Speaker
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Episode Introduction and Shaker Origins
00:01:06
Speaker
Well, here we are, episode 23 of season two, The Shakers of the American Craftsman Podcast. Yeah. Yeah. Continuing on from where we were last week, talking about basically the general who, what, and when, who, what, and when.
00:01:26
Speaker
who, what, when, where, why, and how. Not really all those, but some of those. We hit some of those. On shakers, talking about notable shakers this week. Yeah, the shakers are a little bit like the Amish and Quakers. We're going to go take a little quick refresher about the differences, but they were low-key.
00:01:51
Speaker
So you start trying to research notable Quaker.
Shaker Beliefs and Practices
00:01:59
Speaker
You get the leaders, you know what I mean? But it's hard to find people who have direct links to stuff that we're really concerned with, which is the woodworking, the machinery, and things like that, although there are a few of them we'll get into.
00:02:21
Speaker
Now, these are quotes, not necessarily our direct opinion, but the Shakers are one of the most intriguing social and religious movements in American history. When you say that, it's true. I prefer the Seventh-day Adventists. Yeah, yeah.
00:02:41
Speaker
They're also one of the longest-lived and are considered by many to be the most successful of the hundreds of communal groups and utopian societies in this country since before the Revolutionary War. I mean, they had a good run of 100-something years, right? Well, I mean, technically, they're still going. Yeah, they're still too. They're not doing great, but they're still here. There's still a chance to sign up. That's true. And keep the Quakers going.
00:03:13
Speaker
Not gonna be me. So a refresher. How are the Shakers different from the Amish and the Quakers? The Shakers, Amish and Quakers differ theologically and in the way they live. Unlike Shakers and Amish, this is gonna get confusing. Unlike Shakers and Amish, Quakers do not live in their own communities. Okay.
Shaker Innovations and Contributions
00:03:39
Speaker
So Quakers live in the outside world. Yeah.
00:03:43
Speaker
Unlike Amish and the Quakers, the Shakers are celibate and do not marry. So the Amish and the Quakers, they're getting it on. Yeah. And unlike the Amish, the Shakers believe in full gender equality.
00:04:02
Speaker
What about the Quakers? We don't know. No. And while the Amish reject most technology, the Shakers embrace technological advances. We're going to have to come up with an amalgamation of the three. Yeah, the, uh, Sh-squakamish. Sh-quakish. They're similar.
00:04:33
Speaker
But it's unfair to lump them all together if you have some sort of personal connection to them. There are differences. Yeah, for the outsider looking in, their similarities are more similar. They have more things in common than difference. Yeah, yeah.
00:04:58
Speaker
Yeah, one will embrace technology and one doesn't. That's mostly what strikes us. All that other stuff about celibacy, that's just a curiosity for us.
00:05:14
Speaker
As the Shakers grew in influence and numbers in the 19th century, they challenged the existing social and religious structure and economic order of the new nation and eventually developing an alternative lifestyle based on their religious beliefs.
00:05:30
Speaker
The Shakers have made important contributions to American culture in the areas of art, design, science, architecture, craftsmanship, business, music, education, government, medicine, agriculture, and commerce. So they've had their fingers in just about every pie, according to this. Well, not that one pie. Every pie but that.
00:05:56
Speaker
Yeah. Is that what pie we were talking about? Shoot. Not the shoe fly pie.
00:06:05
Speaker
Oh, man. Yeah, 75 years before emancipation and 150 years before suffrage, Shakers were already practicing social, sexual, economic, and spiritual equality. And they were the first large producers of medicinal herbs in the United States and pioneers in the sale of seeds in paper packets.
00:06:29
Speaker
That's herbs for our friends across the pond. Yeah, so you know all those seeds that we buy now from the store and those paper packets? That's the shakers. Thomas Corbett. Let me open up my Pellegrino. I know that sounds like a frosty cold one, but it's a San Pellegrino Ascenza. Dark Morello cherry and pomegranate. It's too cold down here for a cold beer.
00:06:59
Speaker
It's actually 54 degrees outside right now, believe it or not, 5th, growing 10th. It's cold down here, even with this heater kicking right now. Yeah, I'm all right. So we're trying to get into some notable Quakers, and we're going to touch on a few
00:07:20
Speaker
like peripheral, peripherally, you know, some that have come up with different things, machinery. But there are a few that they have, I don't want to say they've claimed to have invented things because they, that's part of the Shaker belief system is that they didn't and they didn't patent stuff. So was it two episodes ago we saw the Shaker plane?
00:07:51
Speaker
Planer? Or was that? Yeah, that was the last episode of the Empire, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Because there are a couple of inventions, woodworking inventions, that some attribute to the Shakers. Like the Woodpecker Square that's coming up this episode. The Shakers, you know, they loved Mother Earth and everything. That's where they got the name Woodpecker. Yeah.
00:08:18
Speaker
That's a little-known Shaker fact. Faker truism, as we'll call it. Alternative facts. Yeah. Shaker brother named Thomas Corbett of the Canterbury community in the state of New Hampshire was well-known nationally for his botanical medicines and innovative cures as a medical doctor and pharmacist.
00:08:44
Speaker
Bet you didn't know that about Mr. Corbitt. I mean, I'm so confused by the Shakers because
00:08:52
Speaker
Where's the sense of self-preservation for having medicine, but you can't procreate? I don't understand it. It's very convoluted. That's what happens when you get this sort of cult-like beginning. One person hears voices and sees visions, and the next thing you know, you're basing your whole life around what this one person thought of.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah, like what's the point of staying alive if you can't, I don't know, maybe I'm being judgmental. No, no, you're just, you're trying to find some reason in it. There's definitely a senselessness to, yeah, like why, okay, we need medicine so that we could stay healthy and alive as long as possible, but then also we're not going to have kids. Right.
00:09:44
Speaker
Doesn't really make any sense. Especially after the first couple of generations, you kind of see the growth pattern. Yeah. He's like, we better figure something else out. Well, we're not going to be around. They could start kidnapping people.
Influence on Modern Design
00:10:01
Speaker
Kind of like they kidnapped people and took them to Mars in the secret space program.
00:10:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I wish we could get deeper into that, but I've got a no tell clause in my contract. Yeah, signed NDA. That'll happen when you fight in the Vampire Wars. Yeah, in the zombies. But the Shakers,
00:10:26
Speaker
Back to planet Earth they Not only were they big and inventing like woodworking machinery, but a lot of farm stuff anything to help them along in their processes I Is that a link that babbitt metal looks like it. What is that? Babbit is an alloy several alloys used for the bearing surface in a plane bearing
00:10:58
Speaker
So that relates to Ashley Babbitt? I don't know about that. But the Shakers were inventing all kinds of stuff. For bearings. Yeah. Traditional Babbitt bearings. Babbitt metal. This is something that helped with all sorts of machinery.
00:11:27
Speaker
The rotary harrow, which is something that tills. Oh, yeah. I'd just call that a tiller. Yeah, we call that the rotary harrow here in the city. The circular saw. Wow. Was it a left blade or a right blade? That's what I wanted to know. I think the left blade would be out, because the left hand is the devil's side. Well, you still use a left blade with your right hand. That's true.
00:11:57
Speaker
You could. I'm a right blade man, but that's just me. Yeah. Yeah, I think I got a lefty. I'm trying to remember that. No, you've got a worm drive, which should be a righty, I believe. See, with a worm drive, I'm all right with it on the right. Because I feel it. We won't get into it.
00:12:26
Speaker
Why is that? Just move on. Did you know the shakers invented the clothespin? Yeah, I did know that. The shaker peg, of course. The flat broom. The wheel-driven washing machine. Well, because you got to smell good when you're not getting any. Yeah. Oh, man. A machine for setting teeth and textile cards. That's for, like, weaving and stuff like that.
00:12:54
Speaker
a threshing machine that's cool metal pens threshing machine for people who don't know it's like cuts down grain right yeah yeah yeah they were you know they were very self-sufficient so all these things a new type of fire engine I didn't write down what type what constituted its newness like a wagon with a tank of water on the back so we're talking about
00:13:18
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. A machine for matching boards. I have no idea what that is. Like gluing up matches, I guess? I guess. Lots of stuff. Waterworks, planing machinery, a hernia truss. Oh my god. What the hell's that? You know, it's probably like this thing that you wear. Oh, like a corset kind of thing.
00:13:48
Speaker
machines for processing broom corn, chair legs, and a lumber drying kiln. Now there you go. In short, they invented hundreds of labor saving devices from the clothespin to the circular saw, which they shared without patents.
00:14:09
Speaker
nor were they frightened of useful inventions. So they're a little bit different from some of the other austere religious groups. Yeah. I want to see some of the shaken. That's what I want to see. I wonder if we can get that. The New Hampshire Shakers own one of the first cars in the state. Wow. And they rigged up electricity in their own village while the state capitol building was still burning gas.
00:14:38
Speaker
You'd think with how smart they are, they figured out how to get more people. They were admired and derided, imitated for their successes, and ridiculed for their eccentricities. And they are enduringly appreciated for their contribution to American crafts and architecture. Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, right? They're a hard group to pin down. Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:07
Speaker
Some things are like, wow, that's pretty cool. And other things, what were they thinking? Today, just a few shakers still live in a single village in Maine. And to all appearances, these are the last shakers.
00:15:27
Speaker
But the living Shakers faithfully assert that their religion will never die. Mother Anne predicted that Shakerism would dwindle to as few members as a child could count on one hand and then overcome all nations. So they're getting ready for a boom. Yeah. So this is where they went wrong listening to Mother Anne. Yeah.
00:15:52
Speaker
uh... this is god's work says sister mildred walker and what could bring that to an end nothing that we humans do that morals do okay so they really don't care if they can get it's just the it's in god's hands is out of god's hands which one is a pick one you gotta work hard at what's in his hands and don't do anything that's right do you remember bob vila yeah absolutely
00:16:20
Speaker
Was he on this old house and got kicked off or he was never on it? Yeah, Bob Vela was before Kevin O'Connor. Before Kevin O'Connor there was Steve something or other. I'm trying to remember Steve's name. Was he like the Tom Silva before Tom Silva was on? No, he was the Kevin O'Connor. Oh, okay. He was the host. His name was Steve, something, he had glasses.
00:16:48
Speaker
He left the show and then they picked Kevin O'Connor, but Bob Vila was before Steve. He was with Norm. Norm was like the Bob, Norm was the Tom Silver.
00:17:04
Speaker
And Bob Vila, I believe, left to do his own show because he thought this whole house was getting too hoity-toity. The price didn't matter and all these other things. See, I always thought of Bob Vila as more of a homeowner kind of guy. Yeah.
00:17:28
Speaker
whereas this old house was more for like pros, where like you were getting like real good information about the sort of building practices that were going on. I think that's how they wound up becoming. Yeah, we were talking, might have been yesterday about when to work, when worked at the other shop, I went on my first install with this builder and I'm wearing my silver construction, you know, Tom Silva t-shirt, Silver Brothers.
00:17:57
Speaker
And he goes, oh, is that like the company you used to work for? I'm like, no. It's like, you know, Tom Silva from This Old House. He's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm like, what? You're a general contractor. You don't know what this old house is and who Tom Silva is. What's your problem? And he's not a super young guy either like that. He's got to be in his early 60s now, probably. Right. So he's known this. I mean, this old house has been part of the public consciousness. Been living under a rock?
00:18:25
Speaker
for 40 years. No, 50. I could see if you were like an accountant, but you're a home builder. Yeah. That's like, you know, being a chef and not knowing who Bobby Flay is. Yeah. Like a TV personality. Yeah. He's on TV. Emerald. You don't know who Emerald is. The biggest guy on TV in the late nineties for cooking. Right. Um,
00:18:53
Speaker
And there's not that many shows that revolve around this kind of work. No, most of them are more design-oriented. Anyway, I thought that was funny. I think it's really weird. Yeah, Bob Vela. I got a quote here from Bob Vela about the Shakers. Once in a great while, a style comes along that captures such a wide audience that its popularity is, well,
00:19:23
Speaker
unshakable. Thank you, Bob. And clean, minimalist shaker style is a prime example. Today, 150 years after the Shakers, a branch of Quakerism, settled in the United States, their contributions to construction and furniture design still enjoy widespread appeal. So, Bob, he's a fan.
00:19:53
Speaker
Yeah. Basic beliefs, simple symmetry. During the 1800s, Shaker communities dotted the New England landscape, and their commitment to leading simple lives led to the development of the Shaker style. We've gone over this.
Shaker Furniture and American History
00:20:15
Speaker
It's unadorned lines, unrivaled. Well, you know,
00:20:20
Speaker
Craftsmanship, top effort craftsmanship, I'd say. Yeah, I mean, it takes less effort. It takes, yeah, well, you know what I mean. It's so simple, it takes less skill. But yeah, they put everything they had into it. They weren't trying to cut corners.
00:20:37
Speaker
Whatever they decided to do, they did it the best they could. In the midst of a quickly changing 19th century when mass production began to replace handcrafted quality, the Shakers remained firmly committed to superior workmanship. This is Bob still talking. Their devout beliefs that simplicity, order, and neatness surpassed ornateness served as a foundation for their no-frills designs. Is it?
00:21:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. Oh, no, you got that heading up there. I know. I think I cut and pasted this because I thought it was a pretty good summary. Buildings, cabinetry, furniture were intended to fulfill a need rather than serve as decor. There's one primal need that they ain't fulfilled. That's why the beds are so tiny.
00:21:35
Speaker
Yeah. Those beds aren't even good for sleeping. No. They probably forbade sleep. Yeah. In the midst of a quickly changing, oh, I said that already, austere architecture. I kind of like the architecture a little bit more than the furniture.
00:21:55
Speaker
Shaker residences were called dwelling houses, and they borrowed their rectangular box design from Federalist and Greek Revival architecture. Boy, I'm a little tongue-tied today. It's at lunch. Yeah. But they took out all the ornamentation.
00:22:15
Speaker
you know, no columns, no wraparound porches and fancy millwork. I like the porch, you know? Yeah. I feel like this architectural style, like, it only belongs in New England and just looks out of place anywhere else. That's true.
00:22:33
Speaker
kind of like the California house with the, those round tiles for the roof tiles. Like a terracotta, yeah. Yeah, you ever see those like somewhere else? Oh yeah, Staten Island.
00:22:52
Speaker
They're just open-minded in Staten Island. They'll try anything. Yeah. So the Shakers thought every element of the construction was functional. If they put shutters, they were built on the inside of the house to block out harsh sun rays. I would think they would go on the outside. Yeah, to block the weather. Yeah.
00:23:20
Speaker
If they were smart, they would have put them on the inside and the outside. And the outside, yeah. Shaker dwellings house many residents. Oh, yeah, communal. So they're often quite large, reaching three and four stories in height and topped with simple gable roof lines. Jeez, four stories? Yeah, the Shakers, man. That's a skyscraper in the 1800s.
00:23:42
Speaker
Everything the Shakers built was utilitarian and often balanced in design from one side to the other. They loved symmetry. For example, the two large fireplaces at opposite ends of the dwellings. Oh, for example, the two large fireplaces at the opposite ends of the dwellings. You see how just reading, like with certain emphasis, changes the whole sentence? Put the emphasis on the wrong syllable.
00:24:11
Speaker
They had their interiors divided into two nearly identical halves. Each served with a separate staircase because, what do you think? The boys on one side and the girls on the other. No temptation. There had to be some Quaker children. I mean, Shaker children. Yeah. The pull-out game is strong.
00:24:42
Speaker
Can't leave any evidence if you're a shaker. Oh, God. You'd be in big trouble. Oh, man. I'd be in big trouble. Yeah, did you know many shaker dwellings were framed on wood timbers with shiplap siding? Hmm. Oh, this had brick and limestone on Pinterest.
00:25:02
Speaker
Meeting houses were the largest structures in the communities and in some Shaker villages they were built in a circular design featuring high interior ceilings painted all white inside and out to symbolize the purity of their faith. I think I've seen around Meeting House like that.
00:25:22
Speaker
I want to know when we're going to get to the notable Shakers. You made this outline, not me. The most enduring contribution the Shakers made to the world of design is utilitarian furniture with plain lines. Simple ladder-back chairs, no frills tables with square legs, solid wood cabinets, and well-built wardrobes were constructed using strong joinery techniques. You know, it's interesting reading about this. You kind of touched on this.
00:25:52
Speaker
It seems to be a lot of hyperbole surrounding the Shakers. Yeah. I mean, really, what did they do here? With the furniture? Yeah. And I mean, they got that. If you look up any information on like the periods of American furniture, it's going to include the Shakers. Yeah.
00:26:18
Speaker
But into episode two now, I'm starting to like, that's all right. They got a style, but it seems to be a little bit overblown there.
00:26:29
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, probably gonna rough some feathers saying it, but they didn't, I don't know, they weren't doing anything crazy special. They just like took designs that were already, like we saw the chest, we saw the ladder back chair. These are designs that already existed and they just stripped them down to the bare essentials. Yeah.
00:26:51
Speaker
Yeah. It's interesting coming to these realizations as we're kind of learning it at the same time as we're talking about it. Here's that ladder back chair and it's nice. Yeah. It's probably one of my favorite things. It's a rocker. I wouldn't like it as much if it wasn't a rocker.
00:27:20
Speaker
Yeah, I like these, I mean like, for me it's a craftsmanship. Nice bridal joints here. Yeah. But the design, I don't understand the infatuation. Yeah, those, you see those two holes where the slats are? Is that some kind of pinning? These? Yeah, because it's on each one.
00:27:53
Speaker
Yeah, I guess maybe. Must have curved tenon going in there. Yeah. But look, this one's only got one. There's something there, here. But then... Yeah. So, while we're happy to talk about the Shakers, they're not really winning us over the way some of the other periods have.
00:28:25
Speaker
Yeah, for me, like I said it last episode, romanticized. They've just been so heavily romanticized, I think, because of their ideas. Their outlook on the work. Yeah. Which I'm totally in agreement with. You know, the idea of hard work and good work, and that I totally agree with them with.
00:28:51
Speaker
I don't know. The design just doesn't do it for me. No. And you know what? I gotta think that pre-industrial revolution, every craftsman is more or less giving it their all. Yeah, well and the thing is, you see when the industrial revolution comes around, these aren't skilled craftsmen anymore.
00:29:16
Speaker
They lowered the bar, but the bar gets lowered when you're in a factory and your job is to do this one simple task that's completely machine. Right, so maybe the name of this episode, Shakers, right place, right time. What's the word I'm looking for? Something of opportunity.
00:29:44
Speaker
Shakers, opportunity knocks. Yeah. Opportunists. Oh, Shakers, furniture opportunists. Let's take a look at this Shaker dining table. It's that same trestle table.
Tabitha Babbitt and Shaker Inventions
00:30:02
Speaker
Yeah. You know, I like this like little cloud lift kind of thing they got going on. I don't know. This one looks like I got beat up.
00:30:13
Speaker
I like the top, the little breadboard ends. The thing about their tables, I guess like most trestle tables, this was meant, this was built to break down. Yeah. Like this came apart. You think? Yeah. I don't see any tusk tenon or anything back here. How do you get this apron out?
00:30:36
Speaker
I don't know. Look on the other side. This? Yeah. What's that down there? That's the horizontal part of the trestle. That's the match to this. That goes from there to there. Yeah, I think you're right. See, it's pegged. Oh, I see what that is. Yeah, that's the... I thought it was going the other direction.
00:31:06
Speaker
I don't mind this. I like it from here up. These, the bottom portion of the trestles, I could do with that. Yeah, I'm not crazy about this table. Man, we're gonna catch some shit for this episode. Now these I like. This is the illustration of the wall pegs. I love the high chair rail like that. You know, I don't know what you would call a stunt chair rail.
00:31:35
Speaker
a picture rail? Yeah, it would be in the place where we put like picture rails on plaster walls. That's how high up it is. This, I like. Like a hanging cupboard that you can move around. Yeah. Look, they invented the 32 millimeter spacing. That's true. All the pegs are spaced evenly, so objects that need more than one peg to hang
00:32:01
Speaker
can go anywhere yeah I mean even the clock is on the hanger yeah and this candle look adjustable height yeah that would be pretty cool to have something like that mm-hmm you know what it is I think I think all of the overlay shaker stuff I just really don't like this with the inset doors I like this yeah I agree with you 100%
00:32:28
Speaker
Anti-overlay, oops, I'm opening up. I hate when I do that. What's Shaker Peg Wall 2? I think, is that the one I just was on? Yeah, we run. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I like the bench. Yeah, the bench is really cool. It's a long, probably like seven foot long, eight foot long bench, you think?
00:32:55
Speaker
And it's just, it's got a nice wide top rail with spindles. And nice thin spindles. I've seen the shaker benches with the big heavy Jacobian, more Jacobian-esque turned legs, and I'm not a fan of those. Yeah, that's kind of a cool little thing. You could, like I could see that in somebody's house.
00:33:20
Speaker
Um, where it doesn't seem so dated as the chair with that, like, super straight. Yeah. Because the back is, it's got an incline back. Yeah, like, you know, the, I could see like a rocking chair on a porch or something, but not... Not around the table. No. Now this, it couldn't get more simple than this. Yeah, it's just literally just a dovetailed chest.
00:33:48
Speaker
Just sitting no no no legs just a box So I have again, I think you hit it on the head that this is definitely been romanticized and
00:34:07
Speaker
So, let's see what they say about shaker furniture. The use of dovetail joints and wooden peg assembly took extra time, but set a high standard for quality construction. Again, to emphasize what you've said, right place, right time. Everybody was already using this stuff.
00:34:31
Speaker
But the shakers come about a time where furniture is becoming mass produced, quality's going down, and they're fitting in in this other niche. Yeah, they're just continuing to do what they'd been doing for 300, 500 years prior. Right, right.
00:34:57
Speaker
It says here, the traditional ladder back chair was first popularized by the Shakers, then adapted by furniture makers all over the world. So, I mean, I guess it was a big hit. Yeah. I mean, it's certainly identifiable as a Shaker chair. I mean, if we know it, so it's gotta have been out there in the public consciousness for a while.
00:35:24
Speaker
Here's something that we know of. The simple cabinet door style introduced by the Shakers is still a favorite today among those wanting an unpretentious vibe. Modern cabinet makers, like us, continue to follow the Shaker principle of five-piece construction. One piece for the flat door panel and four additional boards that form a frame on the face of the door. The styles and the rails, we call them.
00:35:52
Speaker
This method of shaker-style construction prevented warping and gave the door superior strength. Now, uh... Again, I mean, people were building frame and panel doors. Forever! Yeah, they weren't flat paneling necessarily all the time, but... Right. Um... I mean, we could go back to Colonial and C5P stores. I know, I know. I'm really befuddled, I'll say. Yeah.
00:36:23
Speaker
Tabitha Babbitt. Nicknames are allowed? Yeah, Sarah. Tabitha. I guess... We had a cat named Tabitha. When I was a kid. Did you call it Tabby? No. Now this woman was also a tool maker and inventor. This is probably only happening in a Shaker community.
00:36:53
Speaker
because women really weren't allowed to do all that stuff. Yeah, outside, yeah. It was pretty much a patriarchal society, and they did whatever the husband told them to. Maybe they'll let you out to the factory for a couple of 14-hour shifts. You were lucky if you were a Lowell girl. Yeah. What, Saratha? Saratha.
00:37:21
Speaker
I think I was drinking. Sarah Tabitha Babbitt, 1779 to 1853, was an early American shaker purported to be a toolmaker and inventor. I found a few conflicting stories about Tabitha and what she's credited with.
00:37:48
Speaker
Inventions credited to her by the Shakers include the circular saw, the spinning wheel head, which is for, you know, yarn and such, and this is a good one, false teeth. She was a member of the Harvard Shaker community. Wait a minute. Yes, go ahead. If George Washington had fake teeth, how did she invent them? That's what I'm trying to tell you.
00:38:19
Speaker
I mean, she was born 1779. So Washington probably already had his false teeth by then. Yeah, because he couldn't have lived until 1800, did he? No, I don't think so. I mean, he lived till 1800, yes. But not much further past that. Yeah, she had to invent these in the mid 1800s into her. Or let's see, no. Let's say she was 20. That would be 1799.
00:38:48
Speaker
I think he had Washington's, had his wooden teeth when he was like, you know, George Washington, general, president. Yeah, when she was what, in his 30s or something maybe? Yeah. So she's a little bit of a controversial character. A little tabby. She was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts. Daughter of a couple of civilians, I think, had to be. Must be, yeah. Unless they're blasphemes.
00:39:19
Speaker
She became a member of the Shakers at the Harvard Shaker community in 1793. So how old was she? What year was she born again? 77? 79. Wait. 1779. Oh, yeah, 93. So she was 24. 14. 24. No, 14. 14, jeez.
00:39:52
Speaker
So here's what the Shakers say about her. She's credited with inventing the first circular saw for use in a sawmill in 1813. According to the Shakers, Babbitt was watching men use the difficult two-man whipsaw when she noticed that half of their motion was wasted. She proposed creating a round blade to increase efficiency.
00:40:19
Speaker
What's a whip saw? Is that that thing with the two handles? I think that's, yeah. The circular saw was connected to a water powered machine to reduce the effort to cut lumber. The first circular saw she allegedly made is in Albany, New York. Now we talked about the invention of the sawmill in the
00:40:45
Speaker
Is it the federal or the empire? I think it was in the empire. It came with the. The advertisement? Yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't quote, or it doesn't cite Tabitha as the inventor. Yeah. And because the Quakers never patented anything or claimed anything. Yeah, Shakers. The Shakers. The Amish.
00:41:14
Speaker
The Mennonites. So her invention is in Albany, New York. And water powered. I know the one that we looked at in the previous episode was steam powered. Right, right. In the summer of 1948,
00:41:40
Speaker
A version of Babbitt Saw built to her specifications was on display at a Shaker exhibit at Fennimore House in Cooperstown, New York. Ooh, is that James Fennimore Cooper? Yeah, probably. Is that where Cooperstown comes from? You know, I never thought of that. Oh, full coincidental. I'll say. And it was all alone from the New York State Museum. So maybe there were plans.
00:42:06
Speaker
that predated other saws. Maybe she really did invent the circular saw. We don't know. Yeah.
Assessing the Shakers' Legacy
00:42:14
Speaker
I mean, a lot of times these things are invented by more than one person at a very similar sort of time. Yeah. Here's where we try and clear up the false teeth thing. She's also credited with inventing a process for the manufacture of false teeth. OK. All right.
00:42:36
Speaker
So I like this. I put italics on the word allegedly in my notes here. She also allegedly invented cut nails. No way. Although the Shakers also credit the invention to the non Shaker Eli Whitney.
00:42:58
Speaker
I guess machine made cut nails. They've been making cut nails for a long time. Yeah, I think that's what it means, like a machine that makes them. You like Whitney, mess around with cotton and nails. Yeah, as a shaker, Babbitt never patented any of her inventions.
00:43:17
Speaker
Oh, controversy over the circular saw invention. Because Babbitt didn't patent her circular saw and the reference to her invention exists only in Shaker lore, there's controversy over whether she was the true first inventor of the saw.
00:43:36
Speaker
So there's like no real documentation that she invented the circular saw. I'm not saying that she didn't, but if you're gonna go by their lore, in their lore, their leader also became Jesus. So, who am I gonna believe? Just saying, their track record isn't spotless. Not too good. According to some accounts,
00:44:05
Speaker
Two French men patented the circular saw in the United States after reading about Babbitt's saw in Shaker papers. It's possible. Yeah. M. Stephen Miller argues that Babbitt was not the first inventor of the circular saw based upon the date that she joined the sect. All right.
00:44:27
Speaker
He's putting evidence together. He contends that the circular saw was invented at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village by Amos Bishop or Benjamin Bruce in 1793 or not by a shaker at all. Circular saw history suggests a few others using circular saws prior to Tabitha. Yeah, how do you like that?
00:44:53
Speaker
The Shakers, they're frequently characterized as quaint, simple, or archaic based on presumptions about their rigid and ascetic lifestyle, yet this characterization undermines the importance of their progressive models. I'm sorry. That's okay. Excuse me. Hey, what the hell happened here? Yeah. So, again,
00:45:23
Speaker
The Shakers are quite a mixed bag. Yeah. I like how one of these researchers says, it wasn't Tabitha. No, it was this other Quaker. Yeah. I mean Shaker. The Shaker. Old Sabitha. Yeah.
00:45:55
Speaker
All right, so the Shakers, they are mixed bags, I said. The Shakers labored for the good of the community as a form of worship, and Mother Ann Lee, the starter of all this, was famously quoted as saying, hands to God, hands to work, hearts to God. I can't even read anymore. I've heard that before. Yeah, that's a Shakerism.
00:46:21
Speaker
Through their diligence and ingenuity, they raised revenue support their communities from the sales of shaker-made products ranging from homeopathic tonics to seeds and agricultural equipment to clothing and furniture. And they weren't above advertising. Let's see the 19th century shaker advertisement here. Shaker, we got chairs.
00:46:50
Speaker
Wow. Wait a second. Trademark. Yeah. Didn't they say that? So here is, we're looking at, what would you call this? Would this be something that's on the bottom of a chair or something, a little pamphlet you got with the sale of your chair? No, Illustrated Catalog and Priceless. This is the outside front and back. So it says Shakers Trademark.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah, the above trademark will be attached to every genuine shaker chair, and none others are of our make, notwithstanding any claims to the contrary. All persons are hereby cautioned not to use or counterfeit our trademark. This is more conflict here.
00:47:41
Speaker
Yeah, is it maybe it's not a real trademark? It's like not a, you know, like a government registered type trademark, but just, uh, but still even to produce it, I thought they were like, uh, yeah, given all their stuff away because it didn't matter. I don't know.
00:48:06
Speaker
Man, I don't know about these shakers. So we kind of had a necessary sound that seemed like a brief episode. Yeah, we're coming in on 50 minutes. I want to see if I can find the, I guess it only does one. Sawmill? Yeah. Let me see if I got it up there.
00:48:40
Speaker
Sawmill. Empire, I think it was. What happened here? Control-F doesn't search inside the document? That I don't know. That's the history of the Brunel Sawmill? Yeah, that might be it. 1817, a steam sawmill
00:49:06
Speaker
with a circular saw for cutting veneers. Yeah, in 1812, at the height of the Napoleonic Wars, work commenced on a state-of-the-art steam-powered sawmill at Chatham Dockyard. What year? 1812. Well, this says Babbitt is credited with bending the first circular saw for use in a sawmill in 1813. Oh, man.
00:49:36
Speaker
Yeah, and it's the Brunel Sawmill. Does it have that link to the advertisement? What page is that on, 17? Yeah. I thought I used to be able to open two pages documents at once, I guess not. Yeah, I can. Maybe it's because I've got the screen on. It might be behind it. Brunel Sawmill.
00:50:09
Speaker
Let's see. Oh, no. It was before this. Remember there was an advertisement for it where they're outside. Oh, yes, yes. That was earlier. It might have even been in the... Federal? Yeah. Right. It was like a painting. Yep. Add for portable saw mill. Here we go. Found it.
00:50:41
Speaker
Zanesville, Blandy's Portable Steam Engine Sawmills, Zanesville and Newark, Ohio. And those are round blades. What was that say?
00:51:17
Speaker
Let me see, maybe, oh, oh, just, yeah, Google Blandy's portable sawmill. I don't see any dates on here. 1867. Oh, well, that's definitely later. Yeah. Let's see.
00:51:51
Speaker
But that other one wasn't Blandy. It was another B named 1812. But that's just the ad. And all that keeps popping up is that poster. Put invention at the end of that.
00:52:24
Speaker
formed as a foundry in 1840. By 1860 they were producing sawmills. So he's probably not the inventor, but there was already a sawmill in France for the shipbuilding in 1812. Yeah. Well, yeah, and they did say something about Frenchmen. Yeah.
00:52:46
Speaker
Maybe we're jumping to conclusions, but it doesn't look like Tabitha Babbitt was the inventor of the saw man. I'm gonna say that the Shakers are leaving us bewildered and a little dubious. Yeah. Yeah. Their claims on all sorts of things seem to be kind of inflated at the best.
00:53:17
Speaker
They took designs and techniques and processes that were already established for quite a long time. They did trim off all adornment and in a sense create a style out of that. But
00:53:41
Speaker
to warrant the amount of attention and sort of... Reverence. Reverence, that's a great word. It seems overblown, doesn't it? Yeah, like I respect what they were doing for sure. Respect the dedication to the craft. Telling you. Especially in the face of what was going on at the time, but... Right place, right time. Yeah.
00:54:10
Speaker
It's like coming along with a couple of gallons of water and everybody's in the desert. Yeah. It's like, hey, I got this water. You invented water. Yeah, like she definitely didn't invent false teeth. No. She didn't invent the circular saw either. Yeah.
00:54:36
Speaker
He might not even exist for a week. And if you type in notable Shaker, you're going to get Tabitha Babbitt. She's like their claim to fame. Yeah. Might have to take a trip up there. You got to interrogate these last couple Shakers. The last two. Give them a little rough interrogation. Yeah. Probably like 105 years old.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:55:03
Speaker
You know, it's terrible though. It casts into doubt all of the other claims because everything we come across is kind of... Disputable. Yeah. Well, in the next episode, we're going to get more into Shaker Furniture. Maybe we'll come, we'll have a little bit more of a...
00:55:29
Speaker
a warmer view of it, but it doesn't really seem like it. We're kind of sad. We're a little bit down on the shaker of furniture. Yeah, I don't know. We're shooting holes in their reputation here. Yeah, yeah. We'll see what kind of information I've got for the next episode. Maybe there's something there. How many pages did I...
00:55:58
Speaker
We're on page 8. We ended on page 8. We got 18 pages, so it's probably about 9. Let's see. 25 starts on 13. Yeah, we got 4 pages. Alright, so it's just a typical 4 page.
00:56:24
Speaker
It's a typical 18-page course. Well, right in. Let us know what you think. Do you still love the Shakers? Did you know about the Shakers before? Did we ruin your opinion of them? Yeah. I mean, there's still value in them. It seems to be inflated for us.
00:56:53
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, we build in, you know, we don't build in the Shaker style, but we build with some of those influences because it's influence later design. So it's not like we, you know, are big period furniture makers or anything. And so we scoff at the Shakers.
00:57:16
Speaker
Yeah, it'd be interesting to hear feedback now that everybody's had a chance and we've sort of maybe influenced their opinion a little. The jury's out. The jury's out on the shakers. Well, let us know right in. Let us know what you think and tune in next week. We're going to continue on with episode 24. We'll talk a little bit more about the specifics of the furniture. All right. Take care.
00:58:00
Speaker
Ain't no shame, but there's been a chain