Colonial Occupation

During the time of the Thirteen Colonies there were many careers for people to choose. The first one is the barber, same as today, the barber would cut peoples hair however, another unexpected thing that the barber did was bloodletting, this was indicated by the red and white barber pole, the red represented the blood and the white represented the bandages. Next was the blacksmith, he was in charge of making pretty much anything made of metal such as, pots, horse shoes, and iron nails. Thirdly, there was the cabinetmaker, he would make clock cases and most kinds of furniture. The clockmaker obviously built clocks and repaired them, clocks were very important in colonial times, otherwise no one could build a business from building and repairing them. The cobbler made everyone’s shoes, a strange thing about the shoes he made was that the right and left shoes were the same. The cooper made barrels, he had to make them tight so that they preserved whatever went inside them, some common things were fish, meat, cider, beer, and water. The doctor did pretty much the same as today except the colonial doctor was also the pharmacist. The farmers were responsible for growing the food whether it be fruit, squash, potatoes, or other vegetables, and they might also plant cash crops such as tobacco. Grocer or victualler was the guy who sold and traded supplies with colonists. Another job was the hatter, obviously the hatter made hats for everyone, he usually made his hats out of beaver skins. The miller was the man who the farmer paid to grind his corn into flour. The sailor was the guy who did work on the ships, mostly military and merchant ships. The silversmith made special things out of silver and goldsmiths made special things with gold, such as jewelry and nice plates for settlers. The tailor made clothes for people, though some people could not afford clothes and resorted to making their own. The tanner did the tanning as you would expect, making saddles, buckets, and mugs. The wigmaker made wigs for people to wear, it was kind of a trend in colonial times, so most people wore them. If I was to choose one I would probably choose the farmer. All of these occupations were important and most of them are still around today and they are just as important today as they were in the time of the colonies.