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Coopering
On display in this museum are over two dozen kinds of tools used by the cooper to split, cut, shave, trim, level,
edge and join the wood for barrels. For thousands of years the cooper played an important role in the world's economy for virtually every valuable consumer product was shipped in
barrels fabricated by cooperage concerns. Today, only a comparative handful of coopers still ply their trade for their efforts are limited almost exclusively to the wine industry. In the
past, products such as apples, beer, nails, meat, fish, flour, and soap were shipped by barrel. Beer is now transported in stainless steel kegs and most perishable food products are
shipped in refrigerated containers.
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