[PW] ? Size of a pork-barrel

[Karen Lofstrom]

Size of a pork barrel?

I would think that only assembly line, industrial process would result
in standard sizes. Packing plants and barrel manufacturers would
standardize. Industry-wide standards *might* have developed.

However, if barrels were built by the farmers planning to use them, or
even by coopers working in their own shops, then barrels might be of
any size. There might be some standardization, but regional
standards/customs might well vary.

Over the course of the 19th century many artisanal crafts, such as
cooperage, were replaced by factories making standardized products.
The process would have been accelerated in cities and retarded in
rural areas. So the canonical pork barrel was probably very much
defined by time and place.

The only way to get any hard data would be to survey surviving pork
barrels. Advertisements would only tell you about mass-produced
barrels.

The size of the pig and the amount of meat to be preserved would
probably have an influence on the optimal size of a barrel;
housekeeping and farming manuals might have some advice on the
subject.

-- 
Karen Lofstrom