Jugs & Crocks of the Guelph Merchants

Else Ransom lived in Chelmsford, Ontario.

Through the centuries stoneware has been used by merchants to contain, store, and transport foodstuffs. This book catalogues the jugs and crocks typical of the Guelph, Ontario, area during the late 1800s.

A brief, descriptive text explains the making of stoneware. The author then lists and identifies the crockery by grocer, store, and street location. The book is fully illustrated with black and white photographs of the merchants’ own stamped jugs, accompanied by copies of newspaper advertisements that provide interesting insights to the storekeepers in a time when farmers’ produce was accepted as cash. An appendix guide lists the store jugs as to scarce, rare, and common availability.

Obvious care has been taken by the author in consulting county records, assessment rolls, and local museums. Accurate research has been combined with nostalgia in a particular field of Ontario history. Jugs & Crocks of the Guelph Merchants ought to provide a handy guide for collectors of antique pottery and to anyone interested in Canadiana.