.Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Window Weights. |
I found these at an old home site. You might recognize them immediately. They are window weights.
They are iron. The top one is about fifteen inches long and the others are more like seven inches long.
They have some markings. You can see the VI on the top one. The middle one might have a brand name or something, but I can't read it.
The middle one also has a hook on one side so you could link them. One person told me they never saw that before.
They counterbalanced vertical sash windwws and were hidden in the frame and connected by a rope. Correct me if I got the terminology wrong.
My research on the house revealed tht the house was built in 1902.
Since I am on weights, here is another.
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| Clock Weight. |
This weight is similar but not a window weight. This one is a weight for a clock. It is about five inches long. It is nicer looking. It is has a smoother finish and a nice little hook in the depression at the top.
I don't know how I got the background whited out. It was taken on the same concrete but from the lighted side. I guess that washed out the background. I'll have to remember how to do that.
But what got me started on this topic wasn't the weights. I was looking into window glass, which can be used to help date a site. Window glass has been made for centuries and, like almost everything, evolved from very primitive to more perfect. I found some good articles and web sites about that.
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When you find a flat piece of glass you might pass it up immediately thinking it is modern, but there is older window glass and there are ways to estimate the age of that glass. Below is an except from one article.
A Dig Reveals the Ways of One of Eastham’s Early Settlers
John Doane was wealthy, pious, and industrious and may have feared witches...
“Glass is a real status symbol in 17th-century New England,” Chenoweth said. It had to be imported from England, which meant it had to survive a voyage in the hull of a rocking ship. Plus, “once you break a pane of glass, it’s useless,” he said. A house with glass windows, then, would be evidence of disposable income.
During the excavation, his team found several pieces of iron slag as well as poor-quality molten glass “like you might make the first time you try making glass,” Chenoweth said. He believes that these are evidence that Doane was trying his hand at glass production and smithing or refining iron.
Industry in the early colonial period is thought to have been rare, Chenoweth said, but historical records show that a pine tar kiln was part of Doane’s property, and other industrial practices may have been valuable in a society so cut off from the rest of the European world. In a place like this, “you’re going to need to find a way to repair your tools or to make new tools,” Chenoweth said.
Those three paragraphs are excerpted from the followi g article.
This web site shows examples and provides sections on 18 19th and 20th century windows.
I'm still hoping that one down by Central America doesn't build up and hit the Gulf Coast again.
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Below is a link to a great site on the history of windows. It is brief but provides links to some other good sites.
Check it out.
Among the links provide is this one.
Windows Through Time Exhibit — Historic Preservation Education Foundation (hpef.us)
Changes in the construction and appearance of American windows over the last three centuries have reflected the crafts and technology of the time as well as the popularity of particular window styles. As one of the most important and prominent features of historic buildings—both inside and out—window’s have windows have begun to receive the same attention as other more decorative architectural element. “Windows Through Time” is a project of the Historic Preservation Education Foundation to catalog and document historic windows which illustrate many of the major changes to windows from 1630s to the 1950s. This catalog project is intended to foster a public understanding and appreciation of windows in historic buildings—their appearance and operation, their construction and design, and their historic evolution. A rare glimpse into one of the most neglected yet important features of historic buildings...Concerning 18th centuries windows it says...
Available glass included broad or cylinder glass which came from glass blown in a cylinder, split and rolled into a flat sheet and then cut into panes. The best quality, however, was crown glass which was blown into a disk and then cut into panes. Windows were small in size and few in number, due to the cost of glass, which mostly had to be imported, and in northern climates, for greater protection against the harsh winter weather. Following the introduction of vertical sliding sash early in the eighteenth century, the casement window fell from favor in this country...
This web site shows examples and provides sections on 18 19th and 20th century windows.
Check it out.
I'm sure the Bryson',s book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life also provides some good history on the evolution of window glass. I'll have to find my copy. It is a great book that you'll find it both interesting and helpful.
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| Source:nhc.noaa.gov. |
I'm still hoping that one down by Central America doesn't build up and hit the Gulf Coast again.
We don't need that.
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| Surfguru.com. |
We'll have some higher surf in a few days.
The tides are still high.