Tinsmiths or "whitesmiths" played an important role in Early American life. They provided many necessaries tools for town, village and farm living. When melted, tin sticks to other metals. It keeps iron from rusting and copper from leaving a metallic taste. So factories learned how to coat thin sheets of iron and copper with tin. These sheets were purchased by tin smiths. During winter months they cut, rolled, bent, crimped and soldered them into dishes, canteens, candle stands, punched lamp shades, buckets, boxes, and other needed items. When the weather turned warm and roads dried out, the tinsmith would load his goods in a pack, hand cart, or wagon. Traveling to farms and small towns, he’d sell his tinware. People looked forward to the clanging, clinking sound of his arrival. Besides selling goods, most tinsmith could also fixed broken tin items and other things. Folks would say, “The peddler stopped and did a bit of tinkering.” In time, most people simply called traveling tinsmiths and peddlers “tinkers.”

See Tinsmith History
See Tinsmithing

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