Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Corn Fan
Josiah Talcott purchased a Corn Fan for nine shillings at the Colden Store on this day, 250 years-ago.
An image of Tibetan women using 'winnowing fans' to separate corn from chaff.
For ages farmers have needed to separate their grains from the chaff. Devices to assist in this process were in use as early as the 17th century and are described in the British History website as "a BASKET of a special form, while earlier another sort was a specialised wooden SHOVEL. They were used for separating the CORN from the CHAFF by throwing it up in the air."
However, there were other devices for creating artificial wind that were closer to what we refer to as a 'fan' today. Sometimes these were called 'winnowing machines' or 'fans for corn.' See the reference at the British History Site.
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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
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The Colden DayBook records the sale of nine Corn Fans over the period of about a year. All were sold for about nine shillings and all sold as single items to a unique person.
More about the craftsman, Josiah Talcott (Talkett), is found in a prior blog.
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