Occupational Traditions

Every generation works hard to make life comfortable for themselves and for their children.

Before the industrial revolution of the mid 1800s, building houses, making boats, fishing, and farming was hard work – requiring skill and knowledge to do it well.

Traditional occupations usually require learning a lot about many things – how to work with raw materials, how to use and repair tools, how seasons affect what you are trying to do, and so much more. It may also require learning how to work outside in all kinds of weather conditions. In a traditional occupation, all of this knowledge is usually handed down from one skilled worker to another, not learned from a book.

Restoring interior
moldings of 18th
and 19th century
houses involves
using antique hand
planes and judging
how to make things
"look" straight,
when the house
has settled
over time.
Steve Roy from
Adams & Roy,
Portsmouth, NH.

Scaling trees brought
in by loggers
involves measuring
the logs and
estimating the
amount of
"board feet"
that can be cut
out of the log
in the mill.
The estimates are
used to calculate
how much the
logger is paid
for a load.
White Mountain
Lumber
Berlin, NH.

Would you like to learn more about traditional occupations in New Hampshire?

• Agriculture
  • Agriculture & the Family Farm
• Forestry & Wood
  • Timber Framing
  • Covered Bridges
  • Historic Restoration
• Industry & Business
  • Industry & Business & Community
• Maritime & Waterways
  • Maritime Traditions
• Stone
  • Granite Quarrying