2003/9

This is a galvanised metal bucket with a separate lid. It is made from sheet metal, and has a metal handle across the top and a handle in the centre of the lid. It was used by the donor at Cockney Hill, Reading, for preserving eggs in isinglass (a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish). A white solidified deposit can be seen around the inside of the bucket, presumably the remnants of isinglass.

1 bucket and lid: good condition

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'BUCKET // Description // 1 bucket with separate lid // Made from galvanized sheet metal; circular at base, widening towards rim; metal handle across top with kink in middle acting as hand grip; lid is raised with hand grip in centre, and lip around rim so that it sits snugly inside rim of bucket making it fairly airtight; white, solidified deposit can be seen around inside of bucket - presumably remnants of isinglass. // Dimensions // Bucket: 28.5 x 31.5 x 22.5cm (height x diameter at rim x diameter at base) // Associated information // Used by Mrs Picket at her old address of Cockney Hill, Tilehurst, Reading, for preserving eggs in isinglass.', Object history research, John Masters, May 2020 - How can this object be described? // A metal bucket with a separate lid. There is a white solidified deposit around the inside of the bucket, // What is the object? // This is a galvanised metal bucket with a separate lid. It is made from sheet metal, and has a metal handle across the top and a handle in the centre of the lid. It was used by the donor (Mrs Picket) at Cockney Hill, Tilehurst, Reading, for preserving eggs in isinglass. The metal handle across the top of the bucket has a kink in middle acting as hand grip. The lid is raised with a hand grip in the centre and has a lip around the rim so that it sits snugly inside the rim of the bucket making it fairly airtight. The white solidified deposit is presumably the remnants of isinglass. // How old is it? // Not known. However, the use of isinglass for preserving eggs was at its peak before, during, and just after the Second World War. The use of isinglass for egg preservation had largely died out by the early 1960s, most likely because of the increased use of refrigeration. // What is a bucket? // A bucket is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone or square, with an open top and a flat bottom, attached to a semi-circular carrying handle . Buckets are most usually used for carrying water, liquids or granular products but have many other uses. // The earliest buckets appeared around 3500BC in Ancient Egypt. Buckets have been in use ever since. Buckets were originally made of wood, hemp or leather. In 1837 Stanislav Sorel patented the galvanised metal bucket and these became the most popular buckets until the 1960s. Around 1967 plastic buckets became widely available and became the commonest type of bucket in use with the plastic making the buckets light, strong, very durable and cheap to make. However galvanised buckets remained popular and are still sold and used today. // What is galvanisation? // Galvanisation is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of molten hot zinc. // Galvanising protects the underlying iron or steel in the following main ways: // •The zinc coating, when intact, prevents corrosive substances from reaching the underlying steel or iron. // •The zinc protects iron by corroding first. For better results, application of chromates over zinc is also seen as an industrial trend. // •In the event the underlying metal becomes exposed, protection can continue as long as there is zinc close enough to be electrically coupled. After all of the zinc in the immediate area is consumed, localized corrosion of the base metal can occur. // The earliest known example of galvanized iron was encountered by Europeans on 17th-century Indian armour. // Why preserve eggs? // Chickens do not naturally lay eggs all the year around. Lack of daylight in winter tends to make them reduce egg laying, meaning that there is often a surfeit of eggs in summer and a shortage in winter. In recent times this has been largely overcome by using artificial lighting to extend daylight hours. Diet, warmth and moulting can also influence egg laying. In the past it has not been so easy to extend the egg laying season and it has been necessary to find ways of preserving the eggs laid in summer for use in the winter months. // What ways have been used to preserve eggs? // The most common way of preserving eggs today is refrigeration and this has meant that most traditional ways of preserving eggs have fell out of use. Freezing eggs can also be used – either beating whole eggs and then freezing them or separating the whites and yolks and freezing each separately. // There are many ways that have been used to preserve eggs. These include: // •Dehydration (powdered/dried eggs were very common in the UK during World War 2) // •Salt // •Wood ash, clay, tea, lime and salt (“1000-year-old eggs”) // •Pickled in vinegar (These are still found in fish and chip shops but now no longer common in public houses) // •Coated – mineral oil, butter, lard, wax and many other substances including Vaseline! // •Waterglass (Sodium Silicate solution) // •Lime solution // •Isinglass // What is isinglass? // Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish. It is a form of collagen used mainly today for the clarification or fining of some beer and wine (although its use has caused problems for vegans). It can also be cooked into a paste for specialised gluing purposes. Originally isinglass was made from sturgeon but now it is made from a variety of different fish. // Isinglass was used as an egg preservative mainly from the 1920s through to the early 1960s. Isinglass is bacteria-resistant, and helps prevent organisms from entering the eggs, as well as helping prevent evaporation of the water content of the eggs. // Although isinglass was widely used during WW2, in some places waterglass was used instead at times when fish products were not easily available. Several sources incorrectly say that waterglass (Sodium Silicate) and Isinglass (made from fish) are the same – they are not. // Other object in the MERL collection related to this object. // [image ] Egg preserving jar 65/31 // This is an earthenware preserving jar, glazed on the inside, which probably dates from 1870-1890. This type of jar was known locally in Devon as a 'steyne' or 'stein'. It was used for preserving eggs in isinglass by the donor circa 1935-1960 at Bude, Devon. The jar was also used by the donor’s mother and probably the donor’s grandmother, but it is not known if they used it to preserve eggs in isinglass.