I've more than heard of bushel baskets; I've toted many of them. Yes,
apples and many other items were commonly sold by the bushel, the
half-bushel (there were baskets for those, too), and the peck (ditto).
The baskets were made of very thin slices of wood that radiated out from
the center of the bottom and then were molded upward to form the sides.
Other slats were banded around the top and middle to hold them together.
Fasteners were generally staples. Two wire handles were attached for
carrying. I suppose that they don't make those anymore and that people
now use cardboard boxes. Bushel baskets also saw uses as laundry
baskets, storage baskets, and basketball hoops (with the bottoms knocked
out).
Crates were sturdier and were a great source of wood for kids for
building all sorts of projects.
Either type of container served admirally in providing splinters for
nearly everyone's fingers.
Jim
"Joseph B. Reid" wrote:
....
> I have heard of a bushel basket. I suspect that a bushel of apples is a
> bushel basket of apples, more or less full.
....
--
Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!"
James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/
10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
