Cseri Miklós - Horváth Anita - Szabó Zsuzsanna (szerk.): Discover Rural Hungary!, Guide (Szentendre, Hungarian Open Air Museum, 2007)

II Upland Market Town - II-2 House from Tokaj

11-2 House from Tokaj I János Sziklai has to ^^^^ set off to a meeting of the local coopers according to the invitation stuck to the old guild board lying on the table. We are in Tokaj, the date is 1885. At this time, a cooper (barrel-maker) lived in the building, which was constructed in 1849- It has three rooms upstairs and a workshop downstairs. Coopering was one of the most significant crafts in TokajHegyalja, where it was common to see drying stave-towers in the yards. Next to the museum building such towers stand with staves enough for 100 barrels in each. Wine was traded to Poland and Russia therefore it was necessary to replace the barrels continuously. Wooden vats conI CJ o structed by coopers were used throughout the whole process of wine-making and wine was even measured in barrels. The commonest barrel of Hegyalja was the one made in Gönc. Since the 18th century, in the countryside coopers' guilds had been formed to protect the craftsmen's rights and safeguard their interests. They were led by the guild master and the notary. The guild determined working hours - decreased to 14 hours a day by the 1800s -; apprenticeships and the rules of clothing and behaving. The wedding of the owner and his wife took place in the first