ca. 1800's
Wagons such as this were used to deliver meat throughout the stores and neighborhoods of a city. They were rarely used to deliver fresh meat because it would spoil, but instead would deliver smoked and cured meats. There were many variations on the butcher’s wagon, but models resembling this one were used in the 1800’s.
This piece was acquired at an auction in Oklahoma City in 1988 from Fred Shivers of Bixby, Oklahoma. There was very little restoration work done on the wagon as Mr. Sterquell had kept it in fairly good condition.
We have not always had refrigeration. As a result people had to find inventive and safe ways to preserve the meat that they wished to eat. These different methods of meat preservation can be grouped into the following categories: smoking, curing and drying. All these methods allowed for a means of preservation and added certain unique flavors to the diets of men and women in early America.
Smoking was often used to finish out the curing process and smoked meats could also be lightly cured to add taste. This method gradually dried out the meat while adding a smoky flavor to it. Moreover, it gave the meat a normal texture by leaving it somewhat hydrated.
Curing is basically the use of salt to deter the ability of harmful bacteria to decompose the meat. It also adds flavor and attractiveness to the meat and is used quite often today. The four methods of curing are dry salting, brine submersion, corning and pickling.
The drying process results in the creation of many kinds of dried meat which can last for many years. There are many types of dried meat: pemmican, introduced to American settlers by the Cree Indians; jerked beef, also known as “jerky” which comes from the Spanish American word “Charqui”; jerked venison; dried beef; dried shrimp and fish.