I remembered a bit of trivia to today, and wondered if anybody can prove or disprove this. The Shakers were the first organizatition to put seeds into labeled paper packets and sell them. The packets being close to what is sold on the store shelves today.
I cannot prove or disprove this but my family has a farm 1 mile from the Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH and I have been told this bit of trivia also. It does seem fitting with the Shaker culture and their contributions to early American practical technology. My bet would be that they were either the ones to invent it or they popularized it to support their way of life.
What’s a “Shaker”?
I searched Google for “Shaker Seed Packets” and came up with several sites that confirm that the Shakers were the first to put seeds into labeled paper packages. This site is one example:
loislane138 - this month’s issue of Smithsonian has a really good article on the Shakers. Check it out.
I’ve visited a lot of Shaker villages (Canterbury, N.H., Enfield, N.H., Hancock, Mass., and Fruitlands, MA), and I’ve been told this as well. At the Canterbury Shaker Village they have an exhibit at the museum showing the seed packets and sorter.
Shakers were a Utopian communal religion that began in the 18th century and continues until today. Fifteen years ago their numbers had dwindled to only five, largely because of a change in the adoption laws, I’m told (Shakers are a celibate bunch – they can only maintain their numbers through adoption and conversion). I suspect that the New Deal and such public programs also contributed to the decline – people weren’t forced into the communities by hard times as much. The Shakers said that they wouldn’t accept any new converts, but apparently changed their minds about that, because the community at Sabbaday Lake, Maine now has more than 5 members.
There are LOTS of books about the Shakers. Interesting bunch. They were NOT anti-technology, but were innovators in their time. Their crafts and their technology are both laudable (but not primitive by any means – Shakers owned automobiles, for instance). I don’t think I could’ve lived as a Shaker. A side note: There may only be a handful of practicing Shakers, but there are still a lot of EX-Shakers around – something else that doesn’t get noticed often.
Thanks for the responses.
The Shakers are a split group from the Quakers. Quakers beleived that God is manifested in everyperson. The Shakers thought that one woman was the female reincarnation of Christ and split. That was a very simple explanation.
HD - do you have a cite for that? Because that is not how the Smithsonian portrays Shaker origins: http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/journeys/01/apr01/feature_full_page_1.html
Zyada
http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/shakers.htm
There’s the link, but I really do not want this to change into a religous debate. I got my question answered.