I'm a bricklayer from the UK, when laying reclaimed bricks I often see the fingerprints of the brick makers in the bricks. These could be 200-300 years old, possibly more. Fascinating to see and now I know why. Also as a bricky we turn up on site with practically the same tools used all those hundreds of years ago and it gives me a weird sense of pride
More than likely you are using factory bricks rather than those made by an individual even if they are 300 years old. There would have been more human labor in those various era.
@@mrdaveofdaveshire4047 hahaha!!! "One on top of two all day long" I say that all the time. Y'all threw me off a little talking about perps though. We call those head joints. Perps works just fine though, for perpendicular I suppose?
@@seankeikbusch9404 haha funny how similar us brickys are despite the distance! Yeah perps as in perpendicular like you say. Also cross joints is another popular one to call them over here.
@@vivianscircle because the industrial complex can't make money on people who can produce their own goods. It's not good for your wallet if people can just make things themselves. Thus we now live in a throw away society that is beginning to throw away knowledge.
@@townsends Maybe you could throw in some crockery as an experiment. Crockery would probably be fired at a higher temperature than bricks, but since it would be thinner, it might be fired over less time. If you are having a big fire, throw everything in. In the1960s, I was sent to summer camp. There were all of the usual boring handicraft projects. I decided to create an unauthorized project, when I found some really nice clay in the stream bank. I made a little bowl, dried it and when there was a big bonfire, as there was every night, I threw it in. The next day I looked in the ashes and it had worked. Crockery is a major area for archeologists. A small settlement in which everything has rotted and washed away can be found by crockery shards and they can tell who lived there at what time.
@@townsends there is a series on YT about making a castle in the way of the 13th Century, and it covers many aspects including brick firing. It's fascinating and educational. I wish I could remember what the series was called. It took place in the modern French countryside with English anthropologists as commentators and reenactors for the series.
When my Grandfather was 8 years old in 1903 his family built a summer kitchen from homemade bricks , and he described it just as you have shown here. that building was still standing when I went to see the old home place in Northern Mo. in 1990.
This video always makes me happy to see. My father is a brick Mason and has done that for almost 30 years. He absolutely loves seeing how they did his work through the years especially because he loves working on historic properties
I have laid reclaimed bricks from the 1600’s before in the UK. These are generally used when a building with a heritage protection order needs repair work or has an extension built to it. It helps to keep the building in character for it’s age. Many have makers marks in them - deliberate thumb or finger impressions in the same place on each brick. Some have marks made with a stick or a tool of some kind.
Oh man, see, your government understands heritage buildings, and how to go about proper repairs and even can add extensions! In Ottawa, Canada, there's a rule that any new construction on a heritage building must remain distinct from the original construction. It's so ridiculous. You end up with modern looking renovations and extensions on lovely, old buildings. There is a huge argument going on in my city about a much needed expansion of a gorgeous, French Gothic Revival chateauesque hotel. The city keeps revealing plans for hideous, modern buildings with awful barcode-like widows, and no one wants it to look that way other than the architects who got the contract. I won't go into it here; you can Google it, it's all available for the public to see. It's gross. Edit: if you want to Google it's the Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, ON
@@VeryCherryCherry I see both sides of this, and tbh, I fall on the side of your government. Making additions appear as though they were a part of the original building is disingenuous, a fake which both is a lie written in stone and is sort of an insult to the original builder. It distorts the history of the building and your town. By making additions very distinct, a historic building is preserved but it's limitations are addressed in a way that doesn't alter it's story.
@@aldod3937 I am on unit 24 of Pimsleurs Italian Language! Learning Italian! Actually, I'm learning 8 Languages at once, but Italian is the one on which I focus primarily!
Permanent structures! This opens up so many new fields to explore! I'm sure you would have a lot of fun going over the different period "pattern books", basically recipe books for buildings!
My great great great grandfather (immigrant from county Down Ireland) Samuel Megown and my great great grandfather John Megown were brick makers and brick layers, and built the first brick building in Pittsburgh PA in the early 1800's.
Wow, Ivy's gotten so big! I remember watching your old videos and seeing her helping you in the kitchen set standing on a stool, and now she's almost as tall as you!
Great video as usual. Fun fact, the neighborhood of Smoketown in Louisville, KY got its name from the many brick making kilns found there and the smoke they produced. In 1823, Louisville had 20 brickyards, 9 of them were located in the Smoketown neighborhood.
As a bricklayer i found this video really cool. Thank you for sharing. Funny, just today i found an old handmade brick in a walkway of the property i bought that had 3 distinct finger marks In it. I was guessing the brick to be approx late 1800's. It could've possibly been even older. . I just find it amazing to think that those finger marks were made by someone who was probably alive during the Civil War.. Possibly even the revolutionary war.
Man...it’s been hot in Indiana. I’d have soaked my clothes straight through in that kit. Just a few buttons undone is a major achievement in rugged fortitude as far as I’m concerned.
Thank you for this! I really enjoy all of your videos and was very excited to see this one posted. My 10th great-grandfather was the official brick maker in Swansea, MA in the 1670s. I have long wondered what his job was actually like. This was a quick glimpse into that world. Thank you so much. 😊
Jon, your daughter is growing up so fast! You must be one proud papa to have her out there working with you like that. It's so nice to see these old skills brought to life.
this actually reminds me of the story my grandma told me once. back when she was young she built her first home with adobe bricks she made all on her self with her father. its even more amazing to know how hard the process is now. great video
I've heard that adobe has a kind of natural 'air conditioning' which keeps the interior of a building cool. I do not think these are actual adobe bricks.
The house I was brought up in in Southern California was made completely out of adobe brick. The Adobe used was a hybrid that they developed somewhere around the 1940s or so. The house kept cool except when a Santa Anna came along. Then we brought out the fans we did not have an air conditioner in the home there was no need for one.
Several years ago I found your channel and have enjoyed it enormously. Recently my husband, who wasn't as interested back then in such things has become a fan of yours as well. We now enjoy watching the old timey way of life, seeing as the modern way is falling to pieces these days. Thank you for your videos. God bless.
@@justanotherbaptistjew5659 We all live in a game of Civ 6, Plutarch just happened to be close enough to the player camera to hear Shaun Bean's voice emanating from the sky.
I helped my grandpa made bricks when I was a little kid. We actually use much thinner clay. So, it took less time pouring the mixture into the mold and it was also easier to lift it. We would make a marking using our finger on the top side of each brick, either a diagonal line or a curve ("n" shape). Well, our bricks thickness was half as those in the video. After putting under the sun for several days, we would bake the bricks by stacking them with some space (tunnels) inside so we could insert some wood inside.
6:03 - That! That's why this channel is so great. On top of the interesting subject, writing, concise presentation, and consistent theme; the creative videography and exceptional editing really make the channel great. Kudos to everyone involved for staying creative and fresh with a static subject. -Jake
In a path made out of old bricks in my grandparents garden there is a brick that has this written into it: "I was paid well, and they gave me wine, I like wine." the bricks came from their grandparents house when it was renovated. So I think it might 170-200 years old. In small villages it was cheaper to make them on the spot than to transport it, and well judging by the writing the job had benefits too!
Love the routine with which she turns her head, everytime you slap down the clay. You really get these ingrained movements, which are a big part of experimental archeology to me. Once you adjust that belt for the three hundreth time, you realize why this "ornamental" thing goes where it does.
The work will teach you how to do it efficiently if you pay any kind of attention. With something like this you work out the smoothest way to do it because anything less is harder.
Use a removable peg in your worktop to push the wooden mould against brother, then single strike to excess away from you. No more grubby hands. Love what you're all doing. Hey from NZ.
I freakin love this channel so much, it makes my day when they pop up... No hateful rhetoric, no politricks and no racial mutter... Thanks so much Townsends for making such good material and may the family be blessed.. The daughter sure has grown to a beautiful young lady you should be very proud that she enjoys your pastime as much as you.
It's quiet interesting now. Because last week,I dug a soil hole in the farm. And about a meter deep, sticky mud appears and bring some at home, start some RUclips research on how to make bricks. And that's when I stumbled right across your blog. Your blog is amazing. The way you express the story of brick making. It fascinates and resonates me. Thumbs up. I'm excited to join in your team now.
It's amazing. Simply amazing skill. As if all my worries and troubles just pop out when I watch your videos. You are some sort of happy working group of people committed to a natural environment. Keep on going Jon. It's history!
I lead a parish mission trip to Tanzania several years back. We had a crew of our teens making bricks that way to build a local convent. So yes, it is still being done.
You really are an inspirational man. Your energy shines through. Thank you for all of your efforts to bring the past to life. I'm making pemican because of you.
One of the coolest parts of Assassin's Creed is seeing people going about authentic daily tasks. In the latest, Odyssey, some of my favorite locations are the brick factories and olive oil presses. There's even a dedicated educational mode to play with guided tours of these locations describing what's going on. Very cool to see it here in real life.
I love that many games like this, minecraft, and many others have learning modes and have authentic historical representations to help teach kids as they play online.
A truly outstanding series. Television producers should commission a series from this, it's both more entertaining and more educational than almost anything on TV
I grew up in a house in Fort Wayne built in 1852 (yes, quite recent from your standpoint). In the attic you could see the bricks stamped with an indication that they were made on site.
Once I get out on my own, I'm going to get my own thing of land and start living like this, it looks so fun. I love admiring history and even experiencing it first-hand. If there are any events out there in the US that does this kind of stuff, I want to be the first to join
It’s called re enactment. There’s plenty of museum based events doing this. I was a docent in an 1840’s kitchen. Nothing changed from what Townsends cooks. I learned a skill set too. Working this hard with no power tools can wreck you, nobody mentions that carpenters and blacksmiths usually wound up in bad shape before power tools. The work literally wears your body out. Barn raisings and quilting bees, etc exist because it takes a lot of people to do the work. Be reasonable in your expectations.
Great project! John and the crew are reenacting life as a team led by an active and entrepreneurial landowner. And to think that they also have day jobs! All this is the first year of settlement.
This project is one that will be extreme. On "Timeline's" site they have a few period time episodes. One is to be in the "Tudor" days, Building a castles, Victorian time, farming during WWII, and a few i can't remember what they called those time periods. I found them to be very educational. I can't wait to see how these turn out. I'm extremely pleased with expansion of different aspect of life in our earlier history. I just can't get enough of this web site. Thanks so much for sharing and two thumbs up to all that are helping expand our knowledge.
If you’re thinking of the series I believe you are, the individuals shows are: Secrets of the Castle Tales from the Green Valley The Tudor Monastery Farm The Victorian Farm The Edwardian Farm and The Wartime Farm (WWII) It is one of my absolute favorite series to watch on repeat, besides English Heritage’s “Mrs. Crocombe” series.
@@Blackthorne369 I didn't have the right channels for the bricks being made. Castle secrets, they only make floor tiles, which is somewhat similar on Timeline (1-6 episodes). Here are the video names and channels - BBC's Victorian Farm (1-6 episodes) and Victorian Farm Christmas (1-3 episodes) both of these they fire bricks . Anne-Alery channel plus a Victorian pharmacy (1-4 episodes) There is also: Edwardian Farms (1-8 episodes. Brad Collet channel if you like to see what it was like in those time. I can't remember if they fire brick on these video's but the but are entertaining.
The girl helping is showing a ton of patience and doing an excellent job of being chill and along for the ride, doing her part in the process.....and honestly, she looks like she has the harder part. I would be bored out of my mind watching that kind of action, getting to beat and knead the clay and then slam it into the mold is definitely the more fun part. Maybe harder physically, but more engaging. Standing and watching that? That girls has excellent patience and deserves a shout out! Awesome video! I wonder, how many bricks do you think you can make in a minute with your operation? The end goal of that question is to figure out if you are at the same level as the brick makers back then. I think you might be. You operation seems pretty smooth! If that one guy (him and a team, right?) could make 1500 in a day, i think you seem to be matching that sort of pace, assuming he was working longer hours and more days of the week. People worked like crazy back then, right?
@@grennhald maybe you could find someone that has clay available and you can trade for some if you have a use for it. Lots of videos online of how to separate clay from soil, might be surprised how much clay could be mixed into your soil. Otherwise if you have no use for it then be thankful you don't have to deal with it in the yard or garden, very difficult to deal with for gardening
I have a brick that was used in a blast furnace that was built in 1847, you can see it's not exactly 100% uniform like it would be today and you can see it was made the old fashioned way. Amazing that the blast furnace still stands today after 170 plus years with it's original bricks and stone construction. A testament to the skills of the people back then who were able to make structures that seem to last longer than new prefab homes.
Growing up in Louisiana, we've done trips to antebellum homes, where they talked about brick making, but I've never seen it done before! Also, I've seen brick molds in various places over the years, but I never knew what they were. Man I love this channel!
I was working on old row houses in DC... one of the hardest parts was that standardized brick sizes didn’t really exist when those houses were built...
It's still done in India. I traveled there a couple years ago, and spent time in some of the smaller villages in the south. They were digging the clay out of the ground to make the bricks, right beside the building they were working on! Pretty awesome
You should check out St. Luis mission in Tallahassee, FL. They do a native American, Spanish, French, and English period living in the gulf/wiregrass area. Because, you do a different region of the U.S.. I'd love to see you visit Florida to learn more about how pioneers lived. It's slightly different, and it's a ton of frog gigging and trout lines.
That would be amazing! I would also like to see him visit St. Augustine. Lots of Spanish-American history there...although much older than the centuries they typically discuss.
When Jefferson built Monticello, the clay that was dug up in excavating the basement ( Albermarle red clay) was used to make the bricks. I can’t imagine how appalling a job it was to dig something as big as that with hand tools. I lived about 15 miles from there and that clay was awful stuff to dig/garden.
My neighbor was in his 90s in late 1970s he showed me the spots where the clay came from for his house. I can still see them when I drive by his land RIP Mr. Miller
There is something satisfying about hard work and making something by hand. I could live like this and be happy. Of course, I will still need to have a way to watch Townsends.
The Dutch in New York State used softer clay (a lot less strenuous) and somewhat thinner bricks to speed drying. Plus faster firing. 3 bricks in a 3 brick mould speeds things also. They dispensed with the sand and used clay slip to keep them from sticking to the moulds. These were called 'slop moulded' as the downside is they do splatter wet clay on you. In addition, the brick moulds were filled while sitting on little thin boards. Then lifted off leaving the bricks on these little thin boards which were carried away to dry. This protected the fragile softer clay from disfiguring and greatly reduced waste from damage.
I'm a bricklayer from the UK, when laying reclaimed bricks I often see the fingerprints of the brick makers in the bricks. These could be 200-300 years old, possibly more. Fascinating to see and now I know why. Also as a bricky we turn up on site with practically the same tools used all those hundreds of years ago and it gives me a weird sense of pride
More than likely you are using factory bricks rather than those made by an individual even if they are 300 years old. There would have been more human labor in those various era.
Funny to see this comment. I'm a bricky from the states and I just made a very similar comment right before I saw this one. Cheers! And LINE UP! LOL
@@seankeikbusch9404 haha nice to here we all use the same phrases aswell, here's another... It's not difficult just one on top of two.
@@mrdaveofdaveshire4047 hahaha!!! "One on top of two all day long" I say that all the time. Y'all threw me off a little talking about perps though. We call those head joints. Perps works just fine though, for perpendicular I suppose?
@@seankeikbusch9404 haha funny how similar us brickys are despite the distance! Yeah perps as in perpendicular like you say. Also cross joints is another popular one to call them over here.
Pretty stoked. This, smithing, and glass making are by far the most interesting for frontier work.
You should add coppicing to the list of interesting vocations. The making of charcoal and wood gas is one aspect of early chemical industries.
Ba dum tiss!
Yeesss, more building related stuff!!!
It's also sad that these skills are fading into oblivion day by day. 😢
@@vivianscircle because the industrial complex can't make money on people who can produce their own goods. It's not good for your wallet if people can just make things themselves. Thus we now live in a throw away society that is beginning to throw away knowledge.
Burning the kiln is a long process and takes days! I can’t wait to see you guys build the kiln and start the burning!
We are excited for it!
@@townsends I can't wait to see it either! Very interesting how people made things back then.
Always wanted to see how to build a kiln from scratch.
@@townsends Maybe you could throw in some crockery as an experiment. Crockery would probably be fired at a higher temperature than bricks, but since it would be thinner, it might be fired over less time. If you are having a big fire, throw everything in. In the1960s, I was sent to summer camp. There were all of the usual boring handicraft projects. I decided to create an unauthorized project, when I found some really nice clay in the stream bank. I made a little bowl, dried it and when there was a big bonfire, as there was every night, I threw it in. The next day I looked in the ashes and it had worked.
Crockery is a major area for archeologists. A small settlement in which everything has rotted and washed away can be found by crockery shards and they can tell who lived there at what time.
@@townsends there is a series on YT about making a castle in the way of the 13th Century, and it covers many aspects including brick firing. It's fascinating and educational. I wish I could remember what the series was called. It took place in the modern French countryside with English anthropologists as commentators and reenactors for the series.
When my Grandfather was 8 years old in 1903 his family built a summer kitchen from homemade bricks , and he described it just as you have shown here. that building was still standing when I went to see the old home place in Northern Mo. in 1990.
Lies
@@probe26😂😂😂😂😂
Now? I mean 33 years difference
This video always makes me happy to see. My father is a brick Mason and has done that for almost 30 years. He absolutely loves seeing how they did his work through the years especially because he loves working on historic properties
I have laid reclaimed bricks from the 1600’s before in the UK. These are generally used when a building with a heritage protection order needs repair work or has an extension built to it. It helps to keep the building in character for it’s age. Many have makers marks in them - deliberate thumb or finger impressions in the same place on each brick. Some have marks made with a stick or a tool of some kind.
That’s cool!
Oh man, see, your government understands heritage buildings, and how to go about proper repairs and even can add extensions! In Ottawa, Canada, there's a rule that any new construction on a heritage building must remain distinct from the original construction. It's so ridiculous. You end up with modern looking renovations and extensions on lovely, old buildings. There is a huge argument going on in my city about a much needed expansion of a gorgeous, French Gothic Revival chateauesque hotel. The city keeps revealing plans for hideous, modern buildings with awful barcode-like widows, and no one wants it to look that way other than the architects who got the contract. I won't go into it here; you can Google it, it's all available for the public to see. It's gross. Edit: if you want to Google it's the Fairmont Château Laurier, Ottawa, ON
@@VeryCherryCherry Sounds like they're actively trying to destroy the history of your country.
@@VeryCherryCherry I see both sides of this, and tbh, I fall on the side of your government. Making additions appear as though they were a part of the original building is disingenuous, a fake which both is a lie written in stone and is sort of an insult to the original builder. It distorts the history of the building and your town. By making additions very distinct, a historic building is preserved but it's limitations are addressed in a way that doesn't alter it's story.
@@nithshithhith4398 I know! :(
The bricks need more nutmeg.
Why does this comment not surprise me?
Well played! 😆😆
We ALL need more nutmeg my friend!😂
....What do you think is in the sand he's sprinkling on top
Lol
How to make bricks stronger. NUTMEG!
This is fascinating. My Mom's family had a brick making factory at one point, and they still find bricks with their mark in the closest city.
thats cool
Yes us also in Italy in the early 1930s
Legacy
@@aldod3937 I am on unit 24 of Pimsleurs Italian Language! Learning Italian! Actually, I'm learning 8 Languages at once, but Italian is the one on which I focus primarily!
Permanent structures! This opens up so many new fields to explore! I'm sure you would have a lot of fun going over the different period "pattern books", basically recipe books for buildings!
Her: he's probably texting other girls
Him: I wonder if I can make bricks in my backyard
My great great great grandfather (immigrant from county Down Ireland) Samuel Megown and my great great grandfather John Megown were brick makers and brick layers, and built the first brick building in Pittsburgh PA in the early 1800's.
My great grandfather,William Nicoll, immigrated from Monikie Scotland and laid bricks and stone in Pittsburgh. Small world.
One question
Cool. My g/dad was a railway engineer, his bridges are still here. When he wasn't building awesome stuff, he was drunk... allegedly!
@@MAD_SKULL_GAMING profound.
This has been one of my favorite series that you guys have done on this channel.
We appreciate that! It's been a lot of fun.
Wow, Ivy's gotten so big! I remember watching your old videos and seeing her helping you in the kitchen set standing on a stool, and now she's almost as tall as you!
Yeah, makes you feel kinda old, doesn't it! It seems it was yesterday when she was helping John with the cookie recipe.
that's wholesome, he is building her an empire on YT, hope she continues long after we old geezers are gone :)
Great video as usual. Fun fact, the neighborhood of Smoketown in Louisville, KY got its name from the many brick making kilns found there and the smoke they produced. In 1823, Louisville had 20 brickyards, 9 of them were located in the Smoketown neighborhood.
Hi from Ky! I never knew that, and I’ve lived here almost my whole life.
As a bricklayer i found this video really cool. Thank you for sharing.
Funny, just today i found an old handmade brick in a walkway of the property i bought that had 3 distinct finger marks In it.
I was guessing the brick to be approx late 1800's. It could've possibly been even older. .
I just find it amazing to think that those finger marks were made by someone who was probably alive during the Civil War.. Possibly even the revolutionary war.
I liked the killcam lol
That was a fun little project
Townsends It was a pretty neat shot
It's the last thing you see after he catches you stealing the nutmeg.
Bobo411 haha perfect
POV: You are dunked under water and then assasinated by Townsend
This was about to be the first demonetized Townsend's video if Jon lost a few more buttons
Hahahahaha
Man...it’s been hot in Indiana. I’d have soaked my clothes straight through in that kit. Just a few buttons undone is a major achievement in rugged fortitude as far as I’m concerned.
Yeah they got pretty wild back on the frontier! One, two, even three shirt buttons. And on some days they even roll their pants up to the knee!
@@flowertrue nothing like when you get a full eye on the well turned ankle of that lass you fancy so much
@@townsends Hey, the ladies need some eyecandy, you know!
"Whatcha doin on the computer?"
"Watchin bricks dry."
...
Yep
Never think a youtube comment made me re evaluate my whole life
LOL
Aht aht watching it being molded
True
Thank you for this! I really enjoy all of your videos and was very excited to see this one posted. My 10th great-grandfather was the official brick maker in Swansea, MA in the 1670s. I have long wondered what his job was actually like. This was a quick glimpse into that world. Thank you so much. 😊
Jon, your daughter is growing up so fast! You must be one proud papa to have her out there
working with you like that. It's so nice to see these old skills brought to life.
this actually reminds me of the story my grandma told me once. back when she was young she built her first home with adobe bricks she made all on her self with her father. its even more amazing to know how hard the process is now. great video
Your grandma is 500 years old then
I've heard that adobe has a kind of natural 'air conditioning' which keeps the interior of a building cool.
I do not think these are actual adobe bricks.
Because back then you could build your own house that lasted over 100 years VS the crap they put up now that they dare to call "houses"🤮.
@@captainrob9044 But you wouldn't want to live in a house without insulation, with uneven floors, no water pipes or electricity, would you?
The house I was brought up in in Southern California was made completely out of adobe brick. The Adobe used was a hybrid that they developed somewhere around the 1940s or so. The house kept cool except when a Santa Anna came along. Then we brought out the fans we did not have an air conditioner in the home there was no need for one.
"Today we will create a nuclear bunker out of clay and 18th century tools!" Just like the american settlers did.
Lol nice
"Today we'll be constructing a laptop computer out of twigs, string and bog iron....."
We'll be listening to 1750's music rather than music of the 1950's.
The scientist guy on Gilligan's Island could make sea shells into spark plugs.
twitchsopamanxx hahahhahahhaah
I've watched this process in rural Iraq, pretty incredible that it's changed very little in 1000 years!! I guess if it's not broken, don't fix it!!
Saw it in Afghanistan. It was absolutely fascinating. Hard working people too.
Some concepts are timeless! There part of the story of mankind!
Why are you shouting!!
@@Nobody-dc8dp Emphasis and excitement. ! doesn't mean shouting.
@@OspreyKnight It goes both ways.
Several years ago I found your channel and have enjoyed it enormously. Recently my husband, who wasn't as interested back then in such things has become a fan of yours as well. We now enjoy watching the old timey way of life, seeing as the modern way is falling to pieces these days. Thank you for your videos. God bless.
I love how wholesome this channel is. I always leave feeling better then when I arrived.
You get the impression that everyone else on that assembly line is like "Let chat more molding brick boy."
Yeah, they're definitely getting ahead of him!
lmao "Brick Boy"!
You getting learned up too vulgarr?
i was thinking the same thing
"We've been on this homestead for over a year." Me: Wait . . . what? Is that right? Crap, it is! Time has no meaning now . . . .
I feel old
"No man ever wetted clay and left it, as if there would be bricks by chance and fortune."
-Plutarch
I read that in Sean Bean's voice thanks to Civ VI
@@TheGreegles Where else do you think I got this quote?
Jacob Furrow
The only reason anyone knows that quote is because of Civ 6. Plutarch first heard that quote on Civ 6.
@@justanotherbaptistjew5659 We all live in a game of Civ 6, Plutarch just happened to be close enough to the player camera to hear Shaun Bean's voice emanating from the sky.
I helped my grandpa made bricks when I was a little kid. We actually use much thinner clay. So, it took less time pouring the mixture into the mold and it was also easier to lift it. We would make a marking using our finger on the top side of each brick, either a diagonal line or a curve ("n" shape). Well, our bricks thickness was half as those in the video. After putting under the sun for several days, we would bake the bricks by stacking them with some space (tunnels) inside so we could insert some wood inside.
Dam, that's a lot of work. I sometimes can't believe what the pioneers accomplished with their bare hands and a horse.
6:03
- That!
That's why this channel is so great. On top of the interesting subject, writing, concise presentation, and consistent theme; the creative videography and exceptional editing really make the channel great. Kudos to everyone involved for staying creative and fresh with a static subject.
-Jake
In a path made out of old bricks in my grandparents garden there is a brick that has this written into it: "I was paid well, and they gave me wine, I like wine."
the bricks came from their grandparents house when it was renovated. So I think it might 170-200 years old.
In small villages it was cheaper to make them on the spot than to transport it, and well judging by the writing the job had benefits too!
Townsends produces such incredible videos. I absolutely love them! The film, music and information just gets better and better!
Makes me so happy to see Ivy learning all of this and participating! What a cool opportunity for a young person
i had no idea Brick making was so complicated
thank you for sharing this knowledge
Not a problem! Glad you liked it.
You should check out a channel called primitive technology if you want to see some incredible barebones ceramic work
Still much quicker and cheaper than carving them out of stone, though
Love the routine with which she turns her head, everytime you slap down the clay.
You really get these ingrained movements, which are a big part of experimental archeology to me.
Once you adjust that belt for the three hundreth time, you realize why this "ornamental" thing goes where it does.
The work will teach you how to do it efficiently if you pay any kind of attention. With something like this you work out the smoothest way to do it because anything less is harder.
My brick mold brings all the boys to the yard. We work collectively so no one has to charge.
Love the pov sequence where she carries the brick over knocks it out of the mold and brings it back, that must have been some interesting editing!
My elementary school had clay under the sand pit, fond memories of playing with that clay, it was alot like what they're using to make the bricks
Use a removable peg in your worktop to push the wooden mould against brother, then single strike to excess away from you. No more grubby hands. Love what you're all doing. Hey from NZ.
I've watched your little girl grow up on this channel. You must be one proud father.
We had to make bricks for a school project in the 80’s in the U.K.. We were making a wall, was so much fun.
Did you get your pudding?
Did you get your pudding?
Did you get your pudding?
Did you get your pudding?
Did you get your pudding?
Wow this was one of the best videos you have came out with ! very interesting to see the home stead progress
Thanks so much! More to come.
We're travelling to Massachusetts tomorrow! I've lived there twice, but hubby is from England and so he's really going to like this :)
this channel is one of the most positive, wholesome, real and useful channels out there on YT if not the most
I love how you all are upgrading the tech you have. Wood -> Stone -> Steel -> Nutmeg Steel?
->nutmeg
One of the best videos you've put out in a while, and I thought the billows was impressive.
Thank you so much. We had a lot of fun making this video.
@@townsends Great video! Please tell me this new series ends with making a brick house!!!
I freakin love this channel so much, it makes my day when they pop up...
No hateful rhetoric, no politricks and no racial mutter...
Thanks so much Townsends for making such good material and may the family be blessed..
The daughter sure has grown to a beautiful young lady you should be very proud that she enjoys your pastime as much as you.
It's quiet interesting now. Because last week,I dug a soil hole in the farm. And about a meter deep, sticky mud appears and bring some at home, start some RUclips research on how to make bricks. And that's when I stumbled right across your blog. Your blog is amazing. The way you express the story of brick making. It fascinates and resonates me. Thumbs up. I'm excited to join in your team now.
Man, this channel rules. Has brought me so much peace over the past few weeks especially.
6:30 POV: you told jon not to add nutmeg to your meal
UNDERRATED COMMENT XD
I think i'm gonna turn this into a gif
POV: you are a brick mold and john is about to make bricks
Gold
I can’t stop replaying it now!
I honestly laughed out loud ... ... I can’t stop doing that either!
😳🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I enjoyed the perspective of the brick as it was being created. (A tip of my hat to the director for that one!)
I think this is the most modern looking outfit he's got if he wore this down town no one would bat a eye compared to his other outfits
It's amazing. Simply amazing skill. As if all my worries and troubles just pop out when I watch your videos. You are some sort of happy working group of people committed to a natural environment. Keep on going Jon. It's history!
Thanks guys for sharing😀 the account of brick making by hand ❤.
Such a great team effort 👌 best wishes Simon and Beth ❤🙋
Is the clay harvested from the property?
Yup! Right next to our work table.
@@townsends Very cool!
I think the word "Indiana" is Native American for "Digging here sucks because the whole state is clay" :)
@@drsch No, that's here in Michigan!
Fantastic video! Loved the information and the filming was top notch!
he lied... there's no orange one he made!
This is my favourite channel on RUclips. Positive, educational, proud and fun. Thanks again for another fantastic video 👍👍😎😎
I lead a parish mission trip to Tanzania several years back. We had a crew of our teens making bricks that way to build a local convent. So yes, it is still being done.
I love these nonfood videos too! It's like going into a time machine and watching it be done.
Ooo I'm excited for the permanent builds. Ready to learn :)
1:52 poor girl got blasted with sand! Thank you Townsends for the awesome homestead videos that take me back into American history.
You really are an inspirational man. Your energy shines through. Thank you for all of your efforts to bring the past to life. I'm making pemican because of you.
This is premium RUclips content right here. Interesting process, nice explanations and storytelling, and great filmography.
We live about 2 hours from Colonial Williamsburg Virginia. We've been going the last five years in November just to see them fire the bricks!
One of the coolest parts of Assassin's Creed is seeing people going about authentic daily tasks. In the latest, Odyssey, some of my favorite locations are the brick factories and olive oil presses. There's even a dedicated educational mode to play with guided tours of these locations describing what's going on. Very cool to see it here in real life.
Go outside.
@@tynj4173 Life is a video game.
@@sinamos3945 you and I must have drastically different ideas of what life is
I love that many games like this, minecraft, and many others have learning modes and have authentic historical representations to help teach kids as they play online.
J
A truly outstanding series. Television producers should commission a series from this, it's both more entertaining and more educational than almost anything on TV
Thank you so much for your excellent quality and wholesome content. I learn so much from watching these videos. Cheers!
Our pleasure!
@@townsends In the future, can you tell us how mortar was made? Thanks!
Hi there Dwayne!
@@rosemcguinn5301 Hello, Rose! 👋✌️
I love the wholesome content. In a world where everyone seems to be angry with everyone else, this is a nice stark contrast. It makes me happy.
I grew up in a house in Fort Wayne built in 1852 (yes, quite recent from your standpoint). In the attic you could see the bricks stamped with an indication that they were made on site.
Once I get out on my own, I'm going to get my own thing of land and start living like this, it looks so fun. I love admiring history and even experiencing it first-hand. If there are any events out there in the US that does this kind of stuff, I want to be the first to join
It’s called re enactment. There’s plenty of museum based events doing this. I was a docent in an 1840’s kitchen. Nothing changed from what Townsends cooks. I learned a skill set too.
Working this hard with no power tools can wreck you, nobody mentions that carpenters and blacksmiths usually wound up in bad shape before power tools. The work literally wears your body out. Barn raisings and quilting bees, etc exist because it takes a lot of people to do the work. Be reasonable in your expectations.
Fascinating look at early American construction. I love it! The camera attached to the brick mold was really a cool feature! 😁👍
Great project! John and the crew are reenacting life as a team led by an active and entrepreneurial landowner. And to think that they also have day jobs! All this is the first year of settlement.
This project is one that will be extreme. On "Timeline's" site they have a few period time episodes. One is to be in the "Tudor" days, Building a castles, Victorian time, farming during WWII, and a few i can't remember what they called those time periods. I found them to be very educational.
I can't wait to see how these turn out. I'm extremely pleased with expansion of different aspect of life in our earlier history. I just can't get enough of this web site.
Thanks so much for sharing and two thumbs up to all that are helping expand our knowledge.
If you’re thinking of the series I believe you are, the individuals shows are:
Secrets of the Castle
Tales from the Green Valley
The Tudor Monastery Farm
The Victorian Farm
The Edwardian Farm
and
The Wartime Farm (WWII)
It is one of my absolute favorite series to watch on repeat, besides English Heritage’s “Mrs. Crocombe” series.
@@Blackthorne369
I didn't have the right channels for the bricks being made. Castle secrets, they only make floor tiles, which is somewhat similar on Timeline (1-6 episodes).
Here are the video names and channels - BBC's Victorian Farm (1-6 episodes) and Victorian Farm Christmas (1-3 episodes) both of these they fire bricks . Anne-Alery channel plus a Victorian pharmacy (1-4 episodes)
There is also: Edwardian Farms (1-8 episodes. Brad Collet channel if you like to see what it was like in those time. I can't remember if they fire brick on these video's but the but are entertaining.
The girl helping is showing a ton of patience and doing an excellent job of being chill and along for the ride, doing her part in the process.....and honestly, she looks like she has the harder part. I would be bored out of my mind watching that kind of action, getting to beat and knead the clay and then slam it into the mold is definitely the more fun part. Maybe harder physically, but more engaging. Standing and watching that? That girls has excellent patience and deserves a shout out!
Awesome video! I wonder, how many bricks do you think you can make in a minute with your operation? The end goal of that question is to figure out if you are at the same level as the brick makers back then. I think you might be. You operation seems pretty smooth!
If that one guy (him and a team, right?) could make 1500 in a day, i think you seem to be matching that sort of pace, assuming he was working longer hours and more days of the week. People worked like crazy back then, right?
The brick mold shot was great
This is the content I subscribe for.
Need a class on locating building materials, how to find the best wood and clay.
I could set up a pottery shop with all the clay in my back yard lol. My town actually used to have a brick factory and a clay mining pit
We have a dearth of clay around here. Have to drive a few hours west to find bedrock.
@@grennhald clay is very useful to have available..... Until you are trying to grow a garden.
So much clay where I live. When I was a kid, I would dig some out of the yard to play with. :)
@@grennhald maybe you could find someone that has clay available and you can trade for some if you have a use for it. Lots of videos online of how to separate clay from soil, might be surprised how much clay could be mixed into your soil. Otherwise if you have no use for it then be thankful you don't have to deal with it in the yard or garden, very difficult to deal with for gardening
I have a brick that was used in a blast furnace that was built in 1847, you can see it's not exactly 100% uniform like it would be today and you can see it was made the old fashioned way. Amazing that the blast furnace still stands today after 170 plus years with it's original bricks and stone construction. A testament to the skills of the people back then who were able to make structures that seem to last longer than new prefab homes.
I like how that dog wasn’t scared about her smackin those bricks and just bites a flea lol
Growing up in Louisiana, we've done trips to antebellum homes, where they talked about brick making, but I've never seen it done before!
Also, I've seen brick molds in various places over the years, but I never knew what they were.
Man I love this channel!
Your daughter is growing up so fast! Mine just turned 13, where’d the time go?! I’m glad you involve your family in historical preservation.
We need a Townsend and Primitive Technology crossover for this haha
There it is, I knew someone else would think of PT.
He needs to show Jack the special bricks to bake first.
That would be the best anime Crossover ever. Yes, everything is anime.
YES!!
That was my immediate thought too!!!!
😆❤️
He'd be all like... talking to him about bricks and stuff, and the other guy would be just shirtless and doing stuff.
PT is fake.
Looks like a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
I was working on old row houses in DC... one of the hardest parts was that standardized brick sizes didn’t really exist when those houses were built...
Jon is either making bricks or murdering someone with clay 🤣🤣🤣 Seriously though, such dynamic film-making. Major props, Townsends 😎👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
No one gunna comment on the quality of that sweet sweet camera work? Great job with the brick mould POV!
Kind of reminds me of the beginning of “lord of war”
It's still done in India. I traveled there a couple years ago, and spent time in some of the smaller villages in the south. They were digging the clay out of the ground to make the bricks, right beside the building they were working on! Pretty awesome
Fascinating as always
Another fine video Jas thank you for the time you and your team put in
This channel is like what if Primitive Technology entered a new era in Civ
You should check out St. Luis mission in Tallahassee, FL. They do a native American, Spanish, French, and English period living in the gulf/wiregrass area. Because, you do a different region of the U.S.. I'd love to see you visit Florida to learn more about how pioneers lived. It's slightly different, and it's a ton of frog gigging and trout lines.
That would be amazing! I would also like to see him visit St. Augustine. Lots of Spanish-American history there...although much older than the centuries they typically discuss.
When Jefferson built Monticello, the clay that was dug up in excavating the basement ( Albermarle red clay) was used to make the bricks. I can’t imagine how appalling a job it was to dig something as big as that with hand tools. I lived about 15 miles from there and that clay was awful stuff to dig/garden.
As a bricklayer i really love this video!! Thank you sir❤❤
Also wondering why wouldnt you pack that mold real good. I would have hit it with a hammer to pack it
My neighbor was in his 90s in late 1970s he showed me the spots where the clay came from for his house. I can still see them when I drive by his land RIP Mr. Miller
There is something satisfying about hard work and making something by hand. I could live like this and be happy. Of course, I will still need to have a way to watch Townsends.
finally i was waiting all day for this
Hope you loved it!
i did indeed
I learned allot from this channel. Been watching you for couple years 😍
Been waiting since you announced on the livestream. I'm sure this will be great.
been watching for a while now. the videos just keep getting better! love this channel.
The Dutch in New York State used softer clay (a lot less strenuous) and somewhat thinner bricks to speed drying. Plus faster firing. 3 bricks in a 3 brick mould speeds things also. They dispensed with the sand and used clay slip to keep them from sticking to the moulds. These were called 'slop moulded' as the downside is they do splatter wet clay on you. In addition, the brick moulds were filled while sitting on little thin boards. Then lifted off leaving the bricks on these little thin boards which were carried away to dry. This protected the fragile softer clay from disfiguring and greatly reduced waste from damage.
6:30 just fades back into the Skyrim intro
your finally awake
or Dark Souls you died