In a message dated 8/25/99 3:21:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, NJMIDDLE-D-request@rootsweb.com writes: << __________________________ -------------------- X-Message: #2 Date: Tue, 24 Aug 1999 16:32:02 EDT From: KThomas321@aol.com To: NJMIDDLE-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <9f0f8b56.24f45b42@aol.com> Subject: [NJMIDDLE] Professions Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello list: Came across the following job title that was common amongst a group of Scottish immigrants in the 1860 NJ Census, Essex County, Newark and was wondering if anyone is familiar with the profession/job. Oil Cloth Printer (Painter?) Kevin Thomas - kthomas321@aol.com ----- >> Hello to the list and also Kevin Thomas. An Oil cloth printer is primarily just what it says..They used oil cloth which was a fabric that had a somewhat like plastic coating to cover there tables..Today we call it "a table cloth". The material was a coating that would peel off, but it almost always had some kind of design printed on it..such as flowers or plaid, circles, dots etc. I remember this very well as my grandmother always was "fussy" about her choice of design and when she found a "good one" was always disappointed when it would start to peel. The coating adheared to a kind of canvas type material underneath the coating, and the top surface was easily wiped clean with a wet cloth and "soap" as they did not have detergents in those days. Hope that this helps. Dorothy Blakeley NY USA