What is a Tinsmith doing today?

The job of tinsmith has changed through the years. He started as manufacturer of tinware then worked in the roofing industry and now, he is back to making tinware. What is tinware? All of the household items from drinking cups to dust pans. Coffee pots to cookie cutters. Tinware was to the 1860’s what Tupperware was to the 1960’s. The manufacture of tinware by the craftsman was replaced by a supply of the tinware from catalogs such as Sears and Roebuck and International Silver. The tradesman, a roofer, began working on roofs, ceilings, rain gutters and downspouts. That is where a majority of his time was spent in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Now the trade has reverted back to the old school practice of making the tin cups that were so much a part of early American Life.