Coffin furniture fam? and pearl box m?

[StanleysChesterton]

Coffin furniture farrier.
Pearl box making.

I figure that a coffin furniture farrier is a blacksmith/farrier, who specialises in making coffin handles, rather than (say) horse shoes and garden gates.

A pearl box maker I'd think was somebody who probably worked from home decorating boxes with pearls and pearl veneers for the novelty and fashion industries. The boxes could be lidded boxes intended for dressing tables, or even the backs of mirrors/brushes or compacts (make-up).

[stanmapstone]

How likely is it that a 16 year old girl was a blacksmith/farrier?

Stan

[StanleysChesterton]

How likely is it that a 16 year old girl was a blacksmith/farrier?

Stan

Probably quite likely.  They worked at younger ages back then and, limiting her skills to making coffin handles isn't arduous at all.  It's something that a competent person could do quite easily in the corner of the workshop, or maybe just part-time, on demand, when she wasn't doing other household duties, or one day/week.

A "little extra" income made possible by knowing the local blacksmith, or being related to them. 

These days she'd be flogging them on etsy

[JenB]

Coffin furniture farrier.

The original most definitely says 'fancier'. Are you perhaps suggesting that the enumerator has mis-read farrier on the original and written fancier

[StanleysChesterton]

Coffin furniture farrier.

The original most definitely says 'fancier'. Are you perhaps suggesting that the enumerator has mis-read farrier on the original and written fancier

No.  What I was looking at wasn't that version. I was looking at post #2

That is definitely fancier.  I was answering the question of what I thought Post #2 looked like.

I do tend to skim threads, especially long ones, as I do find the site layout/design to be "full of stuff" that "does my head in" and it can be tedious/long-winded to try to follow everything that's been said.... so I just stuck with Post #1 and answered

[JAGER]

Bull**** baffles brains

[Marmalady]

Maybe she "fancies up" the coffin furniture -- paints or polishes them ?

[stanmapstone]

I wonder if she was doing "Fancy Work" as opposed to 'plain work', as in needlework, for the lining of the coffin?

Stan

[Rena]

I think she probably made the coffin furniture look fancy or fancier than when she received it.  Maybe she took the burrs from off the metal castings and then polished the items.

We once bought a workshop that had last been used by a coffin maker and the old safe was full of brass handles and fancy brass pieces for the corners of the coffins.