The wheel may be one of geometry’s simplest shapes, but the technology behind its creation is surprisingly complex. Add to that the variations among English wheels, French wheels, carriage wheels and cannon wheels, and the story gets even deeper.
Colonial Williamsburg wheelwrights apply their expertise to the challenge of recreating the wheel for a French cannon carriage.
Podcast (audio): Download (15.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript
Technologies that used to be beyond reach for museum professionals now can lend new insights into the hidden compositions of materials, metals, and paints. Conservator Kirsten Moffitt explains how a spike on a screen can spot a fake or reveal a discovery.
Podcast (audio): Download (14.5MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript
Gain a new respect for the good old pumpkin. Author Mary Miley Theobald traces the history of the venerable gourd.
Podcast (audio): Download (8.0MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript
It takes a lot of bricks to build a Market House and our brickmakers are busy. So it seems like a good time to revisit this October 2011 podcast about the process for the building blocks of the Historic Area. Brickmaker Jason Whitehead tells the story.
Podcast (audio): Download (8.8MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript
No matter where the Earth glides on its axis, the days both long and short shine on a years-worth of work on the colonial farm. At Great Hopes plantation, the turning of the seasons brings with it a task suited to the temperatures: plowing, sowing, planting and harvest. Learn the rhythm of the year with Historic Farmer Wayne Randolph.
Podcast (audio): Download (16.4MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript
Intelligence born of practice combines with the study of science to complete the historic tradesman’s store of knowledge. There was no better spokesman for the Historic Trades program than Director Jay Gaynor. Jay recently passed away and we miss him. This encore podcast is dedicated to him.
Podcast (audio): Download (8.1MB)
Subscribe: RSS
| Transcript