You are at a Flea Market and the Wood thingy is on the table for a negotiated price of $25 and the glass candy dish is on the table of $1 (don’t you dare ask for a discount).  Which would you choose to buy to make a profit?

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Firkin

A Firkin, unlike a bucket or a pail, has its roots as a specific quantifiable English measure. A firkin, generally, is a liquid measure consisting of a quarter of a barrel or eight gallons. From the 16th century commodities such as ale and beer were commonly marketed using this measure. A firkin of ale measured eight gallons while a firkin of beer measured nine gallons. In the case of ale and beer, the firkin container was simply a smaller version of the common barrel. Other materials were also quantified by firkins. Butter, fish, and soap were also commonly sold by the firkin. A firkin of butter, for example, was by law required to weigh fifty-six pounds and numerous laws are recorded in England and America regarding the production and marking of firkins to identify who made them and the container’s capacity. Very few containers broadly referred to today as firkins have any such marks.

“So if a firkin is a specific measure of a product, what really are all of those lidded staved containers with bent wood handles that survive in a variety of sizes and colors that we commonly refer to as firkins?  Depending upon the intended function the most appropriate terms are either, lidded bucket, if it was intended to draw water; or lidded pail, if it was intended to transport a liquid from one place to another.  But, over the years, the colloquial definition of firkin has evolved.  An article on maintaining an efficient kitchen titled “Anna Maria’s Housekeeping” published in the 1883 publication Wide Awake urges each kitchen to have “a firkin, or large pail with tight wooden cover for garbage… If the [food] scraps must be saved, have a waste pail with a tight cover, or a covered firkin large enough to empty a panful of parings into in a hurry without dropping any on the floor.”  These containers designed for kitchen waste were, it seems, very common as the article further notes that “Kitchen furnishing shops supply large tight garbage firkins neatly painted with covers, which never need be obnoxious to sight or smell.”

Further evidence for the evolved definition of firkin is found in the August 20, 1883 Pall Mall  it is noted that farm laborer’s in England carry their “day’s [meal] allowance to the field in a sort of miniature cask, known to him as a ‘firkin’ which may hold from a quart to a gallon.” ”

Credits:  https://www.skinnerinc.com/news/blog/buckets-pails-and-firkins-2824t/

Firkin Basket List on Ebay for $69.  Candy dish is $7.75.

Answer:  While I realize that buying the candy dish for a $1 and selling it for $8 is 8 times your investment – you’d have to do this many times and the nature of the antique business today it is no longer possible.  Besides clear glass is a non-seller in most malls and auctions.  I’d pick the Firkin and flip it for $30.  Its an easy flip.   Stay clear of the $1 bargains unless there is a real sleeper!!!

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