The last cooper of Mount Babia

In the world of barrels

Barrel making is a hugely interesting profession few engage in today, the tradition still alive in the Mount Babia region. One person is still in business: Mr. Ryszard Zajda, the last cooper of Mount Babia.
 

What do you do for a living?
I am a cooper. Many people have no idea what that means or what it entails. Demand is far from high, the work lost in oblivion. I am, after all, the last cooper of Magurka…

Magurka?
Our neighbourhood. I have never met anyone else doing what I do.

What does a cooper do?
I mainly work with wood. I make utensils, buckets, dough moulds, butter churns, items used by mountain shepherds on high pastures and in pasture sheds. I also manufacture barrels.

Is your profession in any way different from that of a carpenter?
Of course. Carpenters make different things, doors to wall panelling. Coopers are all about cooperage. They make smaller, rounder items.

Are your products handmade, or do you use machinery?
Most of my work is manual – yes, I do have some appliances, but I follow the old rules of cooperage, mainly.

What does your workplace look like?
I make all my pieces in a workshop right next to my home.

You have just mentioned the old rules of cooperage. Who taught you?
My grandfathers and great-grandfathers. They were the ones who actually began the family cooperage story. I can definitely say that cooperage runs in my blood.

Has family tradition been such an influence that it made you pick the profession? Or were there other reasons?
I find cooperage fascinating. I loved playing with wood even as a child. My father was a cooper – I used to watch him work, and make pieces of my own. That’s how my adventure began. I really like what I do.

How did coopers work in the olden days?
You began by felling a tree. I remember going to the forest with my sons. You then chopped timber into gnotki (blocks) to size. Once timber had been layered (we used to say: “pinched”), staves were tapered with drawknives. Dimensions would then be affirmed with the use of a divider (measuring tool), staves cut to measure with a howel (plane). Once jointed, the staves would make a finished barrel, bucket, or tub.

How has cooperage technology changed since?
Now I order planks and cut them into slats, then staves, then cut them all to measure. Everything depends on the ordered item. I take advantage of technology as well – I have begun treating wood with sandpaper, something I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing some time ago.

What other tools do you use?
Cleansing rollers, discs, assorted milling cutters. Wood has to be milled properly.

Do you dabble in wood preserving?
No, but I do occasionally rub wood with vegetable oil. It does no harm, and makes wood easier to clean. Vegetable oil is the only substance you can use on food containers. Any kind of varnish is a no-go.

Do you co-operate with any refinishers you send your pieces to?
No. I don’t deal with that side of business. My clients make their own decisions about what to do with their items, I leave that to their preferences.

What kind of wood do you use?
Spruce and fir, mainly. Both are soft and easy to treat.

How long have you been in the profession?
Around forty years… It has become my passion.

Do you feel in any way unique, doing the rare thing that you do?
Hard to say… I do what I love doing. It draws me in deeper and deeper, year to year.

What is the most frequent item ordered these days? Are barrels still in demand?
Swiss companies order wooden sauna buckets, for example. The French order wooden tubs they then fit with glass bowls to serve potatoes-in-their-jackets. Poland is all about barrels and large flower pots. Enormous wooden baths for hotel use are a rarity – but I obviously did get a few of these. People come up with all kinds of ideas.

Have you ever created something truly extraordinary? Something you are particularly proud of?
Anything is extraordinary these days. Unique, even.

How about in the past?
In the olden days, my grandfathers used to make objects of daily use: watering or feeding tubs for cattle, pigs or horses.

Are there any disadvantages to your profession, do you think?
There is nobody willing to keep the profession alive. The young are emigrating. The old have retired.

Are you suffering of a shortage of customers?
No, I have a full schedule. There aren’t enough hours in the day, to put things bluntly. I can’t get half of what I could have potentially gotten done.

Do you work mainly for individuals, or wholesale distributor clients?
I have many private customers – and for quite a few companies as well. Some firms have been working with me for twelve years now. I also ship to Switzerland and France.

You are in mass manufacturing?
Of course. I manufacture specific item volumes to order. Making just a few pieces would be unprofitable.

Is this your main source of income? Or do you do other things as well?
I have no time for anything else. The order book’s too full.

How long does it take to make one piece?
I have never thought about it. I make minimum batches of thirty. I don’t keep time at work, I just do what has to be done.

Do you design your own pieces, or do clients tell you exactly what they want?
It varies, but they are usually my own designs.

Does that mean that cooperage is an area of art, or arts and crafts?
You can put it that way. I used to work in Cracow – we would have our order log ready a year ahead. You knew exactly what to expect. These days, I might be focusing on one piece one given week, then move to something completely different. Rinse and repeat. There is no such thing as regular quantities these days.

Have you had larger orders coming in these days?
The way this job works is, people come and go. Same thing with companies. I could easily secure more orders – but I simply wouldn’t be able to handle them. Everything is pre-set and arranged.

How many hours a day do you work?
I spend fourteen hours a day in my workshop. I’m nearly sixty, my days can’t be any longer…

Do you have anyone working with you?
I’m alone. I used to work with my father, but his age has made it impossible for him to go on working as a cooper.

Your sons aren’t keen on keeping the family tradition alive?
No, they have chosen completely different lives, with better outlooks for the future. this is why I told you I am the last cooper of Magurka. There is no one to take over.

Julia Janik