by We visited the former Shaker commune Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, Mass. It was an active Shaker community from the late 1700s until the middle of the 20th century. The community’s peak was in the 1830s and 1840s, when it had 300 members living here.
Yet as often happens in sects that practice celibacy, the population dwindled to just 50 by the early 20th century.
In 1960, a non-profit organization acquired the land and buildings to preserve the village’s history. The group converted the site into a museum with 20 buildings. that remained.
In their early days, the Hancock Shakers supported themselves through farming and selling seeds. Shakers innovated the practice of selling seeds by packets, in fact.
Later their Shaker furniture, chairs and oval boxes became highly sought after by non-Shakers for their quality and design.
The guiding principles of the Shaker products were simplicity, utility, and design. The functional aspect combined with lack of excess ornament and quality source materials make the Shaker style iconic coveted products today.
A typical shaker day began at 4:00 or 5:00 am (depending on the season) with morning chores. This was followed by breakfast, then a morning of work.
The day’s biggest meal, dinner, was served at noon. Of course, this was followed by an afternoon of work.
A supper at 6 was then followed by the evening meeting and worship. Bed time was 8 pm.
Many tasks were segregated by sex, presumably to help with the celibacy doctrine. All property was shared equally among members (“communal living”).
