10 Odd Things Colonial Americans Kept at Home

Colonial Americans lived very differently than we do today. They were building new lives in a strange and often unforgiving land, far removed from the conveniences we now take for granted. The people who came over on the Mayflower in 1620—and the waves of settlers who followed throughout the 17th and early 18th centuries—had an entirely different outlook on daily life. They faced unique chores, domestic duties, dangers, and discomforts that shaped everything from their routines to the objects they kept at home.

Because of that, colonial households were filled with items that seem unusual, ingenious, or downright bizarre by modern standards. In this list, we’ll look at some of the oddest things early Americans relied on just to get through the day. These are ten of the most unique, surprising, and unforgettable objects found in colonial homes. It’s hard to believe Americans once lived like this—but they did. Three cheers for progress, plumbing, electricity, hot showers, and the joy of scrolling through your phone instead of carding wool by candlelight.

Related: 10 Colonial Punishments We Thankfully Ended

10 Sundial

There weren’t many reliable watches or clocks around in colonial America. While mechanical time-keeping had existed in Europe for centuries, early settlements in North America had far less access to such tools—especially in the 17th century. Instead, many colonists relied on portable sundials to tell time. Just like people had been doing for centuries before them, these early settlers used sundials to track the sun’s movement across the sky. As the sun moved from east to west, it cast a shadow onto a small metal plate, giving observers a rough idea of the time.

These portable sundials were common in colonial households because they were simple to make and accurate enough for daily tasks. And for homes without a sundial, colonists sometimes used “noon marks” or window markings—etched lines showing where sunlight hit at certain times of day. These improvised indicators sound unreliable today, but for many settlers living without clocks or watches, they were remarkably practical.^[1]

9 Sampler

Young girls in the modern age go on TikTok and Instagram, scroll through hundreds of videos, and pass their free time immersed in the digital world. Smartphones are nearly ubiquitous in modern American society—and especially so for teenage girls. But in colonial America, young women had no such technology. They had to find far more hands-on ways to pass the time.

The most popular pastime was needlework. Embroidery wasn’t invented in America, but it was incredibly common among teenage girls and young women throughout the colonies. Because cloth was expensive, they often didn’t have the luxury of practicing on large pieces of fabric. Enter the sampler.

A sampler was a small embroidered cloth that nearly every young woman in colonial America kept nearby. Only a few inches wide and long, it provided just enough space to practice stitches, designs, and decorative motifs. Think of it as the colonial equivalent of a modern journal or sketchbook—a private space to try new techniques, record family dates, and experiment creatively. Finished samplers were often saved or displayed, and even reflected a girl’s skill and readiness for adult domestic responsibilities.^[2]

8 Salt Cellar

A “salt cellar” is basically a fancy name for any vessel that holds salt at the dinner table. In its most basic form, it was an ornate bowl or dish that sat as the table’s centerpiece. Colonial Americans relied on them for exactly what the name suggests: holding salt for meals, whether for daily family dinners or when guests came calling.

But two things about salt cellars reveal a lot about colonial life. First, not every family had one. Having enough refined salt to leave out on the table signaled that a household was at least somewhat prosperous. Second, the seating position relative to the salt cellar said everything about social hierarchy.

The head of the household sat at the top of the table. Guests of honor were seated “above the salt,” closer to the host. Children, less-respected guests, and distant relatives sat “below the salt,” farther away. A simple bowl of salt could reveal the entire social order of a colonial dining room.^[3]

7 Hornbook

Reading and writing weren’t nearly as common in the colonies as they are now. Most boys learned basic literacy either from their parents—if they were literate themselves—or from ministers and informal schoolmasters. Girls often received far less formal schooling, though many still learned at home.

In most colonial homes, families kept what was called a “hornbook” for children. Boys and girls alike used it to memorize the alphabet, numbers, religious verses, and other basic lessons. The hornbook consisted of a sheet of paper mounted on a wooden tablet (or sometimes leather or bone) and covered by a thin layer of transparent animal horn—an early form of lamination.

The hornbook was typically the first educational tool a child encountered in colonial life. For many girls, it was also the only structured learning they received before adulthood.^[4]

6 Bed Warmer

Have you ever rushed home on a cold winter night, jumped into bed, and burrowed into layers of blankets? Today, we enjoy heated homes, comforters, and warm electric bedding. None of that was available in colonial America, where families spent long, freezing winters in drafty wooden homes.

To survive the coldest nights, families turned to the warming pan. A warming pan was a large circular metal pan filled with hot coals and attached to a long wooden handle. Colonists would quickly slide the pan under the sheets, swish it back and forth, and warm the bedding before climbing in. It was a lifesaver—sometimes literally.

However, it was also a fire hazard. Warming pans had to be kept moving to avoid scorching linen or starting a fire, and people usually covered the coals with ash to reduce sparks. Wealthier families sometimes used heated stones wrapped in cloth as a safer alternative. But for most colonial homes, the warming pan was indispensable.^[5]

5 Wool Cards

Living in colonial America meant you couldn’t simply drive to the store—or order from Amazon—when you needed clothes. Settlers arrived with whatever garments they brought across the Atlantic, and when those wore out, they had to make new ones from scratch.

Sheep’s wool was the primary material available, and processing it was a painstaking, multistep job. One essential tool in every home was the wool card. Wool cards were two thin boards covered with tiny metal teeth. Clothing makers—typically mothers and daughters—pulled wool fibers across the cards to untangle them and align the strands.

Only after carding could the wool be spun into thread on a spinning wheel. It was time-consuming and repetitive, but without wool cards, colonial families would have struggled to make even the simplest garments.^[6]

4 Candles

Candles sound like a normal household item—and they were. Without electricity, candles were essential for lighting homes after dark. But colonial candles were very different from the ones we buy today.

Most were made from bayberry wax, tallow, or whale oil. Women boiled bayberries and skimmed off the wax that rose to the top, though it took an enormous quantity of berries to make just a few candles. Tallow candles were made from animal fat saved after slaughtering livestock, but they smelled unpleasant when burned.

The brightest and cleanest-burning candles came from spermaceti—the waxy material found in the heads of sperm whales. As whaling expanded, spermaceti candles became a prized, expensive commodity in the colonies. They produced a strong, steady flame that far outperformed other options and were used by wealthier families or reserved for important occasions.^[7]

3 Pomander

Unfortunately for colonial settlers, scented candles weren’t a thing yet. Homes often smelled like smoke, sweat, and livestock. To make their living spaces more pleasant, many families turned to the pomander—a fragrant object that originated in medieval Europe.

A pomander (from the French pomme d’ambre, or “apple of amber”) was usually a piece of fruit, ideally an orange when available. Colonists studded the fruit with cloves, rubbed it with oils, and covered it with spices. As it dried, it released a pleasant scent that masked household odors.

Pomanders were popular during the holidays and other celebrations, and wives and daughters often tied them to ribbons and hung them around the house. They were decorative, fragrant, and surprisingly effective at freshening colonial rooms—especially when citrus was scarce.^[8]

2 Whirligig

Kids in colonial America didn’t have toys anything like the ones we consider normal today. No plastic, no electronics, no battery-powered gadgets. But they did have at least one simple, popular toy: the whirligig.

This early toy consisted of a small circular disc—usually bone, clay, or sometimes a button—with a doubled string threaded through its center hole. When children pulled the string tight and released it, the disc spun rapidly, making a buzzing or whirring sound. In a way, it was a centuries-old fidget spinner.

Whirligigs appear in English literature as early as 1686, and excavations at early American settlements have uncovered them dating back nearly to the days of the Mayflower. They’ve also been found in ancient Native American sites. Clearly, the whirligig kept many colonial children entertained for hours.^[9]

1 Fire Buckets

In 17th- and 18th-century New England, there were no public fire departments. If a fire broke out, everyone in the community helped put it out. Homes were made of wood, roofs were thatched, and open hearths were used for cooking. One spark could destroy an entire town.

Because of this, every household was required—sometimes by law—to keep a fire bucket near the front door. These buckets were made of heavy leather and large enough to carry significant amounts of water. When a fire started, neighbors rushed to the scene, forming a “bucket brigade” in which water was passed hand to hand from a well or river to the burning building.

Fire buckets were often painted with the homeowner’s name so they could be returned later. It was simple, communal, and often the only line of defense settlers had against disaster.^[10]