Why is there a bucket hanging below the back of wagons?

[Nico]

.

[Pug Gaming]

So you can piss in it when traveling.

[kgoodwinvoodoo]

Grease bucket.?

[Gustuv Wynd]

A real thing that was done. They would put lard or pitch in them to lube the wheels when ever they stopped the wagon. Why they hung on it on the wagon and not just put in the wagon...I don't know. Maybe as a visual reminder to lube the wheel axles? It was a huge deal to keep it greased before they developed the ball bearing or even the bushing.

[Haddon]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

A real thing that was done. They would put lard or pitch in them to lube the wheels when ever they stopped the wagon. Why they hung on it on the wagon and not just put in the wagon...I don't know. Maybe as a visual reminder to lube the wheel axles? It was a huge deal to keep it greased before they developed the ball bearing or even the bushing.

Nonsense, that is the chum bucket, for attracting the Spotted Bohemian Land Shark, a staple of the medieval Bohemian diet.
But yeah, that is where the phrases "grease the wheel" and "the squeakiest wheel gets the grease" come from.
I imagine they kept it on back because it was made of quick rendered pork fat, or quick rendered tallow, both of which SMELL. The longer you render it, lower temperature, the less it stinks. But for something that you aren't going to eat, or wear, or have in your home, an hour at the highest heat before it combusts renders it quickly, into a stinky gloopy mess, but it also works better for anti-friction. One of the reasons that rendering, along with tanneries, smelters, and charcoal production tended to be on the outskirts of towns; they stink, and the stink sticks to you.

[halfmonkey]

Originally posted by Haddon:

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

A real thing that was done. They would put lard or pitch in them to lube the wheels when ever they stopped the wagon. Why they hung on it on the wagon and not just put in the wagon...I don't know. Maybe as a visual reminder to lube the wheel axles? It was a huge deal to keep it greased before they developed the ball bearing or even the bushing.

Nonsense, that is the chum bucket, for attracting the Spotted Bohemian Land Shark, a staple of the medieval Bohemian diet.
But yeah, that is where the phrases "grease the wheel" and "the squeakiest wheel gets the grease" come from.
I imagine they kept it on back because it was made of quick rendered pork fat, or quick rendered tallow, both of which SMELL. The longer you render it, lower temperature, the less it stinks. But for something that you aren't going to eat, or wear, or have in your home, an hour at the highest heat before it combusts renders it quickly, into a stinky gloopy mess, but it also works better for anti-friction. One of the reasons that rendering, along with tanneries, smelters, and charcoal production tended to be on the outskirts of towns; they stink, and the stink sticks to you.

Can attest. I grew up on a farm that produced its own soap. Rendered animal fat (suet in my case) reeks when processed too quickly.

[zero_lives]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

A real thing that was done. They would put lard or pitch in them to lube the wheels when ever they stopped the wagon. Why they hung on it on the wagon and not just put in the wagon...I don't know. Maybe as a visual reminder to lube the wheel axles? It was a huge deal to keep it greased before they developed the ball bearing or even the bushing.

It's real simple. They tie it to the wagon so it is not confused with any other cargo the wagon may be carrying.

[Haddon]

Originally posted by halfmonkey:

Originally posted by Haddon:

Nonsense, that is the chum bucket, for attracting the Spotted Bohemian Land Shark, a staple of the medieval Bohemian diet.
But yeah, that is where the phrases "grease the wheel" and "the squeakiest wheel gets the grease" come from.
I imagine they kept it on back because it was made of quick rendered pork fat, or quick rendered tallow, both of which SMELL. The longer you render it, lower temperature, the less it stinks. But for something that you aren't going to eat, or wear, or have in your home, an hour at the highest heat before it combusts renders it quickly, into a stinky gloopy mess, but it also works better for anti-friction. One of the reasons that rendering, along with tanneries, smelters, and charcoal production tended to be on the outskirts of towns; they stink, and the stink sticks to you.

Can attest. I grew up on a farm that produced its own soap. Rendered animal fat (suet in my case) reeks when processed too quickly.

Growing up, my grandpa had a farm, and his neighbor (at least half a mile away) rendered beef suet for his well (not sure why it needed rendered fat, I was like 6, something about the crank and him being cheap), and we were there visiting one time. We could smell it. At least half a mile away. It is one of the few smells I can still immediately place, 30+ years later. Along with the smell of pigs being raised without enough land, it is legitimately one of the worst things I've ever smelled that wasn't something rotting.

[HerrBaron]

Originally posted by kgoodwinvoodoo:

Grease bucket.?

This.

[Wobblyshrimp]

so travelers can yank their pizzles