A: "cheese store" in 1689?

[Mark Mandel]

On Fri, May 2, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> Among the items Samuel Sewall put aboard ship to
> bring back to New England in 1689 was "one Cheese Store".
>
> What is that?  Two possibilities, perhaps (from OED2, under "store n."):
>
> 1)  "7. a. A stock (of anything material or
> immaterial) laid up for future use."  In this case, it is "a supply of cheese".
>
> 2)  "†10. Means for storing, receptacles for
> storage." -- but, aboard ship, not 11.a, a
> "warehouse".  But the only citation for sense 10.
> is 1497.  In this case, it is "something in which
> cheese can be kept".  If so, what was it like in
> the 1680s?  (I'm thinking a platter with a dome.)
>

IMHO, a #7a, probably in a #10. For a several months' sea voyage you
DON'T put cheese on display for serving, you seal it against mold,
insects, and rats (two-legged as well as four-).  Durable hard cheese,
in large blocks sealed in wax, in a secure crate.

--
Mark Mandel

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