40
Shaker products were known and used in cities as well as country
communities. Miss Leslie in THE HOUSE BOOK OR A MANUAL OF DO-
MESTIC ECONOMY, published in Philadelphia in 1840, offered the house-
wifely suggestion:
"In washing tea things (cups, small plates, teaspoons) it is
a great saving of the hands to use a little cupswab or mop
such as are made by the Society of the Shakers and are to be
obtained wherever their wares are sold. Taking one of these
by the handle in your right hand and dipping the woolen or
thrum end into the water, you can wash the things very clean
while holding it at the edge between the thumb and finger of
your left hand. " ^7 The dish mop--another first?
!IOf all their invention, " commented James Brown, an authority on
Shaker furniture and Shaker history, TT theonly one of which they were not
proud was the horse collar. " [For list of inventions, see Appendix D, p. 56.]

In all sales or purchases, cash was required. As their products
became popular and commerce with the world increased, the responsibility
of the "office deacons" or trustees became greater. Because they were so
much exposed to the worldTs "contaminating ways," they were required to
travel in threes when they went to the city, and not to remain away more
than four weeks at a time. They were not to engage in unnecessary conver-
sation with the world's people, and on return, were to report all actions and
conversations to the elders.
The perfection that ruled their lives ruled their labors. They took
pride in their crafts. The first requisite was always usefulness, the item
to be made had to perfectly suit the need. A chair, for instance, had to be

27. Johnson, top, cjt. ;p. 72
28. Ibid. , p. 71