History Local 263

One of the first “tinsmiths” in our country is also one of the most well-known, Paul Revere.  According to Edwin Tunis in his definitive title, Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry, (World Publishing, 1963; John Hopkins University, 1999), Paul Revere, like the many contemporary sheet metal workers, was a very versatile craftsman.  In addition to being a tinsmith, Revere made teeth (he worked on George Washington’s teeth), he engraved pictures and made gunpowder, engraved plates for continental money, built a press and made the plates on it, and he carved picture frames and sometimes shod horses.