History enjoyers, I need your help!!!

[SailusGebel]

@Assurbanipal_II @Hans.Trondheim @Paul_Tromba and the rest, I need your help! Whenever I read an isekai or a fantasy manga\webtoon, there is one thing that bothers me a LOT. You all might find it irksome how authors don't bother to do a research and use wrong rules, wrong dates, or how everything is wrong, so on. Doesn't really matter, I did not gather you to discuss what you don't like. Ehem, anyway, there is actually one thing that really bothers me, to the point that I can't keep my silence anymore.

Mugs. Fucking wooden mugs. I don't know, I just can't stand them, they look so alienating, and they are everywhere. Every fucking isekai and fantasy novel have them. So here is my question. Did they use those terrible wooden mugs before? Were they used in middle-ages, or is it something that was made and popularized fairly recently? P.S. I'm not talking about mugs that have the same shape, but made out of a different material. I'm talking about those atrocious wooden mugs that look like mini barrels.

P.P.S. This is not a joke question.

Just in case. This is the type of mug I am talking about. With metal.

Spoiler: Mug.

 

[georgelee5786]

So far as I know, mugs were predominantly made of tin. Wood was sometimes used for bowls which served as cups though, but not fashioned in that mug style. However it's been a while since I've looked into Medieval so I may be wrong.

 

[Anon2024]

Yes they used them.
This was mostly in places where they didn’t know how to make glass or porcelain, and in areas where clay was not readily available.

Edit: Nope, I was wrong on the timeline. Wooden mugs were after clay because of durability. Most of it was by Vikings, but they also made it out of bone as well.

 

[Sleds]

@Assurbanipal_II @Hans.Trondheim @Paul_Tromba and the rest, I need your help! Whenever I read an isekai or a fantasy manga\webtoon, there is one thing that bothers me a LOT. You all might find it irksome how authors don't bother to do a research and use wrong rules, wrong dates, or how everything is wrong, so on. Doesn't really matter, I did not gather you to discuss what you don't like. Ehem, anyway, there is actually one thing that really bothers me, to the point that I can't keep my silence anymore.

Mugs. Fucking wooden mugs. I don't know, I just can't stand them, they look so alienating, and they are everywhere. Every fucking isekai and fantasy novel have them. So here is my question. Did they use those terrible wooden mugs before? Were they used in middle-ages, or is it something that was made and popularized fairly recently? P.S. I'm not talking about mugs that have the same shape, but made out of a different material. I'm talking about those atrocious wooden mugs that look like mini barrels.

P.P.S. This is not a joke question.

There no clear date for their invention, but they were used in Europe during middle age.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

A quick search told me they sometimes used Pewter Tankards and wooden mugs.

 

[Lloyd]

They wouldn't have mugs that looked like barrels, because they would take a lot more labor than just carving a mug out of a piece of wood. Making barrels was a legit job back then.

 

[Tempokai]

Wood is a cheap material. To make a cup you just need a chisel and a chunk of (soft) wood. I remember seeing Townsends had a video about it (or maybe I'm just misremembering things).

 

[SailusGebel]

Wood is a cheap material. To make a cup you just need a chisel and a chunk of (soft) wood. I remember seeing Townsends had a video about it (or maybe I'm just misremembering things).

I edited the post and added an example. I was talking about wooden mugs that use metal. Hence my question. Taking a chunk of wood and scraping out the middle to get a mug is cheap. Using metal and making a small wooden barell, I don't know about that.

 

[Sleds]

They wouldn't have mugs that looked like barrels, because they would take a lot more labor than just carving a mug out of a piece of wood. Making barrels was a legit job back then.

It's still a job nowaday.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Wood and clay were both used among common and noble peoples. Though they aren't like barrels seen in isekai manga, it was usually carved. It was just what was cheapest; many people had their own sets that they carved and carried. Now, there were a few periods in history where small wine, mead, and beer casks were distributed but these were usually for events or travel and would be equivalent to a 2-liter bottle of alcohol that would be shared. They probably still distributed it into their own carved wood or clay cups.

 

[Tempokai]

Using metal and making a small wooden barell, I don't know about that.

In my medieval research I've never seen one mentioned like that. As I said, a chunk of wood is chiseled out to make a cup. That design probably came from Conan the Barbarian (I'm 100% wrong) era where the comic author needed to show "it's fantasy" without saying it's fantasy, and the subconscious (or maybe not) bias persisted.

Also, I forgot, cups being small (from small barral shape) meant that it would leak even more because the filling that blocks the liquid would erode and effect the taste.

 

[Sleds]

I edited the post and added an example. I was talking about wooden mugs that use metal. Hence my question. Taking a chunk of wood and scraping out the middle to get a mug is cheap. Using metal and making a small wooden barell, I don't know about that.

I think they just added the metal for style point

 

[SailusGebel]

Wood and clay were both used among common and noble peoples. Though they aren't like barrels seen in isekai manga, it was usually carved. It was just what was cheapest; many people had their own sets that they carved and carried. Now, there were a few periods in history where small wine, mead, and beer casks were distributed but these were usually for events or travel and would be equivalent to a 2-liter bottle of alcohol that would be shared. They probably still distributed it into their own carved wood or clay cups.

Carved is okay. I am talking about this piece of crap that is in every isekai.

Spoiler: For illustration purpose only.

 

[Lloyd]

It's still a job nowaday.

Barrelers don't really exist anymore.

 

[Sleds]

Barrelers don't really exist anymore.

You think? Maybe try to visit some countries that do real Wine.

 

[SailusGebel]

You think? Maybe try to visit some countries that do real Wine.

Whiskey.

 

[BearlyAlive]

Wooden mugs, yes. Those barrel-fied coffee mugs, nope. They just look "medieval".

Also yes to barrelers, they're very alive in major wine or other trendy alcohol regions, and even in-house in some local breweries in Germany, the land of the beer laws, where there are almost as many kinds of beers as there are laws concerning it...

 

[Tyranomaster]

That style of mug is basically a trope. I don't know when it was popularized (if I had to guess, it probably was an old D&D illustration that just eminated into fantasy). As many have mentioned, in old times they were carved from a single piece of wood (as were bowls and eating utensils), unless you were rich and could afford metal, though the peasants got the last laugh as many of the metal utensils and eatery had a decent % of lead in it.

 

[Sleds]

@Lloyd

Made by hands, each days to supply for a year of harvest.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

@Assurbanipal_II @Hans.Trondheim @Paul_Tromba and the rest, I need your help! Whenever I read an isekai or a fantasy manga\webtoon, there is one thing that bothers me a LOT. You all might find it irksome how authors don't bother to do a research and use wrong rules, wrong dates, or how everything is wrong, so on. Doesn't really matter, I did not gather you to discuss what you don't like. Ehem, anyway, there is actually one thing that really bothers me, to the point that I can't keep my silence anymore.

Mugs. Fucking wooden mugs. I don't know, I just can't stand them, they look so alienating, and they are everywhere. Every fucking isekai and fantasy novel have them. So here is my question. Did they use those terrible wooden mugs before? Were they used in middle-ages, or is it something that was made and popularized fairly recently? P.S. I'm not talking about mugs that have the same shape, but made out of a different material. I'm talking about those atrocious wooden mugs that look like mini barrels.

P.P.S. This is not a joke question.

Just in case. This is the type of mug I am talking about. With metal.

Spoiler: Mug.

You mean the tankard?

Well, I'm not that knowledgeable in European tavern culture, but afaik, those were used around Northern Europe.