As Peter Bergstrom says barrels of various sizes were the norm. In fact they were normative enough that goods packed in another fashion were so labeled in newspaper ads. The Norfolk Herald regularly listed cargos in their shipping news section. Dry goods from Europe would usually be indicated in a listing that might read: "ship Paragon, Dickson, 52 days from Liverpool, salt & crates, Wm. Pennock" Joe Mosier Library Archivist Chrysler Museum Norfolk, Virginia To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html