The cube has been a part of human history for thousands of years. Believed to have originated from the word “buc” which means pitcher in Old English, the word began to be used in the 13th century and is still part of our ever-evolving language, from jargon to computer terminology.
From early childhood, the miniature bucket and spade, enjoyed in a sand pit or by the sea, to the end of human life, when people euphemistically “kick the bucket”, this essential element is part of everyday life and language, used in all aspects. of the world.
Old cubes
The earliest representations of these useful objects are found in carvings dating from around 3200 BC. C., which show Pharaoh Narmer with a servant carrying a bucket. The Assyro-Babylonian carvings have gods and geniuses with small buckets, containing lustral (holy) water in one hand and a pineapple to sprinkle in the other. Ancient Olmec carvings in Mexico also show priests with small cubes.
Greek artifacts
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a beautifully painted Greek terracotta cube (situla) dating back to 350 BC. These cubes were used to decant, cool and serve wine. The museum also has a very rare one made of glass with silver handles, which is very unusual, as metal seats were much more common.
Roman firefighters
The Vigiles, inspired by the Alexandrian firefighters, became known as the “little companions of the bucket” (Spartoli), or the bucket brigades. The buckets they used were made of rope sealed with tar. Firefighters continued to use human “bucket chains”, and rescuers from earthquake victims continue to use them to this day.
medieval Europe
In northern European countries, buckets were made of metal, wood, and leather. The coopers made wooden buckets with staves or rope handles. Aside from their multiple domestic uses – milking, well watering, sanitation, and construction – they were also used in war machines as catapults as an early form of germ warfare, used to dump waste, human body parts, and dead and sick animals. on the floor. fortification walls of cities, castles and towers.
Galvanized iron buckets
Patented by Stanislas Sorel in 1837, heavy duty, stainless galvanized buckets quickly replaced leather and wood buckets. Metal buckets with different compartments and removable glasses were made for use as lunch boxes. The enameled lunch boxes known as gamelles and granite containers with lids continued to be manufactured until the last century. The basic metal bucket was further adapted for a variety of uses, including charcoal buckets, bird feeders and waterers, mop buckets, and digging buckets.
The plastic bucket
Cheap, lightweight, multi-colored plastic buckets first became available in 1967, in a variety of shapes and sizes. They were quickly adopted by the food industry for the sale of ice cream, confectionery, chicken to go, and other food products. Plastic buckets are used to sell cleaning supplies, pet food, fertilizers, toys, nails, paper clips, and many other items.
