From collection Penobscot Marine Museum Archives
Bark PURITAN Slop Account Book
Account book listing wages, advances, and slops sold to the crew of the bark PURITAN on a voyage from Philadelphia to Kobe (Hiogo), Japan, and return to Hull, England, 1896-1897, kept by Captain Albert N. Blanchard. The slop accounts are detailed lists of clothing and supplies purchased by each sailor, including wool shirts, caps, oilskins, rubber books, tobacco, soap, and sheath knives. There are also deductions for services of a tailor, shoemaker, bum boat man, and a "Mrs. Dukes" in Kobe, as well as miscellaneous cash advances. The wages paid to each sailor, minus deductions, are tallied at the end of each account, with the sailor's siganture for money received. This account book was re-used in between 1915 and 1922 by someone invovled in the lumber business, to record the cutting of shingles and lathes, hours worked, and similar notes.
