Esther M. Lederberg
Five Coopers, and a Tselovalnik Cooper at Stove with wife
Tselovalnik (<<Целовальник>>)
means a "sworn man". Technically, the word tselovalnik is derived from
the contraction of "krestny tselovalnik meaning "the one who
kissed the cross" (swore an oath, terminated by kissing the cross).
During the 19th century the Russian state exercised a monopoly on
alcohol, and vodka sellers in taverns were called tselovalniks as
they swore an oath not to dilute vodka supplied by the Russian state
distilleries. Thus the tselovalnik cooper above may be thought to be
"licensed" to guarantee his workmanship. The cooper makes barrels and
these barrels hold a stated volume. If the barrels don't meet standards
it would be like diluting what is held in them.
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