Antique Pulleys

One of the most common types of pulleys collected by fans of Americana is the barnyard pulley, which usually featured wood blocks, metal sheaves, and a cast iron hook. Other barn pulleys were more decorative, with embossed or pierced cast-iron blocks and handsome wooden sheaves. Regardless of their design, these pulleys were typically used to lift bales of hay into the lofts of barns. Pulleys at the top of wells tended to be more decorative than those mounted under the eaves of barns since they were so much more visible to the user.

Of course, many antique and vintage pulleys spent their working lives aboard ships and sailboats, doing everything from setting sails to hauling cargo from the end of a boom onto a boat’s deck, into its hold, or ashore. Vintage pulleys acquired by contemporary collectors may also have been attached to the ends of heavy steel davits, which are commonly used to lower lifeboats and other small craft from a larger vessel into the sea.

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