Chandler, meaning

[Bru]

There were sailing ships back then too - remember the Armada?

Indeed and I'm not saying there's no connection at all nor that there weren't common skills. Splicing and rigging tackles etc

But there is a noticeable lack, to my knowledge, of primary source evidence (and no such evidence is cited in the secondary sources) that sailors were routinely employed in theatres, let alone that theatrical rigging was the preserve of sailors as is often claimed, and it seems to me that it's just been assumed because hemp house flying grids (the older rope rigged theatres) appear superficially similar to sailing ships

Anyway it's a moot point in respect of the origin of the term chandler but interesting never the less

 

[westhinder]

The word may not have come to English directly from the existing English word 'chandler'. In the Germanic languages of the Hanseatic League such as Danish and Dutch 'handler' just means 'tradesman': I'm only speculating but is it possible that a chandler is an incorrect Anglicisation of 'Schip Handler', which is the chandler of modern usage?

I was wondering about this as well, as an enormous amount of English (and French and even Russian) nautical terms seem to have been derived from Dutch. The original Dutch word may be 'handelaar', which means tradesman, hence 'scheepshandelaar' may have been corrupted into ships' handler -> shipchandler

 

[prv]

Clearly I have been misinformed

Pete

 

[westhinder]

Clearly I have been misinformed

Pete

Not saying you have, just wondering about a possible link, as so many nautical terms were derived from Dutch, e.g. boom, mast, sail, starbord, buoy...

 

[prv]

Not saying you have, just wondering about a possible link, as so many nautical terms were derived from Dutch, e.g. boom, mast, sail, starbord, buoy...

I meant about the theatrical sailors

"Schip Handler" to "ship chandler" seems quite plausible to me.

Pete

 

[penfold]

There were sailing ships back then too - remember the Armada?

Never mind the Iberians; what about King Alfred, his cakes, and the nascent royal navy for the purpose of seeing off Sven and his pillaging mates.

 

[Seashoreman]

Tallow chandler. Got one or two in the family history. Must've smelt something awful

Origin of my surname, Walker is northern men who stamped about in troughs of sheeps wool, urine and dye. Colourful chaps but must have had rather smelly feet.

 

[Catamaran]

Not saying you have, just wondering about a possible link, as so many nautical terms were derived from Dutch, e.g. boom, mast, sail, starbord, buoy...

And the very important one: "yacht"

 

[knuterikt]

I didn't know that.
Without Googling do you know the origin of the word "Chandler"?

I had to look it up to answer a clue in SHMBO's crossword puzzle.

I'm not English but have always thought that the correct term was "Ship Chandler" like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_chandler
And that the use of Chandler alone is a result of ...

 

[FishyInverness]

Chandler (n.) : An individual one step away from self-harm induced by the next utterance of "I need one of these, y'know, it's made of metal and has two arms coming out of it, it came with my boat, what boat you say? I don't know, it's GRP with a cuddy - Have you got one or what?!"

 

[Hydrozoan]

According to Wiki the chandler was head of the chandlery, which was “ ... the office in a medieval household responsible for wax and candles, as well as the room in which the candles were kept.” The role was “... naturally an important one ...”.

Presumably when stressed they could pass 'awkward customers' up the management chain, the office being “... subordinated to the kitchen”.

Joking aside, I found our ship's chandler (now retired) very knowledgeable and extremely helpful in the early years of boat ownership.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Chandler (n.) : An individual one step away from self-harm induced by the next utterance of "I need one of these, y'know, it's made of metal and has two arms coming out of it, it came with my boat, what boat you say? I don't know, it's GRP with a cuddy - Have you got one or what?!"

That'll be a left handed wodget snurdler, Sir. The right handed one only has one arm.

 

[Daydream believer]

I thought a chandler was one who took ordinary goods labelled them as "marine", tripled the price & sold them to the yachting fraternity, whilst complaining of lack of profit

 

[Lakesailor]

I knew it was originally a candle maker or seller, but I'm still none the wiser as to how it shifted to mean a supplier of ships' gear.

Pete

Maybe the sailors needed some lubricant to ease their passage?