Oakum

Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used in shipbuilding for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships, as well as cast iron pipe plumbing applications. Oakum was at one time recycled from old tarry ropes and cordage, which were painstakingly unravelled and taken apart into fibre. This task of picking and preparation was a common penal occupation in prisons and workhouses.

In modern times, the fibrous material used in oakum comes from virgin hemp or jute. The fibers are impregnated with tar or a tar-like substance, traditionally pine tar (also called 'Stockholm tar'), an amber-coloured pitch made from pine sap. Tar-like petroleum by-products can also be used for modern oakum. White oakum is made from untarred material.

The word oakum derives from Middle English okome, from Old English ācumba, from ā- (separative and perfective prefix) + -cumba (akin to Old English camb, "comb")—literally "off-combings".

Picking oakum was a common occupation in Victorian times in British prisons and workhouses. In 1862, girls under 16 at Tothill Fields Bridewell had to pick 1 pound (0.45 kg) a day, and boys under 16 had to pick 1 ¹⁄₂ pounds (0.68 kg). Over the age of 16, girls and boys had to pick 1 ¹⁄₂ and 2 pounds (0.68 and 0.91 kg) per day respectively. The oakum was sold for £4 10s (equivalent to £399 in 2015 in modern money) per hundredweight (100–112 lb, 45–51 kg). At Coldbath Fields Prison, the men's counterpart to Tothill Fields, prisoners had to pick 2 lb (0.91 kg) per day unless sentenced to hard labour, in which case they had to pick between 3 and 6 lb (1.4 and 2.7 kg) of oakum per day.

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