The barrels in the general store were used to carry wine, juice, rum, and sometimes tea. Merchants and storekeepers used these barrels to ship goods on boats and trains. They were also for sale in the general store as containers used to store goods.

Some barrels had a lid on top of them and had to be tipped to get the liquid out of them, but some barrels had tips on the side of them to get a drink from. The barrels were coloured in a dyed yellowish brown. If they fell, they might break and spill. Some had problems such as cracks in wet, raw wood, and slowly the liquid would leak out of the barrel . On boats, these barrels were stacked high for shipping to different places. The barrels were stacked on ships by men, or some were stacked by machines such as cranes or weight lifters. Not all the barrels were tied together. Most of them were carried on supporting wooden racks that had extra weight to help support them. The barrels did not budge when on shipping runs. This also included large boats that could support more then 100 barrels per run. Many people did not not have containers in the early 1900's that could hold a lot of liquid.

A wine barrel was made up of staves that had been shaped into a bulging cylinder with flat heads or ends. The staves were held in place by metal hoops, usually galvanized on wine barrels or steel on whiskey barrels. The shape was designed so the barrel could easily be rolled. The curve or bilge allowed the barrel to be spun easily to control direction. Most barrels weighed between 125 to 140 lbs. Six to eight hoops encircled the barrel spaced along the length. The barrel had a lid that could open the top.

The most common types of barrel were the Bordeaux Barrel and the Burgundy Barrel. Other oak barrels included the Whiskey Barrel and the Hogshead Barrel. Different barrels were invented by different people. The first barrel designed for a specific type of liquid was created around the 1760's, when a man had the first idea of making a small wine barrel. This information was passed on to many merchants and sailors who studied the barrel and started inventing new types according to their own ideas. Later on, many people had even better ideas and around 1764, a sailor invented the barrel we have today.