The pickle keg in the picture below was my husband's Grandma Indyke's , which in Polish means TURKEY~~ no wonder he married me ( I'm drawn to them- hunt them & raise them!Her name was Julia Indyke but I don't recall her maiden name right off the top of my head. Early 1900's she came over by boat from Poland.Her parents paid for her to come over accompanied by friends.They took the money & purchased occupancy down in the HOLD of the ship for her+instead & kept the balance for themselves! If you've ever read journals or other accounts of immigrant travelers by sea you'll understand what THAT means! She ended up gettingTyphus and almost died.And so,until the end of her days (99 yrs old) she never returned to Poland for a visit. Too afraid.We tried to explain that jet travel is far different than when she was a teenager.No way~she would never do that again.My sides of the families came over during the Civil War era, so we have no Ellis Island accounts.More of that another time.Anyway, the big white enamel pot & the keg were hers & still in use. Well, the pickle keg only for show.Once cracks develope in a keg toxins can leak out as acid levels in kraut & pickles intensify. You can tell a good keg by flicking your finger on the rim. If it has a clear ring it's good.