Çorum Tinsmiths (Kalaycılar) and the Copper Craft

Copper conducts heat beautifully, but over time it darkens and oxidizes; the masters who restore it to a bright, healthy, usable state are called kalaycı (tinsmiths). Çorum is one of Anatolia’s last strongholds of tinsmithing and copper work. Streets named Kalaycılar Arastası (Tinsmiths’ Arasta) and Bakırcılar Çarşısı (Coppersmiths’ Bazaar) in the city bazaar still preserve the traces of this craft.

What Is the Craft?

Tinsmithing is the coating of copper pots, pans and ewers with molten tin, applied over glowing embers by brush strokes until it “sweats.” The master first acid-washes the vessel, then spreads the molten tin; as the piece cools, it is reborn with an interior gleaming like silver. In the same setup the copper’s exterior is burnished with a hammer and decorated with repoussé and engraving work. The periods when tinsmiths set up their “tinsmith rigs” in villages and renewed household copper at people’s doorsteps are etched in Çorum’s memory.

The Situation in Çorum

• Central bazaar: The Kalaycılar Arastası continues to host copper-working masters; craftsmen who turn hammer work into art still appear in the press. Süleyman Özkılıç, promoted as Çorum’s oldest tinsmith, has practised the trade for 63 years since starting at age ten — a fourth-generation craftsman who learned it travelling village to village with his grandfather and father. Özkılıç says he is “one of the three tinsmiths remaining in Çorum” (Sabah, video report)
• Bakırcılar Çarşısı (Coppersmiths’ Bazaar): The historic bazaar in the centre deteriorated over the years; in 2018 its front-row shops were demolished and merged into Cengiztopel Caddesi. The craftsmen’s familiar lament: “It’s called the Coppersmiths’ Bazaar but there are only three coppersmiths left”
• Districts — Alaca: Salih Dokuz, who began as an apprentice at age seven, opens his shop every day at 76 and has been tinning for 69 years (Çorum Sesi)
• Districts — Osmancık: Hasan Haykır, who inherited the trade from his father, has worked copper and tin for 56 years since starting at 13 (Yayla Haber)

The common fate is clear: no apprentices. The last representatives of the craft resist leaving the benches they have given their lives to.

Why Does It Matter?

Tinsmithing is not merely a repair trade; it also carries Çorum’s traditional handicrafts through hammered, engraved and repoussé copper work. Copper table culture — the sahan pans and ewers in dowry chests — is the product of this mastery. If the craft disappears, only the bazaar’s name will remain.

For other traces of bazaar culture in Çorum, see our Dikiciler Arastası page; for the kitchen tradition intertwined with these crafts, see Çorum Cuisine.

Historical Background

According to Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), coppersmithing was one of Çorum’s traditional production trades in the 19th century; the pots, cauldrons and pans it produced met the needs of both the urban population and the rural population that used the city as its market. The raw copper came from the deposits at Ergani, and since the city had no rolling mill, it was likely sourced from Tokat, a copper-working centre at the time. The decline of copper production in Tokat in the second half of the 19th century — especially the closure of its large foundries in 1887 — dragged down coppersmithing in Çorum too; by the early 20th century, sources no longer listed coppersmithing among the city’s production trades. According to Çorum Chamber of Commerce records, the craft revived again toward the mid-20th century (Çorum Tarihi, p. 158-159). For other traditional 19th-century crafts, see Weaving, Coppersmithing and Blacksmithing in 19th-Century Çorum.

Sources

• Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), 5th Hittite Festival Committee; ed. Çorum Municipality City Archive, 3rd ed., Çorum Municipality Cultural Publications, Çorum 2020 (Chapter 3: “Çorum in the 19th and Early 20th Century,” by Sevgi Aktüre), p. 158-159. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf
• Çorum Haber — A “Nostalgic” Look at the Coppersmiths’ Bazaar
• Çorum Sesi — At 76, He Opens His Shop Every Day, Giving Copper New Life (Salih Dokuz)
• Yayla Haber — Osmancık Copper Master Hasan Haykır’s 69-Year Passion
• Esnafer Haber TV — The Cry of One of the Last Tinsmith Masters, Hasan Haykır
• Sabah — Süleyman Özkılıç video report