Folks who heated their houses with fire didn't have the option to just flick the thermostat up in the morning when they got out of bed! Instead, they had to get the fire going again in the morning after it had been banked for the evening. The bellows was a great tool to help reenergize a blazing fire. The two handles, made of wood, could be opened to draw air into the leather chamber, then closed quickly to blow a steady stream of air onto the fire. This would help speed up the warming process before toes went numb in the cold! The bellows was also an important tool for blacksmiths and for processing maple sap into sugar.