"The
features of the surrounding picture were, a church with hoardingand scaffolding about it, which had been under suppositious repair
so long that the means of repair looked a hundred years old, and
had themselves fallen into decay; ..."

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Hoard"ing\, n. [From OF. hourd, hourt, barrier,
palisade, of German or Dutch origin; cf. D. horde hurdle,
fence, G. horde, h["u]rde; akin to E. hurdle. [root]16. See
{Hurdle}.]
1. (Arch.) A screen of boards inclosing a house and materials
while builders are at work. [Eng.]

Posted on every dead wall and hoarding. --London
Graphic.

2. A fence, barrier, or cover, inclosing, surrounding, or
concealing something.

The whole arrangement was surrounded by a hoarding,
the space within which was divided into compartments
by sheets of tin. --Tyndall.

What is the purpose of the hoarding? I understand scaffolding so that carpenters and such could get to necessary heights. But why would this hoarding be necessary? Does it hold the sides together in any way while the workers work?

Dear WW: one use of hoarding I remember is use of large panels by friends of shepherd, as movable barriers to
keep sheep from running away from the pen, and compel them to re-enter the pen. But a Border Collie is worth a hundred
hoardings.
I reminded of story when U.S. went off gold standard, and it became illegal to possess more than perhaps ten dollars worth. A priest allegedly saw Mae West with a gold coin, and said:"I see you've been hoarding again." She allegedly replied:"None of your damned business how I got it, Father."

Ha!

I'm still flummuxed over hoarding. Not the gathering kind, but the boarding kind of hoarding.

Dear WW: as above, another name for the movable barrier to
control sheep is "hurdle". We used to use old doors, old gates, 4x4 plywood, etc.,etc. But the Border Collie was still worth a hundred hurdles.

WW, the first thing I think of when I hear, 'hoarding', is a large (outdoor mostly) advertisement, like a billboard. Hoarding in the sense that wwh describes is much like the large sheets of tin or some other metal, tarp sometimes, that is used to seal off the area under construction. It is a protective measure instituted to prevent bodily harm to the public from hazardous construction materials and is a mandatory requirement for all construction in urban environments.

Thanks very much, maahey.

Dear maahey: and the hoardings you describe are sometimes
for the benefit of "Sidewalk superintendents".

re:and the hoardings you describe are sometimes
for the benefit of "Sidewalk superintendents".

i come from a long and noble line of sidewalk superintendents... that term was made immortal with the building of Rockefeller Center in NY-- the hording round the side had 'knot holes' or other small openings for passers by to see the construction site. And they made up buttons, which were given to kid that came to the site, appointing them 'sidewalk superintendents'.
I don't know how many or how often, but enough (the are now 'collectables', and NYC trivia)

the expression might have been used before that, but the story of the buttons, which was covered in the press, made the words common.

When was the Rockefeller Center constructed?

'Hoarding buttons' takes on new meaning! Thanks, of troy!

When was the Rockefeller Center constructed?


the pre war building boom... that(boom) lasted a year or two after the stock market crash --the empire state building was started 'last'- in 1929. and while everyone knows it, and its a landmark, for years, it was a white elephant.. the floor space at top is small and cramped (the views are great, though, tourist money (people going to the top) kept it from going bancrupt for years.

Rock center was sometimes in the 20's..
(if i am not mistaken, its build on leased land--something that is uncommon in US. the land (or some of the land) is owned by trinity church (on wall street) and leased out on a 99 year lease. this is common(er) in UK.

trinty church still owns (and so does columbia university) huge tracts of manhattan) The land they own is leased, and the yearly rents are a nice subsidy to the institutions.

Thanks again, of troy, for your NYC information. Sorry I'm late to get back, but I haven't much time to get on since the beginning of the year till this weekend.

Very interesting to learn that Trinity owns the tract of land on which the Rockefeller Center sits and that it's a 99-year lease. Time's running out!