I can see the practical value in this. If we get into a post-apocalyptic situation or like the frontiersman again, there might not be enough things like this for everyone to have. So having replicas, even if temporary ones, helps.

That reminds me of the issue of yeast. If a newcomer came into a wagon camp, they might not have yeast. So someone might give them a small amount and they may take a potato or some sugar and grow the yeast on it. Then they won't need to borrow more and they can "pay it forward" too.

Something I did one time was to use a cup of water in place of a postage scale. I didn't know if I overstuffed the envelope or not. I asked my neighbors if they had a small scale to use, and they said no. I thought that was odd because I knew a couple of folks were moving "product" out of there. Maybe they thought I was a fed or something. Anyway, I filled a cup half-full of water and similarly stuffed other envelopes until I had the number of ounces within comparison range. And both the styrofoam cup and the papers/mail felt about the same. Crude, but worked.