Anvil
We all know what an anvil is but do we all know what an anvil does? There’s that flat top and it’s heavy. Beyond that, we don’t know much. But all those curves, the pointy nose–called a horn, there are significant holes located here and there.
They all mean something.
I watched a blacksmith work at a living history day at a nearby restored fort. Fort Atkinson in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. Do NOT ask me why the town isn’t called Fort Atkinson, too.
It was just so interesting. He kept bending things. I just loved watching him and, there were three blacksmiths and they seemed to love talking about their passion for the historically accurate reenactment of their hobby.
The man standing there was one of the blacksmiths but what I wanted to talk about in this picture is the wall of tools. There were dozens of them. Tongs and hammers. Strangely shaped things that iron could be hammered on and bend around. And a blacksmith makes all his own tools, I was told.
More shapes. Heavy iron circles that looked like links in a massive chain. Tongs of every size and shape.
This man in the front is another blacksmith.
He said he’s mostly retired now. He talked a lot to me.
Beside him is a clamp or vise. He had many sizes of vises, too.
This pan really interested me. I don’t know if you can see it, but there is a hinge on the handle.
This way a cowboy can carry a frying pan more easily in his saddle bags, because he can fold the handle over.
At the end of the handle it’s a circle and a cowboy can shove a stick in there so the pan gets hot and he doesn’t burn his fingers.
Beside the pan were other things a blacksmith makes, spoons, ladles and spatulas.
When I said, “What about horseshoes?” They said blacksmiths didn’t even make horseshoes. That was the job of a farrier.
My blacksmith in my book is going to also be the town farrier.
He might be the town wheelwright and the town cooper, too.
A cooper makes wooden buckets, butter churns and barrels. There was a cooper there at the living history day, too. Hard at work.
I took this picture over my head.
Those iron bars up there in many shapes and lengths and weights, are the raw material for the blacksmith’s work.
They also worked with sheets of iron.
That skillet i had a picture of…above was made by bending a sheet. he could also punch holes in iron and cut shapes.
The guy farthest left was working the whole time he talked, the whole time anybody talked.
He was so knowledgeable it was humbling.
My book is going to be better for spending an hour with these guys.
They move into a restored Fort Atkinson for the weekend.
They sleep and eat there, dress in historically accurate clothes and just live the life of a frontiersman
for most of the weekends of the summer.
Overhead, I don’t know if you can quite see it but it’s a bellows.
The rope hanging down is easily reached by the blacksmith.
He pulls, releases, pulls, releases…he does it over and over.
The flames in the forge get bigger and the iron he’s laid into the fire turns red hot, then white hot.
I knew there was a bellows but I didn’t quite have it pictured.
The bellows was almost the first thing I noticed and it was so interesting looking at it.
And here is your intrepid blacksmith in training (okay, blacksmith KNOWLEDGE in training.
I’m not actually getting really close to that red hot iron.
I’m standing in this handy pictures frame. I also learned there is a timer on my phone and how to use it. Surprise!
Yep, I’m putting a blacksmith in my book. A WOMAN blacksmith.
Honestly the work that blacksmith was doing wasn’t overly HEAVY work.
Rods or iron, the hammer wasn’t huge. A woman could do it.
The blacksmith at the fort said a farrier…shoe-ing horses did much more heavy work so I’m not sure how I’m going to make her do that.
This is all for my next book. I have a current release that is brand new!
Falling for someone who doesn’t want to get married is soon be the least of Wyatt Hunt’s concerns.
While his brothers and their new wives search for who shot him, Wyatt is temporarily bedridden and completely miserable. Somehow Molly Garner’s limited skills have made her the most qualified in their circle to care for Wyatt. But by the time he’s healed, she’s fed up with him and the whole ungrateful family. For even worse than his grumpiness were the few unguarded moments when he pulled at her heartstrings, and she has been long determined to never repeat her mother’s mistakes.
When alternate plans of finding her own independent life fall through, Molly volunteers to work for the Pinkertons and help investigate nearby ranch owner Oliver Hawkins. She signs on to be his housekeeper, hoping to find clues to prove his nefarious, and possibly murderous, past. Wyatt refuses to let her risk it alone and offers to act as Hawkins’s new foreman.
But when another Pinkerton agent gets shot, they realize Hawkins isn’t the only danger. The Hunt brothers will have to band together to face all the troubles of life and love that suddenly surround them.
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Thank you, Mary! This was really interesting. I love the pictures. I watched a blacksmith years ago and it was so fascinating.
I also have to say that I listened to Braced for Love this week and loved it! I had to listen to the first chapter of A Man with a Past right after. Now I’m looking for chores to do around the house so I can get back to it!
Hi Stacey. You listen to books while you work around the house? Okay, maybe I should do that.. I’ve only ever listened to them when I’m driving. And I suppose there are some chores I could do!!!
That was fascinating! Thanks for taking us with you on your trip – I didn’t know a blacksmith didn’t shoe horses – my new thing to learn today.
i know! I told him my impression of a blacksmith and he corrected me. He had a brick forget, too, built with a domed brick top like an oven. Not my image of what a forge looked like. The guys loved talking about it. All of them were great.
Good morning Mary. What an amazing blog about a profession that’s dwindling. Blacksmithing was such a huge importance for our ancestors and still is very important for us today, especially for ranchers.
Have a great day, My friend.
Tonya, shoeing horses is something I know very little about. We’ve had horses and never put horse shoes on them. But I suppose a real, working horse would need them. A farrier. I should do more research on that.
Thanks for the great post. I really admire those men as they worked so hard.
Debra, those men seemed to love it. The whole fort was full of enthusiastic people. Such an interesting hobby.
I did know the difference between a blacksmith and a farrier.
I enjoyed your descriptions of supplies and tools and what was going on.
I’ve always enjoyed watching blacksmithing.
I didn’t know the difference either, Denise. I’m so glad I went. Such an interesting day.
Fascinating stuff, Mary! I bet that blacksmith just loved talking to you and answering your questions. He had a passion to share, and you were the perfect person to share it with!
I think he loved talking about it. And I loved listening. We made a good team.
Interesting post Mary, I have never been in a blacksmiths shop but it would be great to see one like you did.
Hi Quilt Lady. Look for a living history museum!
I knew there were differences in farriers and blacksmith, but just how different, no! I know that some blacksmiths did very decorative work for iron fencing, as you can see when you stroll through the historic district in Savannah. Some of those pieces would be heavy for a woman to pick up. I’ve read other books (though the names escape me) that had women doing ironwork but more decoratively than their male counterparts (could have been a contemporary), but I’ve read some where the men did, too.
Trudy, she’s taking over the blacksmith business for her father who’s been killed. She’s worked beside him but never been in charge. I’m planning to bring out that she loved the decorative work but now it’s all serious business, very practical.
Very original and unusual idea for a character. That should be a really fun story to write.
That’ll be great! I’ve read things like that before, as I say, Savannah is full of decorative iron work in the historical district, and the art school there works on the restoration of the older areas, to keep it all true to their time periods. I’m sure the book is going to be good!
My grandfather was a blacksmith in Battle Lake, Minnesota. He was very tall, had large hands, and joyful. He could repair or build anything. In fact, he built a bug tractor which my brother still has today. He drives it around the neighborhood of Tacoma, Washington. I loved your blog today. It brought me down memory lane of years past that I treasure to this day. Your research was awesome! Looking forward to reading your book!
KATHY!!! Battle Lake, Minnesota???? NO WAY! That’s close to where we go fishing every year. I mean EVERY YEAR, since my retired cowboy was FIVE!!!
I love visiting living history places, Mary! This one looks fabulous. And I love that you are planning a female blacksmith! I had toyed with that idea, too, but I know you’ll make her perfect. Have you ever seen A Knight’s Tale? They have a female blacksmith in that show who creates armor for the hero. You might enjoy watching it. 🙂
ACK! I got it first, Karen. I’d love to see what you do with a female blacksmith, but I’ll get mine in first so I don’t know how great you make yours!
What an awesome post! I would love to visit there one day. Thanks for sharing the story and all your great pictures 🙂
Cathy it’s a great place. I try to go once in a while. But there are living history museums everywhere. Find one near you!
Really nice pics. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Natalie! You’re welcome! 🙂
Thank you Mary for sharing this wonderful information. I would love to watch blacksmiths doing their art. Oh but that sounds like it would be so fun to have a woman blacksmith. She could also make things that women would like. A little fancier.
Not mine, Lori. She’s the town’s only blacksmith. She’s got to repair hinges and make pots and pans. Common, necessary stuff. But I’m going to have her love adding fine iron work to decorate things.
I enjoyed your article. I’ve never really thought of all the things a blacksmith would make.
It was really interesting, Connie. I learned a lot!
Living history museums are great! Thank you for sharing this one. My husband’s grandfather was a blacksmith and for several years, early 1900’s, worked at the mines in North Idaho. He later had his own shop in Ephrata, WA. We have a pitchfork he made….way too heavy for me to use. The handle is a metal rod. It makes a good garden decoration.
How cool. My husband’s father did some blacksmith work. He’s no longer living. I wish I could ask him questions!!!
Hi thank you so much for sharing this article with us, I enjoyed reading it. I got to see a blacksmith , it’s been a couple of years, but I find it so very interesting how they shape and make things. Have a great weekend and stay safe.
I can still hear that clanging. See that man bending the red hot iron. I loved it.
There are women farriers. Our daughter trained to be a farrier, but broke her hip (thankfully a minor break, but still a problem) on a fall from a horse. Horses tend to lean on you when they are shod and her hip couldn’t handle the weight. Our son, in 6th grade at the time, started playing with the forge and taught himself to work iron. My husband joined in and they are both blacksmiths. My husband does a little, but our son is pretty good and tackles just about anything. He has done pipe tomahawks, knives, hinges, railings, art pieces, etc. There are women blacksmiths, some doing iron work and some doing fine pieces with copper and other metals.
I look forward to seeing how your female blacksmith does.
Patricia!!! That’s so cool. The blacksmith guy said, sometimes farriers would become blacksmiths, because being a farrier was such heavy hard work, holding up the horse’s hooves. I’ve done research on iron and copper and other artists but this visit to the museum was pretty no nonsense!!!
Mary, I love this idea for a book! I’ve seen blacksmiths working and it’s so neat! That’s why I like to watch Forged in Fire sometimes, it reminds me of those blacksmiths!! I know I saw some at Williamsburg, Virginia and I’ve seen others, too. Where I live we have a horse shoeing school, and my nephew knows how to do this, but couldn’t make a living at it! But, he really loves it, loves horses.
Lana I looked up forged in fire. I’d never heard of this. I’m going to watch it!!!