Blacksmiths and Farriers
At the turn of the twentieth century two of the tradesmen critical to any town were blacksmith and farriers. If a traveler’s horse threw a shoe, it was the blacksmith or a farrier who was needed to set matters right. But it wasn’t only horseshoeing which made them critical to travelers and those remaining at home. Wagon wheels were rimmed with metal bands which often need repair or replacement. Axles rode on bearings and both needed attention from time to time. Early motorists all too often visited the blacksmith for the temporary repair of a critical part.
Before the internal combustion engine pioneered by the automobile became the main source of motive power for all sorts of machinery, farm equipment was drawn by horses, mule, or oxen. All of these relied on the blacksmith, as did the machinery itself. Plows which became damaged in use were taken to the blacksmith for repair, if the farmer was unskilled in working metal. In larger towns many blacksmiths employed lathes to create parts for machinery and decorative metalwork.
The automobile assembly system which Henry Ford created, using interchangeable parts to produce cars, contributed greatly to the demise of the blacksmith. Much of the need for their services was eliminated as fewer horses required shoeing. Rubber tires replaced metaled wagon wheels. Steam plows and those animal drawn were replaced by larger, more powerful plows using the internal combustion engine as its reliability increased.
Many blacksmiths added the mechanical skills needed to service and repair automobiles, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas. In short order, some of the more commonly replaced automobile parts, such as tires, were being stocked by blacksmith’s, others which were necessary to a vehicle’s repair were ordered by telegraph or telephone for delivery to the blacksmith’s shop. Blacksmiths and service stations soon had competition from the automobile parts store, another new specialty which blossomed along the popularity of traveling by car.
There are of course still blacksmiths, but it has become rare to find one, especially in comparison to the age before the automobile. Then he was the artisan to which all went for the repair of their conveyance, whether coach, wagon, or horseback. Farriers too exist wherever horses are stabled, but they are not found in the middle of towns, where liveries no longer exist as they did before the automobile. When the automobile was born gasoline was hard to find, blacksmiths and farriers were known to all. By the end of the 1930s the opposite prevailed.