1860s
Rise of Industrialisation
Contacts
An archival photo of a blacksmith shop. This blacksmith shop inspired the creation of the blacksmith shop found in Grey Roots Museum and Archives.
Courtesy of Grey Roots Museum and Archives.
An archival photo of three people sitting in front of George Rice's blacksmith shop.
Courtesy of Grey Roots Museum and Archives.
The traditional blacksmith’s role had shifted gears by the 1920s. Automobiles had replaced horse-drawn carriages and wagons. Tractors began replacing work animals on the farm.
An early automobile used as farming equipment.
Courtesy of Grey Roots Museum and Archives.
An archival photo of a couple sitting in an early automobile on a farm.
Courtesy of Grey Roots Museum and Archives.
The gas engine created new challenges for blacksmiths. Some saw this as an opportunity to practice new skills and techniques. They became experts in farming machinery, automobile repairs and more. Other blacksmiths left to pursue other careers. Some worked as salesmen or as workers at plane production plants.
Watch the video below to learn how automobiles affected blacksmiths in the early 1900s.
English subtitles are available for both videos below.
Link to Introduction to Blacksmithing in Ontario in the 1920s video.
Link to 1920s Blacksmithing Challenge video.
Introduction to Blacksmithing in the 1920s in Ontario:
Descriptive Transcript for 1920s Introduction Video:
[Drone shot of the exterior of Grey Roots Museum and Archives’ blacksmith shop. The doors to the blacksmith shop are open.]
[NARRATOR:] During the 1920s. Ontario’s agricultural workers increasingly used advanced farming equipment. Many mechanized farming tools were invented and used before the automobile. In rural settings, tractors and other mechanized equipment were more valued, and more practical in everyday use than purchasing a car.
[A black and white photo of six men and two young boys standing outside of a blacksmith shop. A horse stands behind the men posing.]
[A black and white photos of three blacksmiths posing in the middle of a blacksmith shop. Various tools and equipment can be seen surrounding the blacksmiths.]
[NARRATOR:] These new, large scale machines were convenient, but also a threat to blacksmithing industries.
[A black and white photo of a couple and a lady standing in front of an early automobile with a luggage carrier on the side.]
[A black and white photo of a family standing in front of a barn. A couple sits in an early automobile in the center of the image, with the rest of the family members surrounding them in the background.]
[A black and white photo of two men and a lady sitting in front of a blacksmith shop. Carriage wheels and ply wood lean against the exterior of the blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] Blacksmiths could either accept the innovations and adapt, or lose their livelihood. By adapting, blacksmiths could specialize in new skills that they had never tried before and try new designs to make new products.
[A black and white photo of an early automobile.]
[NARRATOR:] Blacksmiths could find new jobs that were more relevant and sought after in their communities.
[A black and white photo of an early automobile converted for farm use. Three men can be seen sitting in the vehicle.]
[NARRATOR:] They became experts in repairing wheels, engines, and farming machines, in addition to their traditional skills.
[A close up shot of a large chain and various blacksmithing tools sitting on a table.]
[A blacksmith holds a nail and a piece of blacksmithing equipment up to the camera.]
[NARRATOR:] In the era of early European settlement, a community lived and died on whether they could retain a blacksmith.
[A close up shot of a carriage or wagon wheel and a tire inside of Grey Roots Museum and Archives’ blacksmith shop.]
[A close up shot of an early piece of farming equipment found inside of the blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] So important were his contributions to the community in the production of almost everything metal that people needed.
[A black and white photo of a blacksmith working inside of a blacksmith shop. He is holding a hammer in his right hand looks to be preparing to strike his hammer against an anvil.]
[A black and white photo of an early locomotive exiting a tunnel. Four men can be seen walking on the railroad track beside the train.]
[NARRATOR:] Many blacksmiths branched into new professions. They became mechanics, machinists, salesman, or went into factories or aircraft munition plants.
[A black and white photo the interior of car garage or warehouse. Two early automobiles are parked along the wall in the garage.]
[A black and white photo of men working at an assembly line inside of a factory.]
[A black and white photo of six blacksmiths posing in the middle of a blacksmith shop. A horse can be seen on the right hand side of the photo, and various tools and equipment are seen hanging on the ceiling or places along the walls of the blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] Some blacksmiths became the initial generation of auto mechanics. They worked for automobile, truck, or tractor plants, or transformed their old blacksmith shops into auto repair workshops.
[A black and white photo of a farrier shoeing a horse inside of a blacksmith shop. An early automobile can be seen in the background.]
[A black and white photo of a busy city street.]
[NARRATOR:] Other blacksmiths transitioned into millwrighting careers, which coincidentally became a profession in demand.
[A black and white photo of three men standing outside of a blacksmith shop. Carriage wheels can be seen in front of the blacksmith shop.]
[A shot of blacksmithing tools hung up on the wall of a blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] By the 1920s, blacksmith shops were declining. The mass production of automobiles, paired with an increasing number of paved roads throughout the country, as well as the popularity and ease of ordering from catalogues, led to the decline of the blacksmiths’ work in the community. Horse shoeing and wagon making rapidly decreased, and blacksmith’s ledgers show a clear decline in profits.
[A black and white photo of two farmers with their hands in their pockets looking at their crops, disappointed at the destruction of their hard work from the Dust Bowl.]
[A black and white photo of a farmer and his son sitting on a piece of farming equipment, looking out into the distance.]
[A black and white photo of a farmer riding in a piece of farming equipment pulled by two horses.]
[NARRATOR:] Horse shoeing and wagon making rapidly diminished, and blacksmiths’ ledgers showed a clear decline in profits. However, while generally blacksmith shops were declining in urban areas country wide, for much of rural Ontario, this decline didn’t take hold until after WWII.
[An exterior shot of Grey Roots Museum and Archives’ blacksmith shop. There is a sign above the entrance that says “Blue Water Garage”.]
[A close up shot of two hammers sitting on an anvil inside of the blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] Blacksmith shops were a mainstay in most villages in Grey County until the 1950s, even though in “urban” Owen Sound, blacksmith shops closed earlier.
[A close up shot of various tools hanging on the wall inside of the blacksmith shop.]
[A close up shot of various equipment laid out along the blacksmith shop’s floor.]
[NARRATOR:] There was a definite rural/urban split during this time period.
[An interior shot of the Grey Roots Museum and Archives’ blacksmith shop, with the blacksmith standing in the background.]
[A close up shot of the burning brick forge inside of the blacksmith shop.]
[NARRATOR:] The blacksmith shop interprets the transition of 1920s era blacksmithing, a time when many citizens of Grey County began driving automobiles.
[A black and white photo of an early automobile.]
[NARRATOR:] These new machines required appropriate accessories to cope with the harsh Ontario winters.
[A shot of the coal forge burning, with various blacksmithing tools laying on the brick table beside it.]
[A shot of a snow chain hanging on the horn of an anvil. The blacksmith can be seen in the background.]
[NARRATOR:] One of these tailor-made items were tire chains that were made by blacksmiths, used in many different tasks throughout the lifespan of blacksmithing as a trade. Blacksmiths would often take two links of chain and connect them to make proper lengths for specific tires.
Snow chains were important for automobiles for winter travel in rural Ontario in the 1920s. How would you fix them if they broke? Watch the video below to see how a blacksmith in the 1920s would fix a snow chain.
1920s Blacksmithing Challenge: