For apparent reasons there are few general blacksmiths left. Most do
smithing as a sideline, and their livelihood comes from repairing massproduced machines. It was assumed that the blacksmith might disappear before
the end of the twentieth century unnoticed and unmourned by most. For the
past 150 years, he was a large part of the daily scene and definitely taken for
granted. Although he was intelligent, he had little or no education and was too
modest to promote his importance in the community.
Sam Guarino Blacksmith Shop
Museum
The enthusiasm of the blacksmith, however, has been transferred to the
artist who has rediscovered the fascination of ironworking. This enthusiasm
will preserve the sounds, smells, and visual joys of the blacksmith shop as a
human heritage for future generations.
Blacksmithing is now experiencing a gradual resurrection. Its value is
still solid and dominant. Its status in modern life is not being replaced. It is
providing ample opportunity for the future of the young men and women
willing to dedicate themselves to the hard work and skill required to be a true
blacksmith.
Work Cited
Bealer, Alex W. The Art of Blacksmithing. Rev. ed. Edison, NJ: Castle
Books, 1976.
This circa 1913 blacksmith shop was originally located at
210 S. Jefferson Street in downtown Abbeville and was one
of the few blacksmith shops in operation in a downtown area
until it closed its doors in December 2004.
The blacksmith shop and all of its contents were graciously
donated by the Sam Guarino family to the City of Abbeville.
The Sam Guarino Blacksmith Shop now serves the community
with a historically accurate exhibit of early life in Abbeville
through the preservation of the blacksmith shop.
Sam Guarino Blacksmith Shop Museum
304 South State Street
Abbeville, LA 70510
Open by appointment only, please call 337-893-8550 or 337-898-4110
to schedule a group, student or individual tour
THE HISTORY OF THE BLACKSMITH
by Mary Ann Guarino
Blacksmithing is an ancient and honorable occupation. It is one of the
larger substantial crafts known to civilized man. As civilizations have
diversified, the procedures used have varied little. It was once believed that fire,
air, earth, and water were the four basic substances of this world, and only the
blacksmith utilized all four. The forge contained the fire, and the bellows
restrained or produced the air as needed. Iron and black metal were part of this
earth, and water was required to cool the blacksmith’s smoldering iron and to
harden his red-hot steel.
It is not known when or where man discovered how to make and shape
iron. However, making and shaping iron were as essential to progress in ancient
times as it is today in the twenty-first century. Only a minority of men possessed
the skill to be good blacksmiths regardless of their artistic capability. Traditional
smiths had to supply and to repair the tools, weapons, and hardware of their
society, and blacksmiths were very essential to transportation. The skills and
talents of the man committed to working with iron and steel were definite
necessities and guaranteed him a prominent status in his community, especially if
the community were to grow and prosper.
Until mass production displaced him, the most important task of the
traditional blacksmith was supplying the tools of civilization and war. He
designed and made hammers, axes, bits, knives, sickles, scythes, auger bits (twist
drills), files, chisels, carving tools, spears, swords, arrowheads, and numerous
necessities for the farmers and craftsmen in the area. They were all basically
dependent on his skills and availability. The smith was also required to weld and
fit wagon wheels and hub rings, to shoe horses and oxen, and to fit all the metal
parts of wagons, carriages, and sleighs of a horse-drawn society.
Blacksmiths needed to maintain high standards of quality in their work.
They were not completely dependent on muscles and strength. Intelligence,
imagination, visualization, and the ability to improvise and to utilize available
materials have always been important and necessary characteristics of a good
smith.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, most blacksmiths catered
to a general trade. They were asked to accept any job connected with iron.
This practice continued until newly developed steam power was gradually
used to produce all types of tools through mass production. After this
manufacturing evolution occurred, much of the beautiful detail of everyday
American life was lost for several generations.
The village blacksmith with a tradition of fine workmanship and a
good reputation could not compete financially with factories, especially when
one man in a factory could make fifty hammers or axes per day instead of two
or three using a forge. Soon the blacksmith began to think in commercial
terms in order to survive. It became less expensive to buy factory-made
hammers and tongs than to make them. Even raw materials were easier to
acquire, and the smith was no longer dependent on his scrap pile for stock, so
he had more time to work.
The blacksmith was the only source of decorative ironwork for
expensive homes. Wrought-iron gates, fences, and spikes for the tops of brick
walls were all procured from the blacksmith, especially one who specialized
in ornamental work.
A variety of basic and special kitchen utensils was always required by
the general population. Pokers, shovels, ladles, strainers, and spits for
roasting meat were definitely in .