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Blacksmith Craft
Shows Big Decline
The spreading chestnut tree died of blight. The village smithy was torn down for a supermarket. And the blacksmith himself has taken to the road. Today's descendant of Longfellow’s mighty man with sinery hands -- and muscles like iron bands -- loads his forge and anvil into the car. He makes regular visits tofarms that still use horses and mules The most affluent craftsmen fit racehorses with shoes. These men are unionized, and some pay calls at tracks and horse-breeding 'farms in Cadillacs. Blacksmithing, as idealized by Longfellow in his poem about a tree-shaded smithy on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has all but vanished, the Rational Geogujtlhic Societj&says. Many young men who wmlh to become blacksmiths go to technical schools or agricultural colleges for training. 110 Smiths Are Women
There is still no substitute, however, for a strong arm and hammer. Since nobody has yet invented a device that can shoe a horse, some 21,280 blacksmiths still practice the craft
88.8%