Centre Acadien, Université Sainte-Anne

The Village Blacksmith shop – In the decades before and after Confederation, few trades were as important to the success of Canadian communities as blacksmithing. This was no less true in Clare, where one could count twenty-seven blacksmith shops: every community had at least one, with some as many as five. Fishermen, farmers, loggers, and builders all needed the skills of the blacksmith.

A typical shop was often large enough to hold wagons, plows, horseshoe racks, raw materials brought in by ship, the multitude of tools that the blacksmith used, and even animals (oxen and horses).

In the darkened, smoke-filled shop, a leather-aproned ‘smithy’ could be seen at work. There were the familiar sights and sounds: sweltering heat from the forge, long tongs pulling out pieces of chalky-looking, glowing iron, the ringing of hammer against anvil, the sizzle of heated metal cooled suddenly in water, and the whinny of horses and snort of oxen. In his shop, the blacksmith made new items and repaired old ones; he shod oxen and horses, made repairs to carriages, wagons, tools, and machinery, and built anchors for vessels.

The photo featured was taken in Chicago, ca. 1915, and shows a Comeau family who left Clare to establish a blacksmith shop in Chicago in 1906. Jerry Comeau had been a blacksmith and farrier in Clare prior to his family’s 1906 departure and he continued the family tradition in Clare, at Beaver River, upon their return in 1920. This photo shows the Borden Dairy delivery boys, one of their important clients in Chicago. Note the curbside anvil. This image also illustrates the tremendous importance of blacksmithing at the time and the expertise of Clare Acadians, taking their skills to other parts of the world.

Blacksmithing is one of the world’s oldest trades, but modern technology and the rise of the automobile rendered some traditional aspects of the profession obsolete except in smaller but significant niche markets.

Topic: Commercial Enterprises and other livelihoods

Date: 1906-1920

Reference: Centre acadien Collection Centre Acadien Photo 3

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