The Same Old Questions And Comments?

[thingmaker3]

In another thread, Tom commented:

Years ago, before I considered participating in craft fairs and folk-life events, I spent a day watching a blacksmith performing in public. He was asked the same dozen questions and the same dozen comments, over and over, all day.

As one who is contemplating spending time working at such events after retirement, I would very much like to know what the more common comments and questions are. Can anyone share some of them?

[chyancarrek]

I did 5 years as an interpretive smith at a national historic site so here's my top 5 . . .

"Whatcha' makin'?"

"How hot is that?"

"Blacksmithing is a dying art"

"Do you make weapons?"

AND . . .(drumroll please . . . .)

"MY GRANDFATHER WAS A BLACKSMITH!!!"

Believe me, these are just the tip of the iceberg. For the most part, folk are honestly curious and appreciative of the info you share but they can come up with some real doozies when it comes to questions and comments!

[glen56]

yep did time at a pioneer village,a few thousand kays from you blokes but the same questions and answers,used to have school days where a thousand or so little kids would come through ,used to say,pointing at the forge 'does anyone know what this is called' various answers ,got to the anvil and on 1 occasion a small child spoke up and said;thats the thing that falls on wile.e coyote head in the road runner cartoon,take care ,glen

[Drewed]

"Whatcha' makin'?" - A mess

"How hot is that?" - Ever been to the sun?

"Blacksmithing is a dying art" - So is conversation.

"Do you make weapons?" - Yes, but you wouldn't want to pay for it

AND . . .(drumroll please . . . .)

"MY GRANDFATHER WAS A BLACKSMITH!!!" Mine wasn't!

[CurlyGeorge]

One of the best ones that I ever got was......"Is that a real fire?":blink:

[John McPherson]

Look up "Stupid Spectator Tricks" in the back of this section, 'bout page 175.

If you think people are clueless, rude and dangerous on the highway, you ain't seen nuthin' yet until you do public demos. :blink:

[dablacksmith]

i have done demos for most of my adult life the more common ones

is that a real fire ?

blacksmithing is a dieing(dead) art answer ime not dead yet!!!

can you shoe my (wife, girlfriend, friend, horse) my latest answer to that is a sandal i made from horeshoes i point to it and ask would you like to be hot fit !

my (insert relative here) was a blacksmith. my answer oho where at ? and what type of work did he do? (about half of um were farmers that just fixed stuff on the farm)

how hot is that ? answer the forge can get steel hot enuf to melt... or burn!!!

i always love (sarcasim here) the people that lovelingly explain(to children) as ime forging a complicated piece "this is how they used to make horshoes in the old days" i usually interject that this is how all ironwork was made in the old days from nails to guns

good luck and have fun with the public most wont buy anyway so injoy!

[Frank Turley]

Lots of people have never seen or experienced coal. Tom Turtzo of Pennsylvania had been asked repeatedly, "What's that black stuff?" Finally, one time he told a guy that it was cottage cheese spray painted black. The guy kind of lurked in the background till the demo shut down. He then approached the hearth and felt the coal. Testing, I guess.

Lorelei Sims was asked whether she had ever been burned. Her reply, "Yes, but I'm over him."

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

[Francis Trez Cole]

The best one I heard and had to laugh "could I make it look hand hammered like the paint" yes she was blond.

The other one I find fascinating is people that just walk up and stare at the fire and nothing else like waiting for something to happen or come out of it.

[CurlyGeorge]

Frank, I've heard Lorelei say that one, too. And she didn't even smile when she said it. :D

[thingmaker3]

Certainly sounds like some fun can be had with the answers. I'm thinking I might be well off by following a quick reply with a memorized blurb that educates.

Example: "What a coincidence! My grandad was a blacksmith too! After all, prior to the second world war almost every farm in America had a forge and anvil. These skills were vital. A blacksmith might be called on to fix a chain, repair a gate, or straighten the axle on a model T"

As for staring blankly at the fire, well, um, I do that myself... :unsure:

[clinton]

Ya I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has told me their grandfather was a blacksmith.

[mike-hr]

Georg O'Gorman of the CBA told me a fine anecdote a while back. He was making S-hooks or something volunteering at a mission. The tourist lady had visited the gift shop, and was grilling Georg about why a simple hook cost what they were asking. He replied," Well, it took me three years and twenty minutes to be able to make that piece." She thought for a minute, smiled, and went to the gift shop to buy some.

[CurlyGeorge]

The best one I heard and had to laugh "could I make it look hand hammered like the paint" yes she was blond.

The other one I find fascinating is people that just walk up and stare at the fire and nothing else like waiting for something to happen or come out of it.

Francis, I think that I might know what she was talking about. My wife brought home a can of black Rust-oleum Hammered paint, the other day, to paint a plant stand. It says "Unique Hammered Finish". The paint appears to vary in consistancy and gives some thick spots and some thinner spots. I hadn't seen it before. :)

[David Einhorn]

Let us not forget the question, "can you make a sword?"

and for comments, I was once looking at a display of relics at the Visitor's Center in Gettysburg and a man told his son that a sword in the case (standard issue sword) did not look well made because it was made by a blacksmith. I guess he was expecting gold plating and jems in the scabbard.

[DocJohnson]

Another I have heard is, "Is that real, or did some one make it?"

On several occasions, I have heard a parent tell their child that, "You had better do your school work or you will end up doing a job like this." I will respond to the child saying, "And if you would like to this, you need math, geometry, drafting, art, and metallurgy, at the very least. So work hard in school, it is worth it."

I think some of the folks that refer to their grandfathers as being blacksmiths, may just be trying to connect in some way with the smith. I will ask some of them if their grandfather did his work in the barn, or did he have an outbuilding? Their answer can be telling.

I had two great grandfathers that actually were blacksmiths. They worked in the big Great Northern Railway shops, steam hammers and such. I doubt they ever made a nail.

It was, at times, difficult to remain in that character, circa 1827, with the landing pattern of the international airport right overhead. I am loud, but not that loud.

And a big thank you to all those that do demonstrate smithing, DocJohnson

[ThomasPowers]

I often offer to hot shoe an obnoxious heckler---tell them that it's the last pair of shoes they will every need---they wear like iron!

My great grandfather was the smith for a small rural town in AR

And I love the parents who come up as I'm forging a pattern welded knife and tell their kids "Look he's forging a horse shoe!"

For the older folks I can mention the *old* westerns---think Regan as an actor and remind them that the old towns in them had a forge at the livery stable---but also a blacksmith's shop as a separate building.

I've run into the education one too and mention that I only have two science degrees and work for a world famous astrophysics research facility and this is what I do for fun! After a hard day of chasing bits in computers coming home and *hitting* *something* *repeatedly* was great therapy...

[Randy]

Doing craft shows and volunteering at the Farm Museum I heard all of those, too. Plus no matter what I was doing I heard, "Look, it's RED hot!". And no matter what I was making they said it was a horse shoe. Maybe that's why I hate horse shoes and railroad spikes. Oh, and while I'm hammering and have a display of my work nearby, they'd say, "No one does this any more." So what am I doing?! After about 15 years of this I'd just finished a detailed dragon's head and heard it was a horse shoe, took another high heat on it, stuck in the guys face and said, "Does this look like a horse shoe???!!!" It was then I decided to teach, but no more demo's for the public.

[Fe-Wood]

Thanks Guys- I've had a good laugh from this thread. I've only done one demo and it was so long ago, I don't remember any of the comments...

[chyancarrek]

"Whatcha' makin'?" - A mess

"How hot is that?" - Ever been to the sun?

"Blacksmithing is a dying art" - So is conversation.

"Do you make weapons?" - Yes, but you wouldn't want to pay for it

AND . . .(drumroll please . . . .)

"MY GRANDFATHER WAS A BLACKSMITH!!!" Mine wasn't!

Naww . . . I never smart-mouth em' back, no percentage in it. I just smile and nod and let them believe what they want.

[Ten Hammers]

I have a hood on my trailer forge. Just 14 ga gas welded inverted hopper with a flu pipe out the top and a vertical sliding door on front. Roughly 30" tall. Keeps the breeze off the fire and gives me a dark area to see how the heat is on the piece in the fire. You would be surprised at the folks that come up and lean their arm on the top of the hood for a second or two. I finally had to write " HOT " on the back of the hood. Sure enough a grandmotherly type walked by one time and just had to touch the hood. The nice part about the hood is, when you have a storm come up and you close the door and put a bucket over the flu pipe, you have a fire after a 2" rain ( in 1/2 hour ) and nobody else in camp of course does. If you have the presence of mind to put the coffeepot inside the hood before the rain, you can "have a cup while you forge (in the mud). " Whatcha makin Mister ? " " Ice Cream ". " ICE CREAM ? " " Yep, out of horse manure " :)

[Frosty]

I liked; "Is this old or did somebody make it." The "S" hook was still warm from the fire, the wax kind of soft and sticky.

Is that a REAL fire?
Is that HOT?
"How hot is it?" A good question in my opinion.
"Is that a hammer?" I TRY not to look at the questioner like a squid wearing sneakers.

I've wanted to find a Wil E Coyote stuffed doll for some time now to put under my anvil. Since asking a school class of youngsters come to see me demo and I asked the group if they knew what THIS is and placing my hand on the anvil. One youngun spoke right up, "A coyote killer!"

I LOVE kids at demos, they ask the best questions and have no prejudices about old fashioned, etc.

Another of my favorite demo memories comes from the 95 AK state fair. I was entertaining an audience of between 30-35 folk, doing my usual leaf coat hook, telling the usual stories and generally having a good time. All of a sudden I notice a couple young girl voices over the group and my own self so I stop a second and look around. Then two young ladies standing well back from the audience say something again gesturing ambiguously. I ask them to move closer as I can't hear them, they repeat whatever they were asking so I motion them closer. After a few repeats they finally stop under a sign and I can just make out part of what they're saying.

"Whisper whisper Lumberjack?" "Lumberjack?" I say back. They both start nodding excitedly and say, "Lumberjack show," At which point I put my right foot on the anvil, keeping time with my turning hammer and launch into a chorus of "The Lumberjack song."

Oh I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.
I eat my lunch, I cut down trees, I go to the lavatry!

Okay, I rembered the lyrics and more of them better in 95 but that's the song. My audience broke up laughing and the girls started backing away slowwwwly, obviously afraid of the obvious madman they'd stumbled across. THEN I pointed to the arrow shaped sign they were standing under that said, Lumberjack show."

Boy that memory puts a smile on my face.

Frosty the Lucky

[Francis Trez Cole]

I had a heckler in the crowd I told him the this story I add to the story
Legend of the Ringing Anvil
or
Why We Ring Our Anvil
and, Whence Comes The Luck of the Horseshoe
MAGINE . . .

THE old blacksmith is "sitting" with one hip propped on his anvil. Gathered around his feet are three or four little barefoot children. Obviously one of the kids has asked a question because in a deep Irish brogue, you hear the blacksmith saying,


"So you want to know why we sometimes tap our anvil while we work do ye?"

WELL then, Once upon a time long long ago and far far away; on an island where the grass is emerald green,

VILLAGE SMITH was shoeing a horse at his open air shop. His large anvil rang with each blow to the shoes. Standing quietly in the shade of the spreading chestnut tree, the horse waited patiently.

THE DEVIL, passing by, heard the ringing of the anvil and decided to see what was going on. He stood watching as the blacksmith made a wonderful set of new shoes for the horse.

THE SMITH then proceeded to trim the horse's hooves and nail the shoes in place. The horse stood quietly as this was done, and when the smith finished, the owner of the horse mounted his steed and took him for a trot down the road.

THE HORSE was noticeably happy with his new shoes, for he danced and he pranced all the way to the corner and back.

SEEING THIS, the Devil being a hoofed creature himself, decided that he must have a set of these wonderful shoes. He approached the smith and told him to prepare a set of shoes for him.

THE SMITH (realizing that this was the Devil himself), made a set of shoes too small, trimmed the hooves too short and drove several close nails in each of the devils hooves. He also clinched them quite heavily so they would not come off easily. The Devil in terrible pain, *( that he tried to get a way and the blacksmith grabbed the devil with his tongs by the nose his scream could be heard 3 miles away) lame and very sore footed went running away and suffered for many days.

O to this very day when ever the Devil hears an anvil ringing he makes it a point to stay as far away as possible.

HIS is also why hanging a horseshoe over the door keeps the Devil away!

HERE be two ways to hang a shoe. The blacksmith will hang a shoe with the heels down, so that the luck of the shoe may pour over his forge. But YE must hang a shoe with the heels UP so that the luck will remain in your house!

AND ye canna just use a shoe ye find by the side of the road. For when the shoe was lost, the luck was also lost from the shoe. Instead, you must go to the blacksmith and buy an old shoe that he has taken off of the horse's hoof. For when he removed the shoe, he removed the luck with it, and tis still in the shoe!

Jim Paw-Paw Wilson


At the end of the story I show the tongs to the heckler and ask do you really go there again? That works real well.

[David Einhorn]

Over the years I have evolved a tri-fold brochure that tends to answer the most commonly asked questions of the nice category. It currently has a cropped historic photograph of army smiths circa 1863 showing horses for the Army of the Potomac, information to find the ABANA web site and to find educational opportunities near where they live, a very brief description of forging/shaping a knife blade, and whatever other information I can cram into a single sheet of a two-sided paper brochure. This saves me from repeatedly writing information down for people who have sincere questions. Its probably time to update it again.

If I learned anything from working in retail stores during my youth, it is that there are and always will be people who get their jollies from trying to upset salespeople and public demonstrators, especially salespeople and others who are limited in their response to the situation due to risk of getting fired or otherwise into trouble. The solution that I came up with for such people is to turn the situation into a sales opportunity. I identify something we had in stock and present it to the person with a smile and polite sales pitch, with the subtle implication that a nice, intelligent and successful person like himself would find the item desirable because of those qualities, with the unspoken implication that not purchasing the item would indicate the opposite. At least one person on this forum has witnessed what happened when a young man approached his smithing display and made the mistake of trying to verbally show off for his girlfriend at our expense..... Having grown up on the old midways of Atlantic City, NJ, I recognized a prime sales situation that the carnies loved, and I proceeded to politely sell him something for his girlfriend which emptied his pockets. He spent all of 97 cents on a horseshoe ring that my friend had in stock which was every penny the teen had and hopefully resulted in his learning not to pick on salespeople and demonstrators. ;-)

[Junksmith]

Francis, I think that I might know what she was talking about. My wife brought home a can of black Rust-oleum Hammered paint, the other day, to paint a plant stand. It says "Unique Hammered Finish". The paint appears to vary in consistancy and gives some thick spots and some thinner spots. I hadn't seen it before.

Yeah, I've used that a few times. It works OK but the inconsistencies are awful small to say it looks hand hammered to me. I think Rustoleum is just repackaging batches of paint that didn't come out quite right! :lol: