#farriers

With all the talk these days about artificial intelligence and its anticipated devastation of employment as we know it, let’s peer into some balmier times and the technological disruptions inflicted on past trades, specifically horseshoeing.

Up until about World War I, unless you traveled by railroad or electric streetcar, you needed a horse to get around, and horses needed regular horseshoeing. Especially in urban environments with cobblestone or crushed-gravel pavement, horses might need new shoes every 10 days or so.

Horseshoeing was a lucrative trade, and it was unionized. In fact, there were two horseshoeing unions, one for the journeymen and one for their bosses. The Master Horseshoers’ Protective Association met in Cincinnati for a national convention in 1898. They were very concerned about a new mode of transportation that threatened their livelihoods – the bicycle. It is impossible to exaggerate the bicycle’s explosion in popularity during 1896. Two years later, the horseshoers were still feeling the pinch and hoping bicycles were nothing but a passing trend. The Cincinnati Post [18 October 1898] reported the view of one convention delegate:

“H.E. Richards, representing the Ausable Horse-Nail Company, New York, gives it as his opinion that the bicycle is only a fad, that is dying out. He declares that in the midst of the craze the business of his company fell off. Now, he says, it is picking up. The wheel, he says, is passing, and the horse is the thing again.”

Mr. Richards was not alone in his over-optimistic prognostications. As late as 1920, when automobiles had all but monopolized the city’s streets, the Cincinnati Enquirer [6 April 1920] saw hope for the horse.

“The horse is coming back in a last struggle to hold his place against the progress of the automobile, tractor, truck and airplane. The Department of Agriculture estimates that horses on United States farms increased from 19,833,000 in 1910 to 21,109,000 on January 1, 1920. Mules increased, too, according to the estimates.”

That year, the Journeyman Horseshoes held their national conference in Cincinnati and desperation seethed through the delegates. According to one, quoted in the Post [19 July 1920] automobilists and their ilk were antagonizing The Almighty himself:

“Bernard Flatley, president, said horseshoers had made little progress until the war showed them their importance in industry. He urged more publicity for the horse. ‘Man is flying in the face of God,’ he said. ‘The horse is a creation of God and should not be relegated to the side of the road to make place for the inventions of man.’”

A person today, looking at old photographs and rare antique films might be forgiven for thinking the automobile had completely obliterated the horse by the early 1920s. Not so. At the beginning of the Great Depression, the Cincinnati Post [5 April 1932] profiled two Cincinnati businesses still dependent on horseshoes. J.D. Antill ran a livery at 1118 Clay Street in Over-the-Rhine. His stable boarded 12 horses at that time, but many of his stalls were vacant and cobwebbed. Most of his customers were peddlers. Although Antill recalled bygone days when every Sunday was busy with young men renting buggies to take their ladies for country drives, his lone remaining rig sat dusty and unused. Henry Imholt pounded out iron horseshoes at 1108 Broadway in Pendleton. When there weren’t enough horses to shoe, the Imholt smithy got by forging ice tongs – just as electric refrigerators were beginning to spell the end of the iceman’s visits.

That year, Cincinnati membership in the Journeyman Horseshoers dropped to fewer than two dozen from a peak of more than 160 card-carrying members in decades previous. The Master Horseshoers’ Protective Association had long since disbanded. Still, diehards insisted automobiles were on the way out. Charles Selzer was chief horseshoer at the French Bauer dairy. He told the Cincinnati Post [3 April 1929] that the day of reckoning approached when mankind would abandon the frivolous automobile.

“‘It will come a time,’ he explains, ‘when big business will not have so much money. They will have to save. Auto trucks cost money. So big business will go back to drays which don’t cost so much. Then it will happen, also, that the workingman will get smaller pay, and he will be glad to own a horse and rig instead of an auto. He will like it, too – you will see. There is no sport in driving a car.’”

In 1929, all the milkmen employed by French Bauer delivered their dairy products by horse-drawn cart. Charles Selzer managed the in-house smithy for the firm at Seventh and Smith streets out in the West End.

Alas, Mr. Selzer never lived to see the automobile get its comeuppance. In fact (forgive the spoiler), quite the opposite occurred. In 1956, the Cincinnati Post returned to French Bauer to talk with the last remaining horseshoer on the payroll. His name was Henry Luehrmann. He was 64 years old and he no longer shoed horses. French Bauer had abandoned horse-drawn carts in 1946 and Mr. Luehrmann was transferred to the refrigeration department. Even though he hadn’t shoed a horse in a decade, Mr. Luehrmann remained secretary of Local 12 of the Horseshoers’ Union, a group that had not met in a decade and existed only as a listing in Cincinnati’s AFL Union Directory.

When the horseshoers’ union disbanded in 1946, there were only 10 members. In 1956, Mr. Luehrmann could think of only two remaining card-carriers, John McGinnis in Maderia and N.C. Jackson in Highland Heights, Kentucky. Both still shoed actual horses. Mr. Luehrmann had long since transferred to the Milk and Ice Cream Drivers and Dairy Employees Union, which generously allowed him to keep his seniority.

“Cabinets are easier to work with than horses,” he told the Post. “They don’t kick. But horses are more interesting. As a trade, horseshoeing was one of the best. Most of us worked steady and the pay was good.”

Back in 1898, the Master Horseshoers took the trolley out to Chester Park and posed for pictures on the steps of St. Peter Cathedral. They also argued about whether their standard fees for shoeing city horses were just good business practice or a monopolistic restraint of trade. Times were good, even though the handwriting was on the wall.

YouTube has recommended me hoof restoration videos (Idaho Horseshoeing School) and it is very satisfying to watch, but it has made me question Mother Nature. What happens with wild horses? Are all of their hooves deformed and uncomfortable to walk on? I know Europe has had farriers since at least the middle ages, but did the ancient greeks make horse shoes? Apparently horses were in the Americas and went extinct about 10k years before colonization. Did indigenous people make them shoes? Horses were apparently domesticated around 1500 BCE in Asia. Did they have shoes?

Farriery has ancient origins and historically the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were more or less synonymous. Blacksmiths feature in various mythologies and The Smith and the Devil is believed to potentially be one of the oldest European folk tales. Research estimates it is around 6000 years old, meaning this story goes back to the Bronze Age. The bare bones of the folk tale is that a blacksmith makes a deal with a malevolent being then tricks them.

Danish soldier conversing with a blacksmith, presumably a scene from the Second Schleswig War, 1864 by Frants Henningsen  (1850–1908). Oil on mahogany.

(Picture source)

Even in ancient times people saw the need to protect their horses hooves, though nailed on horseshoes developed later. Existing references to the nailed shoe are fairly late, first known to have appeared around AD 900. But by the time of the Crusades they were in widespread use and often mentioned in written sources. It's not surprising then that farriers and blacksmiths appear quite regularly in art history, as they've been a part of society for so long.

The farrier (1997) by the Belgian painter Albert Demuyser (1920–2003). Oil on canvas.

America’s game as it was played in 1864. This free public event is enjoying its 4th season and Historic Ramsey House is proud to be a part of this historic reenactment.  The players play by 1864 rules, wear period uniforms and our local Knoxville teams bare the names of actual teams that existed in Knoxville during that time. The Knoxville Holstons and Emmett’s Machinists play other vintage league teams from around the state.  The league has been in existence for 5 years and has grown from two teams to somewhere close to 15. See game dates for those to be played at Ramsey House below:

May 20        12:00   Travellers vs Holstons       &   2:30 Mountain City vs Machinists

June 3         12:00   Farriers  vs  Machinists     &   2:30 Scouts  vs  Holstons

June 17       12:00   Machinists  vs  Holstons

June 24      12:00    Maroons  vs  Holstons       &   2:30 Scouts  vs  Machinists

July 29        12:00   Phoenix  vs  Machinists     &   2:30 Quicksteps  vs  Holstons

August 26  12:00   Distillers  vs  Holstons       &   2:30 Cumberlanders  vs Machinists

Historic Ramsey House appreciates your support of our food and beverage sales.  The proceeds from the sales help us to continue to bring this great educational event to our community. Please bring a lawn chair an umbrella for shade and leave the coolers at home. Thank you!