Blacksmiths, auto mechanics, typewriter technicians and copier technicians
By Jim Intravia 02-Jun-03
I suspect that around 1890, a blacksmith was one of the most respected craftsmen in any town. I would guess that school “shop” classes, if there was such a thing in those days, taught blacksmithing fundamentals. If it were today, that would probably include some weight training, so the arms & pecs would look good. There would also be some physics and chemistry to explain all about heat exchanging, tempering and annealing.
In 1890 Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain, was actively writing. He was saying things like “If you feed a dog and take care of him, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between a man and a dog.” Mark Twain was also one of the first believers in a new invention, the typewriter, and wrote Tom Sawyer on a typewriter. He later invested heavily in the typesetting machine by Remington. He put his money into the wrong product and went completely broke.
Typewriters and Automobiles
Mark Twain was typing in 1874, so by 1890 there might have been typewriter schools and blacksmith schools. The typewriter was just getting started. So were automobiles. In 1898 the first American automobile, the Duryea, was offered for sale. About the same time, the Studebaker brothers started making automobiles (1902,) even though the demand for their Conestoga type wagons still existed, what with the Homestead Act and all those land rushes in the West. But the Studebaker boys made the transition nicely. Their company was in business from 1858 until 1963.
About 20 years after the Duryea, thanks mostly to Henry Ford, cars were replacing horses all over the United States. It stands to reason that the blacksmith would be called on to do some repairs on the cars. The steel and iron of the day was far inferior to what we have now, as were the roads. Consequently, axles broke, springs broke, wheels fell off, spokes snapped, etc. Since the blacksmiths had been fixing the equivalent, or in some cases, identical items on wagons, they got this new work as well. No doubt, some of them didn’t want the new work. They preferred to do what they had been doing all their lives. Some recognized that the industrial revolution, and especially the motor vehicle, changed what they needed to do to make a living. Some blacksmiths evolved into auto mechanics, boiler mechanics, electricians, etc. Some did not.
More cars and fewer horses
It probably was a relatively quiet transition. As horses were replaced by cars and trucks, we would have to assume that some blacksmiths phased out of horseshoes and started bringing their business into the modern technology of the early 20th century. Some others chose to stay with their old skills. That would be okay for a few. As others left the blacksmithing trade, it may have become difficult to find someone who could do what was necessary to shoe a horse, or do whatever other things blacksmiths did; making hand tools, steel fixtures, etc. The once prominent occupation became what we now call a niche.
Lazy old men and changing times at the turn of a different century I would guess that in 1910 or so, old men discussed modern youth and complained that they didn’t know the things they needed to know. The young didn’t know blacksmithing anymore, they didn’t know much about cows or the right way to build an outhouse. Meanwhile, it is quite possible that these skills were still being taught, and those trained in them were finding it harder and harder to find a job. The old men would probably have a hard time accepting the fact that horseshoes and outhouses, which had been necessary for hundreds of years, were now obsolete. Not finished or gone, but obsolete.
They probably didn’t talk much about carbon paper or typewriters. Most people didn’t find those very exciting. But can you imagine what an improvement the typewriter was? Xerographic copies invented by Chester Carlson were practically nothing compared to the introduction of the typewriter. Carbon paper was invented in 1806. Two or three copies of a manuscript were already possible. Xerography merely improved the process of copying and of course allowed copying of documents after they were created, whereas carbon paper was only useful as they were being drawn or written.
Chester Carlson and Mark Twain? 10/22/38
That was the first xerographic copy. Chester Carlson wrote this on a piece of paper and made his copy on that date. That is the equivalent of Alexander Graham Bell’s first sentence over a telephone, which was “Mr. Watson, come here, I need you.”
Mark Twain died in 1910 (Easy way to remember; he was born, and, as he predicted, died, in the year of Halley’s Comet.) What if they had met? Probably wouldn’t have mattered much at all. Carlson would have been a little boy and Mark Twain would have been in his 70s. Nothing would have been any different. Mark Twain lost his fortune before Chester Carlson was born(1906). And Chester Carlson was born 100 years after carbon paper.
Blacksmiths and Typewriter guys
By 1938 the typewriter was perfected. Typewriters and cars were everywhere. There were probably far more typewriters than horses, at least in the industrialized world. And, of course, there were probably far more typewriter technicians and auto mechanics than there were blacksmiths. There was, however, a successful Italian cavalry charge in World War II. 600 saber-wielding Italians on horseback routed 2000 Russians. So, I guess the Italian army still had blacksmiths. They probably needed far more typewriter repair people. Whoops, in those days, there was no political correctness, and far less equality of sexes. They had repairmen, not repair people. And let’s not forget that U.S. Special Forces on horseback in Afghanistan have chased the bad guys in the 21st century.
From about 1900 to about 1980 or so, there were more typewriter repair people, and fewer blacksmiths. Somewhere around 1980-1985, typewriters went electronic. Personal computers and word processors came into existence. As a result, the typewriter repair business went away rather quickly. At that point, there were probably about the same amount of blacksmiths as there were in 1950. Horses still exist for certain reasons; entertainment, park services, certain police activities. And they probably always will. There will always be a niche for some amount of blacksmiths. They probably do other metal-working things besides horseshoes. At this point they may just order the correct size horseshoes from a factory and put them on with Velcro®. I’m exaggerating. I really know nothing about blacksmiths, but I know someone who knows one, so they do exist.
Bye-Bye Typewriters
Like the blacksmiths, the typewriter techs had to find other work to do. Some did not. When I first went into business, there were typewriter shops all around, asking me to send them typewriter business. They were on their way out, and some went out of business. Some moved into related industries; copiers, cartridges, dot matrix printers, etc. A few hung in there to the end, which may never have come completely.
I still see a typewriter on an office desk occasionally. Every time we get a typewriter call, I have a choice of about five places I can send the customer. These are all technicians who stayed in business by learning other things, but still do a typewriter when the business turns up. Why not? If the business is there, you might as well go ahead and do it.
Bye-Bye old skills
For most dealers and technicians, the old skills won’t be enough. The larger dealerships are always the first to take on the new technology and new equipment and to drop or phase out the older. Consequently, the customers in the field who still have older equipment will have to search a little harder to find the companies who can support them. In theory that sounds pretty good. That’s theory. If you were the only one around who could still service those “ancient” Mita 2360s, Sharp 2540s or Ricoh 5632s, and all of them called you, you would have more work than you could handle. That is theory. In the real world;
They won’t find you that easily, even if they are looking.
They won’t pay you top dollar.
The dealer who will no longer support the equipment will be eager to replace it, and those perfectly good 5-year old machines will be scrapped.
Even if you do get all the business you can handle, how long will it last? The last E-stat machine that I can think of was manufactured in 1982. When was the last time you worked on an E-stat machine or sold a bottle of Pre-mix? (If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry; nobody cares.) I would guess 1986 or so. So, in a worst case scenario, if you decided not to learn or service digital copiers, you will be twiddling your thumbs (or “Counting flowers on the wall.” Tell me where that line comes from!) By about 2007, the last analogs produced, will be dying their last gasp. Just servicing the digitals probably won’t be enough. You will have to know more about them, their software, firmware, and what they are capable of then you ever did before. Let’s be sure your last gasp is not approaching too.
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