Views of an 1862 tool shed

[Radio Ron w4ron]

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A friend of mine ran across these views in the February 1862 issue of American Agriculturist and thought they might be of interest.



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[Steven67fr]

A look at the past is always neat. Imagine having to complete all tasks using such basic hand tools. Takes a different skill set for sure. In many of the pictures the tools are arranged with great symmetry.

Thanks for sharing !!!

 

[Syntax_Error]

I can just imagine some garage warrior of the time drooling over that third setup pic. All your tools on the wall is a classic look.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks for sharing, certainly a different era back then, we can all take something away from how things were done in a time gone by.

 

[Bronson]

Looking at all those old tools makes Me tired. All labor performed by that guy named Manual. Manual Labor!

 

[Swan]

The "Encyclopédie" by Diderot and d'Alembert always fascinates me. Beautifully detailed illustrations of tools, workshops, specialized crafts, trades and industry from 18th century France. Amazing.
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/
http://artflx.uchicago.edu/images/encyclopedie/V21/plate_21_2_9.jpeg

 

[thebeekeeper1]

Think of using hand tools (only) to build this:

 

[jkwilson]

My great-uncle had an old shed he called the blacksmith shop on his place. Built before my family came to the US in 1867 from rough cut native lumber. It was about 10X12 and he added a porch about the same size. I remember my grandpa telling me it was on his grandpa's place when he bought it, and they moved it to the other farm with horses and all the neighbors they could get to help on a sledge.

What I remember most about it was the places where the wood was worn down and polished from use. It had a hole in the door to pull it open and closed, and it was worn down an inch or more. Hard to imagine the labor done inside to get that kind of wear from opening and closing the door. One window, a dirt floor packed hard, a workbench along one wall, a single light bulb hung from the ceiling and a small forge in the corner.

When I came along, it had been in use for over 100 years. Harness still hung on one wall, sickles and scythes on another, and a little loft over the bench had bushel baskets. Rakes, shovels and hoes down one wall, some of them probably forged right there in the shop.

My uncle spent a big part of his days sitting on the porch of that shed in an ancient metal chair. Shelling walnuts, cleaning rabbits, fixing a lawnmower or whatever small job needed doing. It was close enough to the road that people could stop and talk to him through their windows.

As boring as it would sound to some people, I'd love to read a diary of that old shed and all it had seen over its 100+ years of use.

 

[Outlawmws]

Neat pics of a bygone era! I wonder if it still exists? It would be cool to see it 150 years later...

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

When I was about 10 we visited one of my cousins who has just finished
their first house. They built it on old family land. While the grownups were
talking my cousin suggested to one of the other kids that I might to see the
old shop.
We walked out into the woods behind the house a ways, we came up on an
old building built from rought sawn wood, inside were a lot of machines I didn't
really know what were, there was a long shaft running through the building with
wide keather belts running down to the machines, outside they showed me were
the shaft came through the wall where a steam engine had once set, it powered
the shaft to power all the machines.
I've often thought about asking if there's anything left of it. that was more than
50 years ago, probably long gone by now...

 

[fatfillup]

That is cool and thanks for stories also.

 

[Alan Douglas]

I wonder if it still exists? It would be cool to see it 150 years later...

I wondered the same thing (I'm Ron's friend and had posted this on the Antique Radio Forum). There is a Sharpless Homestead in Birmingham Township, and it has a wiki page with a link to the application for listing on the National Register of historic sites. The application has some history of that farm, but had the wrong owner as of 1860, so perhaps Townsend was a relative and had his own place nearby.

 

[John in OH]

My great-uncle had an old shed he called the blacksmith shop on his place. Built before my family came to the US in 1867 from rough cut native lumber. It was about 10X12 and he added a porch about the same size. I remember my grandpa telling me it was on his grandpa's place when he bought it, and they moved it to the other farm with horses and all the neighbors they could get to help on a sledge.

What I remember most about it was the places where the wood was worn down and polished from use. It had a hole in the door to pull it open and closed, and it was worn down an inch or more. Hard to imagine the labor done inside to get that kind of wear from opening and closing the door. One window, a dirt floor packed hard, a workbench along one wall, a single light bulb hung from the ceiling and a small forge in the corner.

When I came along, it had been in use for over 100 years. Harness still hung on one wall, sickles and scythes on another, and a little loft over the bench had bushel baskets. Rakes, shovels and hoes down one wall, some of them probably forged right there in the shop.

My uncle spent a big part of his days sitting on the porch of that shed in an ancient metal chair. Shelling walnuts, cleaning rabbits, fixing a lawnmower or whatever small job needed doing. It was close enough to the road that people could stop and talk to him through their windows.

As boring as it would sound to some people, I'd love to read a diary of that old shed and all it had seen over its 100+ years of use.

Great story! You're fortunate to have these memories of your uncle and grandpa. Just curious, where in the US was this shop?

 

[drivesitfar]

not an electric tool to be found. now 4 year olds carry there cell phones to pre school and dogs have micro chips on and in them. nice story and i'm betting that person in that worked and owned that shed could fix almost anything or he knew someone that could.