Malinda Lo

A couple of weeks ago I found out that there is an actual historic working blacksmith’s forge located in Fremont, CA, about an hour and a half south of where I live. Coincidentally, the book I’m currently writing has a smithy in it, so I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to see some real blacksmithing in action.

The blacksmith’s shop is part of Ardenwood Historic Farm, which is both a working farm and a kind of living museum. The day I went, it was forecast to be 95 degrees outside, so we decided to go early and attempt to avoid both the rush and the heat. However, we didn’t realize it was also “fire engine day,” which meant the entire farm was jam-packed with parents and little kids who love fire engines. (I have never shared this fascination, though I am thoroughly fascinated by old machinery — see below.)

OK, first up, we visited the blacksmith and talked to him about his work.

The blacksmith at work

He explained that neither he nor the blacksmiths of old wear gloves while working, because they only touch the part of the metal that is cool. When it heats up too much, he cools it off in a pit of water. They make blades and other decorative ironwork at this forge, and in fact they have their own snazzy website: Ardenwood Forge.

In addition to the large forge where the main blacksmith was working, there was a smaller forge that could burn for about four hours straight (the larger one can go all day):

The smaller fire in the forge

It was extremely hot in the forge, but extremely interesting. I would have stayed longer except I felt like I was getting in the way of all the little kids. So we continued on and checked out the giant barn, where apparently they store all the old farm machinery that isn’t used anymore.

Where old farm machinery goes to die?

Next up, there was a display of mechanical engines outside the the barn, all of them making a giant racket. I was drawn to this ad on display of an old-time washing machine (check out the woman reading the paper while her wash gets done!):

Way before Whirlpool ... click to enlarge and read the text

And just next to it was the machine itself:

The actual washing machine

Seeing it didn’t convince me that it would actually clean my clothes very well, but that’s a lot of ingenuity right there. Plus, the washing machine was one of the primary tools that freed women from housework to take on other jobs that involved using tools such as this:

What was written on this?

This ancient typewriter was stuffed on a bottom shelf in the Patterson House located at the farm. It just makes me want to know what sorts of things were written on it. Who knows, maybe someday all the old computers I keep accumulating in my basement will one day be looked upon as a quaint artifact from the dark days.

Have a great weekend!