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The blacksmith at Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant had a sign that said 'NO HORSE SHOES' and I still laugh about it | Blacksmiths - Vivisector

williamw75•3h ago

The blacksmith at Old Threshers in Mt. Pleasant had a sign that said 'NO HORSE SHOES' and I still laugh about it

Went to the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa last month and spent a good two hours at the blacksmith shed. There was this older guy named Dale working a coal forge, and taped to his anvil was a handwritten sign that just said NO HORSE SHOES in all caps. I watched about 15 people walk up and ask him to shoe their horse anyway, and he'd just point at the sign without saying a word. Turns out he quit shoeing in 2008 because he wrecked his back and now he only does hooks, fire pokers, and letter openers. He sold a basic S-hook for $12 and a twisted poker for $45, and he had a line the whole time I stood there. I get why people ask, but man, the sign was RIGHT THERE. Any other smiths run into this at shows where folks ignore what you actually make?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessaperry1h ago

That sign was right there and people still asked, but the thing is, most folks at a reunion like that have never met a blacksmith before. They see the forge and the anvil and their brain just goes straight to horses, because that is the only picture of smithing they have ever seen. So it is not really that they ignored the sign, it is that they did not know there was anything else a smith could even do. Dale pointing at it without a word is funny, but I bet half of them walked away thinking he was just being rude instead of learning that hooks and pokers are the actual work now. Honestly the sign probably would have worked better if it said something like "I make hooks and pokers, no horses, bad back" instead of just the two words.

the_eric1h ago

Dale could have added "will not shoe your horse, will not fix your wagon, will not make you a sword" and saved himself the trouble. My own sign game is weak too, I once made a sign for my woodshop that just said "not a hardware store" and people still walked in asking if I sold screws. Half the battle at these events is folks only knowing the one thing they saw in a movie once. A sign can list every single thing you do and somebody will still ask about the one thing you do not.