WEBVTT - Master of a Dying Art

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<v Speaker 1>On the Job is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.

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<v Speaker 1>at a top employer or start a new career in

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<v Speaker 1>today's job market. Express Nose Jobs, get to No Express,

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<v Speaker 1>Go to Express pros dot com. Welcome to on the Job.

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<v Speaker 1>This season, we're bringing you stories about people finding their

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<v Speaker 1>professional stride by virtue of who they know, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>breathing new life into an age old profession, taking the

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<v Speaker 1>reins in a family business, forging your own path with

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<v Speaker 1>a new idea, or landing the perfect job doing something

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<v Speaker 1>you'd never before even considered. Today reporter Otis Gray brings

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<v Speaker 1>us a story about a craft that is no longer

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<v Speaker 1>as needed as it once was, and a man whose

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<v Speaker 1>job is to make sure it's not forgotten. Jim Ellis

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<v Speaker 1>lives on Cape Cod, and with the help of a

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<v Speaker 1>very unlikely apprentice, he works to pass along an occupation

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<v Speaker 1>that was once woven into the fabric of our society

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<v Speaker 1>over to you, Otis. I don't know, just that I

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<v Speaker 1>think we're in too much of a hearty these days.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything's too simple. God, they gotta remember how the old

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<v Speaker 1>time has got us to this point. It wasn't for them,

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<v Speaker 1>we wouldn't be here. So I drove out to Barnstable, Massachusetts,

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<v Speaker 1>on Cape Cod to meet a guy named Jim Ellis.

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<v Speaker 1>He lives in this old, historic looking house. There's a

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<v Speaker 1>plaque outside that says House of Ellis right on the porch,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a family name here dating all the way

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<v Speaker 1>back to the Mayflower. And when I walked into Jim's kitchen,

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<v Speaker 1>he was sitting next to a pair of crutches and

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<v Speaker 1>he was in a lot of pain. It's just shop

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<v Speaker 1>it banks. TC eyes have had both rotator cuffs repaid

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<v Speaker 1>over the years, and I think I tore another one

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<v Speaker 1>for a second time. But if I haven't looked at tomorrow,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, we'll see what happens in his line

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<v Speaker 1>of work. A torn rotator cuff makes things difficult and

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<v Speaker 1>really really hard, but you can laugh about it. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>what else you gonna do? You see the laugh? Or

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<v Speaker 1>drink beer? That's cheaper than laugh. Not an ideal injury.

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<v Speaker 1>Because Jim Ellis is a blacksmith. Is the rotator cuff

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<v Speaker 1>a result of your work black smithing? I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>I think a g e has a lot to do

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<v Speaker 1>with it. You just heard eighty one that week, and

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<v Speaker 1>in a world of fast moving, high tech jobs, some

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<v Speaker 1>that didn't even exist thirty years ago. Jim is a

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<v Speaker 1>third generation blacksmith. It picked it up from my father,

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<v Speaker 1>and he got it from my uncle, and my uncle

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<v Speaker 1>got it from Mr Kent, who started hearing a village

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<v Speaker 1>in about eighteen eighty eight. I think in that area,

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<v Speaker 1>and even at eighty one, Jim still swinging a hammer

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<v Speaker 1>any day that he can still at it hundred eleven

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<v Speaker 1>years in the same village, doing the same job, in

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<v Speaker 1>the same family. I just I love it. I love

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<v Speaker 1>the old history. I'd try to keep it going. So today,

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<v Speaker 1>with Jim shoulder on the mend, we follow his story

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<v Speaker 1>as he strives to pass along the craft from another time.

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<v Speaker 1>Under a spreading chutnut tree, the fellows smithy stands the Smith.

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<v Speaker 1>A mighty man is he, with large and sinewy heads,

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<v Speaker 1>and the muscles on his brawny arms are as strong

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<v Speaker 1>as iron bands. His hair is crisp and black and long.

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<v Speaker 1>His face is like the tan. His brow is wet

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<v Speaker 1>with honest sweat. He earns whatever he can, and he

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<v Speaker 1>can look the whole world in the face, for he

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<v Speaker 1>owes not any man. That's Jim reciting the Village Blacksmith,

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<v Speaker 1>a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in eighteen forty.

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<v Speaker 1>Jim has this poem hanging on the wall in his shop.

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<v Speaker 1>This is where I first met Jim. I was driving

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<v Speaker 1>around the cape when I saw a brick building on

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<v Speaker 1>the side of the road with a sign outside that

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<v Speaker 1>said Blacksmith, right in the driveway. I pulled over and

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<v Speaker 1>I walked in to find Jim amongst the sea of

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<v Speaker 1>iron tools and hooks and chandeliers, iron everything hanging from

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<v Speaker 1>the walls ceiling, poking out our shelves and buckets, and

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<v Speaker 1>talked against the back wall was Jim sitting out a forge,

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<v Speaker 1>a glowing furnace powered by a hand crank where he

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<v Speaker 1>heats his iron up until it glows red so he

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<v Speaker 1>can bend it and hammer into whatever shape he wants.

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<v Speaker 1>Like walking through kind of a day. What your tasks are,

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<v Speaker 1>what you do in the shop, everything, Well, that's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of a what I like about it. You never know

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<v Speaker 1>what's gonna do. I mean, people bring things into bvpaid

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<v Speaker 1>from weather veins to any kind of antique stands and

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<v Speaker 1>and I've even got an antique picture frames and stuff

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<v Speaker 1>and says some stuff very intricate, like little wall hooks

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<v Speaker 1>and plant hangers. And the other day I had to

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<v Speaker 1>make a U shaped piece of iron to hold the

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<v Speaker 1>sign of a guy wanted. And now it's just bang bang,

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<v Speaker 1>bend it and put a hook on it, and you're

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<v Speaker 1>all done, just bending, heating up metal and bending it,

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<v Speaker 1>shaping it. What a lot of us think about blacksmithing,

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<v Speaker 1>We picture a burly guy at an anvil pounding away

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<v Speaker 1>on a hot piece of metal. You might be pick

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<v Speaker 1>shuring a sword or medieval times, and that's part of it.

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<v Speaker 1>Shaping a square piece of iron into something usable, like

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<v Speaker 1>a blade or a hook to hang things. But what

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people don't realize is this is how

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<v Speaker 1>things were originally welded, right up until the nineteen hundreds.

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<v Speaker 1>Welding as in taking two pieces of metal, getting them

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<v Speaker 1>hot enough so that they melt, and joining them together

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<v Speaker 1>the heart. It is easier just to move a good

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<v Speaker 1>welding heat is twenty dred degrees fahrenheit. When the iron

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<v Speaker 1>goes past that cherry red color to a bright light yellow,

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<v Speaker 1>the iron melts and literally begins to move. With electric

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<v Speaker 1>and gas welders we have today, that kind of heat

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<v Speaker 1>comes pretty easy. How years ago they used to have

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<v Speaker 1>to bring it up to that heat. That's how they

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<v Speaker 1>did the welding. They didn't have electricity, they didn't have

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<v Speaker 1>wealth and gases. The welded in the fire, So you

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<v Speaker 1>gotta get the i nd right to that melting point

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<v Speaker 1>and then hammer it together. By its nature, all of

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<v Speaker 1>Jim's work looks old fashioned. The way things used to

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<v Speaker 1>be made is not perfect and smooth like most metal

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<v Speaker 1>objects we see today. Most of the things around his

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<v Speaker 1>shop have a rougher quality to it, and that's the

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<v Speaker 1>way he likes it. A lot of people don't like

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<v Speaker 1>to leave Hamma Max. I love Hamma Box. Matter of fact,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes I use this special hammer to make different marks

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<v Speaker 1>in it. Why do you love the hammer market? It

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<v Speaker 1>just shows that it's a handhammered, not gunning a machine. Character.

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<v Speaker 1>Blacksmithing is a job that's part of our cultural lexicon.

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<v Speaker 1>Everyone knows what the job is, even though most people

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<v Speaker 1>today don't know a blacksmith. Even in the nineteen fifties,

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<v Speaker 1>long after blacksmithing had faded from it's heyday, it's still

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<v Speaker 1>topped the charts in the song blacksmith Blues by lam

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<v Speaker 1>A Morse in ninety two. That's because blacksmiths are a

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<v Speaker 1>huge part of our human story. The blacksmith was pivotal

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<v Speaker 1>in every village, town, and city dating back almost a

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago when humans began successfully making iron tools,

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<v Speaker 1>They fixed armor and made weapons, making the vital to conquest.

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<v Speaker 1>They made farming equipment, axles for wagons. They were quite

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<v Speaker 1>literally what held society together. Blacksmithing remained a completely necessary

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<v Speaker 1>job right up until the Industrial Revolution, but with the

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<v Speaker 1>invention of bigger machines affordable tractors for Farmers and Fords

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<v Speaker 1>model T car to replace the horse and buggy. Blacksmiths

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<v Speaker 1>quickly found their profession obsolete at the turn of the

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<v Speaker 1>twentieth century. Afterwards, blacksmiths specialized in craft goods, but much

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<v Speaker 1>of the profession died away during the depression in the

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<v Speaker 1>years following. The craft itself made a huge resurgence during

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen seventies as folks became interested in its history

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<v Speaker 1>and its application to modern sculpture and crafts, but not

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<v Speaker 1>many people do it as a full time job like

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<v Speaker 1>the old days. Jim is not an exception. Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>try to make enough to keep the shop going, but

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<v Speaker 1>now it's it's pretty hard to make a living at

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<v Speaker 1>it the way I'm doing it, But being retired, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't I don't have to plan on it for my

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<v Speaker 1>my income, but I do have to break even at

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<v Speaker 1>least In another life, Jim worked on nuclear weapons in

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<v Speaker 1>the military, and it was a mechanic until he broke

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<v Speaker 1>his back in a truck accident in the seventies. Now

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<v Speaker 1>that he's technically retired, he runs a shop more like

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<v Speaker 1>a museum than anything. Although I always had the fire going,

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<v Speaker 1>I always had a piece of identified people like to

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<v Speaker 1>see the uh, you know, the medal being forged, and

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<v Speaker 1>especially kids like to see it putting the water and

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<v Speaker 1>sizzle and all that. But yeah, we're just just trying

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<v Speaker 1>to keep the interested in blacksmithing. How many more years

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<v Speaker 1>do you think you're hav any for blacksmithing? Ah, well,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll keep that as long as I can. So now

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<v Speaker 1>we're back where we started. The gym shoulders. He can

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes do two hours a day before he's cashed out.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you ask Jim if he's worried that all

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<v Speaker 1>his knowledge of tools and blacksmithings stop with hum, he'll

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<v Speaker 1>tell you not at all. Why because he's got a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty unlikely protege to carry on the tradition. I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>so yeah. Yeah. My name is Nora Bourbon and I

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<v Speaker 1>full time I'm a metal engraver and part time black smith.

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<v Speaker 1>I say unlikely because Nora is five, too skinny and

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<v Speaker 1>prefers to forge an address. Not the classic image you

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<v Speaker 1>have in your head when you think of a blacksmith. Nope, nope,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm very petite, little little lady. Usually it's the big,

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<v Speaker 1>burly dude. Do you think other people find it weird

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<v Speaker 1>that you do something like blacksmith. I think it surprises

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people, considering more of my height and

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<v Speaker 1>just how scrawny I look. But I think, um, people

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<v Speaker 1>really respect it and they think it's very interesting what

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<v Speaker 1>I do. Nora has been learning from for about three

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<v Speaker 1>years now, and she enjoys not fitting into the stereotypical

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<v Speaker 1>image of a blacksmith, being able to prove maybe two

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<v Speaker 1>young kids like it is really nice to show that

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<v Speaker 1>as an inspiration to younger people or smaller people, that um,

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<v Speaker 1>anyone can do this trade. Even though you can swing

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<v Speaker 1>an eight pounds sledgehammer. You don't have to be a

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<v Speaker 1>big person that goes to Jim all the time or

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<v Speaker 1>something like that. This in particular shows that you really

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<v Speaker 1>anyone can do anything that they put their mind to. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>she's she's doing wonderful. She loves it. I was gonna

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<v Speaker 1>smile on her face. I've learned so much from Jim

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<v Speaker 1>over the last just couple of years, and I've slowly

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<v Speaker 1>done a little bit on my own here and there

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<v Speaker 1>throughout this time, this whole time. But I like the

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<v Speaker 1>old process. I like the simple ways, and um, I

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<v Speaker 1>even make soap from scratch and I grow vegetables and

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<v Speaker 1>I grow things in the garden. You're pretty old fashioned.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, ver. We'll get back to the story in

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<v Speaker 1>a second. First, a word from Express Employment Professionals. A

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<v Speaker 1>strong work ethic, takes pride in a job well done,

0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:24.240
<v Speaker 1>sweats over the details. This is you. But to get

0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:27.920
<v Speaker 1>an honest day's work, you need a response, you need

0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:33.000
<v Speaker 1>a call back, you need a job. Express Employment Professionals

0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.160
<v Speaker 1>can help because we understand what it takes to get

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<v Speaker 1>a job. It takes more than just online searches to

0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.840
<v Speaker 1>land a job. It takes someone who will identify your talents,

0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:47.000
<v Speaker 1>a person invested in your success. At Express, we can

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<v Speaker 1>even complete your application with you over the phone, will

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<v Speaker 1>prepare you for interviews, and will connect you to the

0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:56.000
<v Speaker 1>right company. Plus, we'll never charge a fee to find

0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.679
<v Speaker 1>you a job. At Express. We can put you to

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<v Speaker 1>work with companies of all sizes and industries, from the

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<v Speaker 1>dot com or on the Express Jobs app. And now

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<v Speaker 1>back to our story. I I love her Renaissance spirit.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's just let's do things the old Wait, yes, it's uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know, It's just that I think we're in

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<v Speaker 1>too much of a hurry these days. Everything's too simple.

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<v Speaker 1>You're gonna slow it out, do it right, do it once,

0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:41.800
<v Speaker 1>it'll last. I gotta remember how the old time has

0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.959
<v Speaker 1>got us to this point. It wasn't for them, we

0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:59.440
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't be here toiling, rejoicing, sorrowing away through life. He

0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:05.880
<v Speaker 1>goes each morning somewhere began, Each evening sees it close.

0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:13.160
<v Speaker 1>Something attempted, something done, has earned him a night's repose.

0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.320
<v Speaker 1>Thanks thanks to thee my worthy friend, for the lessons

0:14:17.320 --> 0:14:20.320
<v Speaker 1>thou hast taught. Thou set the flaming forge of life.

0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:24.120
<v Speaker 1>Our fortunes must be rocked thus on a sounding ample

0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:32.640
<v Speaker 1>shaped each burning beat and thought. Being in gym shop,

0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.480
<v Speaker 1>I couldn't help thinking about something I picked up as

0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.000
<v Speaker 1>a job when I was in college, sign painting. I

0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.440
<v Speaker 1>learned typography and painted signs by hand for businesses around Providence,

0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.160
<v Speaker 1>Rhode Island, where I went to school. It was a

0:14:46.200 --> 0:14:50.400
<v Speaker 1>really tough thing to be even okay at. Like blacksmithing,

0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.680
<v Speaker 1>sign painting used to be a very necessary job in

0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:58.840
<v Speaker 1>society before computers and vinyl printing. Sign pages would design storefronts,

0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:03.200
<v Speaker 1>scale the sides of buildings and paint mammoth, advertisements and logos.

0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.120
<v Speaker 1>It was messy, tedious, hard work, and today it might

0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.640
<v Speaker 1>seem like a creative passion, but years back it was

0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.840
<v Speaker 1>a real, vital job that would feed families. It taught

0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:17.640
<v Speaker 1>me patience, something I was born lacking a little bit.

0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.000
<v Speaker 1>And as I felt the brush slowly glide over glass

0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.800
<v Speaker 1>or wood, knowing all the practice I had done before

0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:25.960
<v Speaker 1>led up to this one mark I had to do

0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.720
<v Speaker 1>in one stroke, there was a sense of satisfaction and

0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.040
<v Speaker 1>confidence that I didn't know before. It is that feeling

0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:35.320
<v Speaker 1>you get when you've done something right and you know

0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:39.080
<v Speaker 1>you didn't take any shortcuts. Today you can drive around

0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.280
<v Speaker 1>and see the remnants of old sign work, faded letters

0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.200
<v Speaker 1>wearing away on the size of brick buildings like ghosts,

0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.360
<v Speaker 1>evidence of something from long ago. And the more I painted,

0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:54.360
<v Speaker 1>the more I appreciated those disappearing letters, something undeniably human,

0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.800
<v Speaker 1>like a fingerprint, a record of how far we've come

0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.560
<v Speaker 1>hammer marks. If learning an old job like that did

0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:06.040
<v Speaker 1>anything for me, it was that it helped me appreciate time.

0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:09.480
<v Speaker 1>For thirty five year old Nora and blacksmith thing, it's

0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:15.240
<v Speaker 1>the same I feel that I need to hold onto

0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.920
<v Speaker 1>as much knowledge as I can so that it can't

0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.600
<v Speaker 1>it can stay stick around and doesn't escape. I know,

0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:27.000
<v Speaker 1>I realized how hard the old type has worked. I mean,

0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:29.000
<v Speaker 1>you know, I'm listening to my mother, how she grew

0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:31.280
<v Speaker 1>up on a farm and the things they had to

0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.240
<v Speaker 1>do before she went to school, walked to school and

0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:39.800
<v Speaker 1>riding horses, and they worked really, really hard. How hard

0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.120
<v Speaker 1>it was to put an eye entire on a wagon wheel,

0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:46.480
<v Speaker 1>how it was to make a wagon wheel, all these things.

0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>It's just I don't know. You know, if you know that,

0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:53.240
<v Speaker 1>I think it helps you get along in today's world,

0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.640
<v Speaker 1>knowing what other people went through so you can be

0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:05.280
<v Speaker 1>where you are. They helped you get there. Jim Ellis's

0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.760
<v Speaker 1>skills and knowledge are part of our collective DNA as humans,

0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:10.960
<v Speaker 1>and he plays a vital role in making sure that

0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.600
<v Speaker 1>we don't forget Jim as a craftsman. That's the job

0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:18.399
<v Speaker 1>he's passing on to Nora. But more than that, to me,

0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.760
<v Speaker 1>I think they're both in the business of gratitude, of

0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:26.639
<v Speaker 1>passing along and appreciation. What do you think the future

0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:29.800
<v Speaker 1>of blacksmith thing looks like. I think it's it's comed

0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.399
<v Speaker 1>al for a long time. Yet there's a lot of

0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.720
<v Speaker 1>young people really into it. And uh so, yeah, I

0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.560
<v Speaker 1>think it's compr alf A while I can't see it

0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:50.280
<v Speaker 1>Gornaway surely. Yeah, we'll keep keep it alive for On

0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.320
<v Speaker 1>the Job, I motus Gray, thanks for listening and see

0:17:53.359 --> 0:18:23.720
<v Speaker 1>you next time. M thanks for listening to On the Job,

0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.480
<v Speaker 1>brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. Find out more

0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.440
<v Speaker 1>at Express pros dot com. This season of On the

0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.360
<v Speaker 1>Job is produced by Audiation and dread Seat Ventures. Our

0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:38.560
<v Speaker 1>executive producer is Sandy Smallens. Our producer is Otis Gray.

0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.600
<v Speaker 1>The show is mixed by Matt Noble at The Loft

0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:45.040
<v Speaker 1>in Bronxville, New York. Find us on I Heart Radio

0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.520
<v Speaker 1>and Apple Podcasts. If you liked what you heard, please

0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.920
<v Speaker 1>consider rating or reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or

0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.120
<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen. We'll see you next time. For more

0:18:55.160 --> 0:19:13.040
<v Speaker 1>inspiring stories about discovering your life's work, Ariation