HISTORY: Thomas Parrish, Blacksmith shop, talk of days past, Mt. Washington, Bullitt Co., KY ***************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other presentation. Commercial entities must ask for and receive permission from submitter before downloading. Contributed by SilasLevi@webtv.net Date: 23 Aug 00 ***************************************************************************** THE COURIER-JOURNAL Sunday Morning Sept. 3,1944 Section 1 page 7 T.H. PARRISH, 83, Smith 63 years, Convinced Car Is Here to Stay Bullitt Countian Still Keeps Busy That the automobile is here to stay is the fully considered opinion of Thomas H. PARRISH, 83 who has been-and is-a practicing blacksmith in Mount Washington Bullitt County, the last sixty-three years. Time was when he held a different opinion. It was along about 1902, he recalled, when he twitted the late Marion BURDETTE, who had the first automobile in the community, about the newfangled contraption that huffed and puffed and scared the horses and couldn't even pull Fern Creek Hill. The only blacksmith's shop in Bullitt County, the dusty, unreal and pungently odorous smithy stands in the shade of PARRISH's two-story white frame house and some oversize sunflowers. Work comes to PARRISH from all parts of Bullitt and also from Jefferson, Nelson and Spencer Counties as he is the only blacksmith for miles around. STARTED FOR $50 A YEAR Competition was keen in the days when he started as an apprentice earning $50 a year. There were five young men vieing for the apprenticeship " and there was a blacksmith shop at every crossroads." After five years as an apprentice, PARRISH and his brother, who was an expert buggy repairer and maker, took over the shop. It was a fine two-story affair on the main street. Some days as many as fifty horses were shod at 80 cents a head-or feet. The present price is $1 with the customer furnishing the shoes. PARRISH had an assistant, "a big strong young man who worked for $1 a day. Time and progress marched on and the site was bought for one of the first garages in these parts, and PARRISH moved his shop to its present location. He put a modern gadget in the new shop a "champion blower" to replace the old-fashioned bellows. He still points to it with pride illustrating how superior it is- simply turning a crank to whip up a good breeze- to the bellows. REPAIRS FARM IMPLEMENTS His nearest competitor, who has been a life-long competitor, is "Tom ASHE in Jefferson County," he said. PARRISH has weathered successfully the twilight of the horse and buggy and he has all the work he can do shoeing an occasional horse and repairing farm wagons and implements. He has been especially busy lately because the recent dry spell has caused the iron and steel rims on wheels of farm wagons to come away from the wheel. He has mysterious contrivance in the shop which provides for heating the meal and shrinking it back to size. PARRISH has condescended to work on automobiles and " welded a bumper on last week," but he doesn't like automobiles. When there is a lull in business PARRISH walks up the narrow path to the front porch and talks to his wife about old times and about their two sons and their two grandsons in the service. He misses the gossip and good fellowship that formerly centered at the blacksmith's shop, the days when elections were settled in the smithy and bets were made on every conceivable contingency. RODE WITHOUT A STITCH ON. He smiled as he recalled one bet made at his shop which rocked the town. A lawyer came to get his horses and wagon and rode away on Back Street. The loafers idly wondered why he chose Back Street instead of Front Street. Some explained that as he was a lawyer he was too proud to drive a wagon on the main street. " I had just as soon ride a horse up Front Street stark stripped naked," boasted one of the men. Immediately bets were taken that he wouldn't dare. The goaded man, "a nice fellow and of good family," tore off his clothes and jumped on a horse and rode up and down the main street "without a stitch of clothes on," PARRISH said. BETS WOULDN'T PAY FINE When the male Lady Godiva returned to the shop for his clothes the stunned onlookers paid off, "but he didn't get near enough money to pay his fine," added PARRISH A life-long Methodist and Democrat, PARRISH only once failed to vote the straight Democratic ticket. "The candidates on the ticket had different little devices under their name," he explained, This fellow Bill MORROW running for County Judge had an anvil under his-just why I don't recall. But I thought it would be good idea, me being a blacksmith, to vote for him though he was a Republican. He was all right- but I didn't vote for him the next time." Sept. 3rd. 1944