Photos Of Old Harness And Saddle Shop, Circa 1910

[Wallyphyfe]

Here are some photos that were printed from glass plates; the photographer was one of the owners of the shop, and photography was one of his hobbies. A few years ago, a photographer who had a darkroom and lab made prints from well over 100 glass plates that had been in storage for almost 100 years. They all dated from around 1910. Check out the saddle that had been made in their shop. The shop closed around 1930.

[dirtclod]

Those are nice do have anymore?

[Dwight]

I could easily step into the first picture and feel at home. Wouldn't know how to use it all, . . . or make most of their stuff, . . . but I could learn.

Too bad somebody ain't come up with a workable time machine yet............

May God bless,

Dwight

[Wallyphyfe]

Here are a few more, mostly of their saddles and harness, but another of the shop, too.

[Wallyphyfe]

Here are some of the saddles.

[bruce johnson]

Thank you very much for posting these pictures. It is a pleasure to look at these old saddles and the shop they were made in. I see a couple of my favorites (Chase splitters) in the first shop picture.

[billybopp]

Awesome pictures! Thanks! I can almost smell the place looking at the photos.

Bill

[LNLeather]

YES, Thank you very much for posting these pictures - wish I was there too!

How Wonderful finding all those photos - And yes I can smell the leather

and various finish & dressings... I love the smell of leatherwork.

[Mike Craw]

Those shots are fantastic, thanks!

Mike

[Dwight]

Just wanted to chime in on that second bunch of pictures, . . . the middle one.

I love that plank floor and the t&g wooden ceiling. My wife would never go for that in our home, . . . but if I was a bachelor, . . . I could definitely see that in my life. Simple, rugged, good looking.

I know there were other things that really complicated life back then, . . . but some of the things they did were just plain simple, easy, and not complex at all.

Again, . . . many thanks for the pictures, . . . it makes history come alive.

May God bless,

Dwight

Edited August 15, 2015 by Dwight

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Thank you very much for sharing. Doesn't look like things have changed all that much from then till now. Bruce I thought of you the instant I saw those splitters. Wouldn't you like to just walk back in time and go through that door, looking for some work?

It is easy to get lost in time. Thanks again,

Bob

[simontuntelder]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

I tried searching for threads here dedicated to pictures of old work shops but I didn't find much.

- Should we make one?

[shoepatcher]

Any chance of seeing more pics of the old harness shop? I am particularly interested in more pics of the equipment in the shop.

glenn

[chapelstone]

I like seeing these old pictures. I hope more people who them will post them.

[Wallyphyfe]

Those were all of the shots of the harness shop; there were three or four more of individual saddles, with nothing in the backgrounds. I perhaps created an erroneous impression that all of the glass plate negatives that one of the saddle shop owners had taken were of the shop and their gear. Most of them were of other subjects--family members, their ranch, the town, houses, the community--many historically interesting, but not fitting here.

[claireEm]

I have a brass buckle?/harness decoration that was a gift to my mother.....the card says "from Ye Olde Harness Shop, Penzance, Cornwell, England.  It was a given to her around 1970.  Definitely handmade.  I'd like to know more about it if possible.  

[Cumberland Highpower]

What's the machine in the lower right corner of the first plate?

[Cumberland Highpower]

I forgot to mention that when I looked at your photos last week I took a few sec. to look up the shop on Google just out of curiosity.  Seems the owners held several thousand acres of land in the area, and the shop turned to making tops for cars in the 20's.  Closed and was torn down in the 1930's to build a Standard Oil Gas Station.