The Past
Businesses
~ Bakeries
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~ Blacksmiths
~ ~ Blacksmith
shops
~ ~ Blacksmith
equipment
~ ~ Hutchison Blacksmith Shop
~ ~ Jobs and
tools
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~ Gerlib's
Store
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Mr. Hutchison opened the
first blacksmith shop in 1895. He had travelled from Ontario with his wife. When he
reached Enderby he built his first shop from the ground up and set up a business which was
to be a way of life for his family for over 53 years.
His only son, Russell, was born in 1902. He shoed his first horse when he was only 14.
There were several locations for the Hutchison blacksmith shops on Belvedere Street. The
first shop was torched by an angry ex-employee (he was fired because he would often show
up for work drunk).
The blacksmith mostly shoed horses. He charged $7 for a team of
large horses and $6 for a team of small horses. There were two horses in a team. The
horses that were shoed in the winter had narrower shoes put on. There were pads between
the horse shoes that were soaked in pine oil.
They also made horse carriages. Russell and his dad made a fire escape for the old A.L.
Fortune School. Some of the equipment they used were made in the shop, but the bigger
equipment was bought from Cloper Hardware in Vancouver.
Some of the bigger equipment in the shop was electric drills, an old forge, hand blower
for the forge, and clippers. Russell was paid $1 a day when he was working for his dad as
a student. The hired man was paid $2 a day. The blacksmith shop took in $30-$40 a day.
Wade Garrod, Steve Dugdale, Clint Skyrme
ALF School 1989