The Last Village Smithy: Memories of a Small Town In the New England Hills - Softcover

Glabach, Ray

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1456759019 ISBN 13: 9781456759018

Publisher: AuthorHouse Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

The Last Village Smithy is a book of true stories about life in the very small New England town of Leyden, MA during the 1950s. Written by the son of the village blacksmith who served the town and surrounding areas for 66 years, many of the tales revolve around experiences of the blacksmith, his family, and events at the blacksmith shop. Other stories relate first hand experiences of New England hill country life in the mid-20th century including one-room schools, the volunteer fire department, and lives of local farmers and loggers.

About this title

From the Author:

I've lost count of the number of readers who have told me how my book has brought back memories of their own about growing up in a mid-20th century environment. It's wonderful to bring so many smiles to so many faces. Younger readers too have thanked me for painting a picture in their minds of how their parents and grandparents lived in the years before TV, iPads, and cell phones... in some cases, before electricity and telephones were common.

From the Back Cover:

Excerpt from Chapter 3: The Ox Shoe Incident -- One of the large sliding doors on the south side of the shop was wide open and Henry went through it on a dead run followed closely by the angry ox. Henry ran completely through the shop and out an open door on the garage end. Luckily, the ox was slowed somewhat by its new iron shoes which didn't provide much traction on the hard concrete floor. But, it knew where Henry went and charged out the door after him.

Excerpt from Chapter 17: The Cellar Savers -- When the spray of water hit the fire and hot bricks, it instantly turned to a huge quantity of steam. The steam immediately changed direction and exploded out the top of the chimney. The steam explosion launched many bricks and one very startled fireman off the roof still clutching the writhing fire hose as if it was an enraged python with a bareback rider.

Excerpt from Chapter 28: The Ripsled Riders -- With no way to stop, and no place to except straight ahead, on we went. We all yelled and screamed as loud as we could. The rider with the flashlights waved them frantically, hoping the car's driver would see them. No such luck. The car slowed at the intersection and then pulled out onto our road just a few yards in front of us and moving much slower than we were. Luckily the road was wide and the kid in front was a good steerer. Just as the hill flattened out into the valley he suddenly steered to the left side of the road. We passed that car like it was standing still! It would have been priceless to see the expression that must have come across the face of the driver as his headlights caught the sight of that sled full of kids passing him and pulling ahead.

About this edition

• Publisher: AuthorHouse Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1456759019
• ISBN 13: 9781456759018
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 388