Early American
TIN LIGHTING
206 Main Street
P.O. Box 312
Dayton, VA 22821 map
(540)879-9798
DAYTON TINSMITH FORGES CAREER LINKED WITH PAST
Aside from the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, tin
never caught a second thought when I was young. I did, of course, gleefully peel the tinfoil coating from chewing
gum wrappers to create miniature candelabra for my "Gone With The Wind" paper doll settings. And later,
I scavenged with fellow Girl Scouts to collect scrap tin and foil for the war effort in World War 11. But objects
made of tin were so commonplace they seemed worthless.
Our kitchen had tin cookie cutters, pie pans, egg beaters, egg stand, canisters, sifter, scoops, funnels, dish
pans and even a tin Lantern to carry outside when the electricity went off in a storm. Exotic food such as pineapple
came from the store in tin cans. Dad had assorted tin boxes and oil cans in the garage. And while I walked home
from school for lunch, lots of my friends toted tin lunch boxes. Tin was ubiquitous and throw-away.
Time, however, has brought a turnabout and tin has moved from worthless to collectible. That earlier attitude of
throw-away, plus tin's susceptibility to rust, raises the ante on ordinary old objects in good condition. And tinners,
or tinsmiths, rare today, still rate community esteem.
Michael Walsh of Dayton
is one of that rare breed. With a degree in the arts, a hobby in woodworking and a love of antiques, Walsh ended
up at craft shows around the state in the 1970's. He picked up a couple of old tin wall sconces and lanterns
and decided to try to reproduce them. Without proper tools, he managed a few satisfactory pieces, and then he began
working wood and tin together-and searching out the history of tin.
"Tin has an ancient lineage," he added. "Records show Phoenician tin mines in Cornwell, England,
about 100 BC and pure tin foil was found in mummy wrappings."
At his shop, Mike posts a list of blacksmiths and tinsmiths-also called "white smiths"-found in the "Rockingham
Register" in 1885: M. B. Childress, Bridgewater, Tinner, 1834; William M. B. Lindsey, Bridgewater, Tinner,
1858; John H. Crist, Timberville, Tinner, 1826. The tinner's family names have lasted in the area longer than the
items produced.
And as items have disappeared, so have tinsmith tools. Walsh improvised for years as he increased his tin work,
and he followed nearby tool auctions. The only local tools he found came from Elsworth Kyger, who gave him a cone
and cylinder Kyger's grandfather, an unofficial tinsmith in Port Republic, had used. The cone and cylinder was
made in England a century ago, and Walsh uses them daily. Increasingly frustrated by need, with no local tinsmiths
to turn to, he studied historical tool catalogs plus Elmer Smith's 1973 publication titled Tinware,
Yesterday and Today. The booklet features Pennsylvania craftsman Phil Kelly.
Walsh looked at the tools in the pictures of Kelly at work and knew this was a man he could learn from. Kelly,
a master tinsmith, had retired after 50 years, but he invited Walsh to visit and he steered him to a tool broker
who specialized in tinsmithing tools. It was half of the impetus needed for Walsh to plunge into tinsmithing full
time. The other half was the opening of the Dayton Farmer's Market in 1986. Walsh was one of the first there.
And there's where I met and commissioned Walsh to create a chandelier for my dining room. Moving from my disdain for tin as a child, I've chosen it to grace the most
formal room of my home. Thanks to Walsh, I not only have browsed through the history of tin in books but touched
that history brought to life by skill.
Excerpted from: Rememberances Revisited
By: Nancy Bondurant Jones
Copyright 1993
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