Highlights from the 2002 Annual Meeting, Rochester, New York

Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, Inc., The, Jul/Aug 2002 by Hall, Elton

On a sunny and mild afternoon in May the vanguard of the participants in the EAIA 2002 Annual Meeting converged on Avoca, New York, about an hour's drive south of Rochester, to visit the headquarters of Martin J. Donnelly Antique Tools. Martin and his wife Kathy greeted us cordially and invited us to prowl about the facilities and partake of the liquid and solid refreshment they had provided under a tent pitched on the lawn in front of the warehouse. Torn between the desire to greet old friends and inspect Martin's merchandise, most of us did as much of both as we could.

As one would expect, Martin's establishment is very well organized. One building contains the office, suitably decorated with a fine collection of old tool advertisements and signs of various kinds. Nestled among these nostalgic items are a number of computer work stations where the various branches of the business may be carried out in a comfortable and efficient setting.

The warehouse, an old, long, frame building fitted with a few modern conveniences, was filled with shelves upon which his goods were arrayed in order for future sales. On tables in the middle were the lots to be sold two nights later at our hotel. Along the walls, floor to ceiling shelves were stocked with tools of every description. All had lot numbers and labels with their identifications. There are not many places where such an impressive array of tools may be seen. We milled around for most of the afternoon, nodding at the items we knew and discussing those with which we were not familiar. Gradually we departed for the hotel at Rochester where those for the three-day plan would register and the EAIA Board would meet.

Thursday, May 16, was a day of programs at the hotel, a lucky choice for the weather was no longer favorable for outdoor activity. Jim Bovay, our location manager, said that Rochester had been known as the city of flour, but was now the city of flowers, and this week it could be the city of showers. He even threatened us with snow. The morning began with triple activity in the forms of tailgating in the parking lot, bookselling in the hotel, and breakfast, among which members moved by turn, with the tailgating obviously receiving priority.

As those activities wound down, the more formal sessions began with two morning illustrated talks, one by Gordon McDugle on "Tinsmithing: The Art & Tradition," followed by Tom Grasso on "The Erie Canal: Life & Times." The former was a good mechanical arts talk, and the latter was particularly appropriate since the Erie Canal passes right by the entrance to the hotel.

After lunch we again had three further opportunities. One lecture series comprised Frank Kosmerl on "Toolmakers of Rochester," Dan Semel on "Evolution of Revolution Counters: From Speed Indicators to Portable Mechanical Tachometers," and Ron Pearson who discussed "Digitally Photographing Tools." Simultaneously Emily Conable spoke on "Glimpses of the Rochester Nursery Trade," and Susan Kinsey gave us, "A Look at Old Cookbooks." At the same time Bill Quade and Bob Lindner gave a demonstration in Shaker box making and Jim Stewart explained chip sign carving. At the end of the afternoon, Nancy Uffendell conducted a guided tour of Mt. Hope Cemetery, an enchanting area in the romantic tradition that was wonderfully populated with splendid and varied examples of the stone cutter's art.

In the evening those attending their first annual meeting were welcomed by the board members at a special reception. The final event of the day was the traditional Whatsits program led by the celebrated Ivan Risley to which the strange and curious as well as the broken and incomplete were subjected to our collective scrutiny. There was no official scorekeeper, but as usual, certain items were identified with certainty, some were the subject of learned speculation, and some brought laughter. When the session ended, business picked up in the bar.

Friday was devoted to the Genessee Country Museum in Mumford, New York, a recreated nineteenth-century village founded in 1966 by John W. Whele. Realizing that the work of carpenters, builders, and housewrights was fast disappearing from the region, Whele conceived of a museum comprising examples of regional buildings brought together in a village setting and used to showcase the work of the other trades of that region. The result is a collection of some fifty-seven relocated and restored residences, commercial, and agricultural buildings, appropriately furnished and set on a two-hundred acre village with another thousand acres of farm, grass, woods, and wetlands. There was far more to see than could be absorbed in a day's visit, so we all did the best we could to get around and see what most attracted our attention. Many of the buildings were staffed with interpreters and demonstrators who gave us some history and showed us how various things were done.

A notable demonstration was provided by Ted Kinsey, one of the meeting committee members, who with some fellow interpreters put an iron tire on a wagon wheel. Some of us had a chance to beat on a hickory log to make basket splints, or watch gunsmithing, cabinetry, tinsmithing, pottery, printing, and many other trades. We all came away with considerable respect for what had been accomplished there, largely through the vision and means of one man. A few of us thought about what fun it would have been to collect for that organization.