Colonial Williamsburg Woodshop

[Jamie Bacon]

Hi George. You made mention of the Instrument Maker in one of the photos (Ed Wright) and said that the other one got laid off with the with the rest of 140 of us. I hope your not refering to Marcus?

[Tom Horton]

George,
I see that you still live in Williamsburg. Do you still work for the foundation? And I'm assuming that in 1986 there was a big purge, or maybe a recession, that caused the mass layoffs. I went to that shop last Sept., and the young fellow with glasses was there, talking to the people, and explaining the tools. There was a very large chest in the back of the shop. Was that the one with all the tools in it that you repro'd?

[george wilson]

Jamie and Tom,Marcus was laid off Jan.4,2009 with the rest of us. All,I believe,were older staff who were making more money,and money was what it was about with the economy. I guess if they laid off the young staff,they would have had to lay off 4X as many.

I had been asked for 3 years to establish a behind the scenes Toolmaker's Shop. In 1986 I finally agreed. 16 years in public was long enough. There wasn't sufficient documentation to support a separate Instrument Maker's Shop,so some of the vice presidents wanted to combine the cabinet and instrument shop. We were down to 3 people,from 5,anyway. One left to run the neck making dept. at Taylor Guitars,a major builder. Another left to work at the Smithsonian. Another is at Harper's Ferry. Actually,I'm overlaping employees coming and going a bit. We usually had 5. Started with Marcus and me,slowly built up to 5 over several years,and stayed at that level.

There wasn't room for more than 2 people extra in the cabinet shop anyway,and they didn't want 2 master craftsmen trying to run the same shop. Mack Headley is the Master Cabinetmaker.

Visitors still complain about the loss of the shop. There wasn't a big purge in 1986. There was music,inlay,and carving in the Musical Instrument Maker's Shop. Something for everyone with any artistic instincts.

Now,economics has forced the combining of the Gunsmith Shop and the Geddy Foundry,both with reduced staff. The Harness Shop was eliminated. Shoemaker's Shop is still there. Most shops suffered staff reduction. I think the thinking by non craftsmen decision makers may have been along the lines of "We don't need 2 leather shops",etc. though they served totally different purposes.

I do not know if the situation will ever recover.I can tell you from 16 years of being in public,many people are very curious about technical things. One of the most common questions was "What kind of glue do you use",and why? They got excited over fine work of all types. Paper marbling was almost a magic show. It is gone. Spread the pigments on water,comb them,or stir into different patterns,lay down the paper,pick it up,marbled paper. It was great!! Quick and satisfying. Well,we don't think they did that in Williamsburg in the 18th.C. shut it down. I can tell you,if things were truly authentic,the town would be totally boring except when government was in session. The streets would be 3' deep in manure.Pigs and goats and chickens running around everywhere. Working out houses,millions of flies. Filth. An out of the way little fishing village. They moved the Capitol to Richmond because the British could bombard the town from the river. The town was left to molder till 1927,when the number of old buildings still standing caused Rockefeller to get interested in a restoration. That shows you how busy things were,though.

Fortunately for me,69 this month,I was 2 years overdue to retire. I was staying on to train a new replacement. They waited till the last second to hire someone else. They were extremely fortunate to find a young man with unique talents and a quick learner. We had to learn the tools and ways of ALL the shops to serve them,and to help re-invent tools and forgotten techniques. Many were not so fortunate. I think the town is going to the actors.

I can say I have been lucky. Williamsburg was good to me,and I am grateful for that personally. Without their money,resources,time,other master craftsmen,collections,librarys,etc. I'd never have been able to learn as much,or go in so many directions.

[David Keller NC]

"Jamie and Tom,Marcus was laid off Jan.4,2009 with the rest of us. All,I believe,were older staff who were making more money,and money was what it was about with the economy. I guess if they laid off the young staff,they would have had to lay off 4X as many."

George - That's quite unfortunate, and I suspect will return to bite them hard next summer when tourism picks up and they realize that they can't replace someone with both the manual skills and the public speaking skills necessary to fill the position in a hurry. And, by the way, age discrimination is illegal. Not sure about whether the labor laws apply to non-profits, but the age composition of a layoff is often ipso facto proof for a lawyer, and grounds for a suit. Hopefully you and the others were well taken care of.

[george wilson]

I heard some of the others talking suits,but I really am glad to be out. I didn't want to stay there until I fell over dead. I have a better shop at home than the one there,and now can be free to do some of the things I want to do for once. Besides,I am disabled enough that I need to have a few years left to do my own thing. 39 years was enough,and teaching before that. They can pay me big bucks for consultation if they ever need it !!

[Brad Wood]

I'd dearly love to have an hour of teaching or even an hour to talk to the workers there. Woodworking in the 18Th to 19Th C. is something I've been very interested in.

I probably spent about two hours there talking to those guys. There are a lot of tourists that come through in that period of time, and you often hear the same dialog more than just a couple times... but I was able to ask questions in the lul's between crowds. They were more than happy to "talk shop" for as long as you were willing to hang out

I found the whole thing fascinating. I'm more of a power tool guy, but what really impressed me was that much of the stuff they used 200+ years ago are still found in shops today (powered and classic shops).

I also found it interesting that they make a lot of the furniture/cabinetry for the rest of the colonial area. The whole Williamsburg area was of personal interest as well. My ansestors came over in 1703 to Williamsburg, so I had a sense of an odd connection while I was there.

[Jamie Bacon]

I'm very sorry to hear about Marcus going. I've had quite a few conversations with Marcus on my visits to CW and he was always very informative and great with the public. His presence at the Hay Shop will be missed.

[Berl Mendenhall]

It just won't be the same with out the real craftsmen there. I certainly don't want to pay the price of admission to hear an actor pretending to be a craftsman. Before, I'm sure, there were a fair number of interpretors but at least you felt like the people working in the shops could do what they were talking about. I hope the people running that place don't think those kind of master craftsmen are just going to walk in and ask for a job when this economic mess is over. That's what made that place so special to me, it's not the old buildings, or the history, it's the craftsmen.

I have a video of George and some of the rest of the musical instrument makers shop (done before they disbanded the m i shop), also a video of Guessler (sp) and the gunsmith shop. I like to get them out every once in a while and watch em ( George you were much younger) I enjoy just watching them demonstrate their craft. As I said it just won't be the same for me.

Berl

[george wilson]

Berl,"The Musical Instrument Maker" was a craft film made in 1974. It was ambitious,indeed.We made a spinet harpsichord and a violin in the same movie. Ambitious because we only had the Winter months,when there is less noise,to make everything. We worked very hard. That wig on the back of my head was uncomfortable with those hair pins jammed in,and we sweated like we were in front of a fire in front of the big spotlights. I had 3 hours to saw out that inlay on the spinet while the film crew waited. The floor was like the dark rubber snake room in a carnival fun house. solid electric cables. I wish now that I had had time to make or get a few more authentic tools. There wasn't time,and standards were lower at the time. Too many 19th.C. tools in it. I didn't have toolmaking means at that time like I had later on. I did make the brass violin caliper,and still have it. A copy of a Stradivary tool I saw a picture of long ago. There were really 2 separate films made: one of each instrument,which were more detailed and better films. Too bad they only released the combined film.

I have to apologize for the violin playing. I had no part in selecting the player.I think it sounds screechy.

At the time,I was 33 years old and the shop was in full bloom. The Wallace Gussler Gunsmith movie was earlier. Gussler was pretty young,but I don't know his age then,or now.

The Musical Instrument Maker was the last craft film made. At that time,the producer had a lot of power in Colonial Williamsburg under president Humelsine.

I don't know why the audio visual dept. seemed to decline after that.The producer retired.We changed presidents. They never made a movie about the cabinet maker,shoe maker, bookbinder,printer,wheelwright,or harness maker. There is a short film about coopering a barrel. I don't think it is available.

The gift shop at the visitor center in Col. Wmsbg. sells my film now for $19.95 IIRC. When it first came out,it was $75.00. That was rather a lot back then.

Glad you,and perhaps others enjoyed it. In local libraries around here,you can check out these films for free,like books. I don't know if libraries elsewhere have them.

[george wilson]

Berl,about the actors: Right now,and for some time,actors will not be pretending to be craftsmen. They do social history stuff out on the streets. It would have been unthinkable some years ago to build a stage in the middle of the main street. Even worse to have microphones blaring loudly so you can hear them in the shops up and down the street,while trying to be in the authentic atmosphere of real working shops. We spent time every day replying to visitors that we were not actors,yes,we really make these things,no,we are not college students.

These notions from the public are because they had never been in a real situation. They had been fed Disney Land and Busch Gardens for decades.

There may be a time in years to come when actors start pretending to be craftsmen. Maybe after they all die out,or are not replaced. I hope not. Williamsburg was the best of a very few places where you could see,and learn from real,accomplished craftsmen.Now,is it going to die out,I hope I don't live to see it. I think I was there in the apex of the craftsman era.

If the majority of the public were as this group is,I don't think they would allow it to be so. Unfortunately,they don't seem to be.At least,they don't make upper managers like that,except for those here,like Dave.

I'd say,if you woodworkers or other folks who enjoy seeing handwork have been wanting to go,but putting off your trip to Colonial Williamsburg, GET OFF YOUR DUFFS,and go now!!!

[Clay Thigpen]

You know I think with any Historical area that re-enactments take place there is always some bit of theater involved but having mayors and bankers and other influential people coming there ever few min. to greet each other and play out a skit is very boring. I like to see the trades people and the everyday people cooking and cleaning and other wise going about their daily lives, that is what makes a town "LIVE".

I do Civil War re-enactments and believe me I've seen my share of out of place actors and hokey skits. I've always held some sites like Williamsburg to a higher standard. I guess if it doesn't improve I won't have to worry about another trip up that way, unless you decide to give some classes after you've finished a few projects in your own shop .

I did an event a while back down in West ville, nice place not as nice as others, had a couple of woodworkers there that really knew there stuff they were a joy to talk with, one was Chris Henderson and I don't remember the others but they had a young apprentice that was shaping up to be the real thing. There are plenty of people, here at SMC and out there somewhere, that will try to keep this craft alive but once we start to relegate it to books and stop showing it in action then the spark to light the fire will surely die out in the younger generation. We must endeavor to pass the torch on to the next generation.

OK rant over stepping down from my soap box.

[Leigh Betsch]

Well the wife and I are going to ride the Wing out to VA next summer, visit the daughter at UVA, now I have to get t Williamsburg!!

[george wilson]

I'd advise getting to Williamsburg. There will be more layoffs in March,is the word. Hopefully not as catastrophic as January,but who knows?

[george wilson]

One of the worst things about all this is that what the paying visitor gets to see suffers IMO.