Woodworker - Mr Mudd and his carpenters 1917 - Side by Side

by Mike Savad

Title

Woodworker - Mr Mudd and his carpenters 1917 - Side by Side

Artist

Mike Savad

Medium

Photograph - Colorized Photo

Description

Hand colored photo from 1917
Original title: Building 3, Pattern Shop, Mr. Mudd and his staff.
Photographer: Unknown
Location: West Orange, NJ

This is Thomas Edison's pattern shop in West Orange, NJ. Edison's workshop was an invention factory they would create the prototype for the final item, and each dept made parts they needed, they had a blacksmith shop, machine shop, chem lab, all sorts of things.

This building is the pattern shop, their responsibly was to make whatever Edison need from wood. Often they would need a mold for casting something, or boxes or something like that. Patterns are templates or molds used in production to make a particular object.

In Edison's shop their jobs probably varied from day to day, everything was hand made of course, everyone had to be a skilled craftsman.

I'm not sure which one is Mr Mudd, I think its the old guy in the red hat, because he looks like he should be. Then again that guy not wearing anything but a 3 piece suit, is probably the foreman. Because he looks out of place, and he's holding a file but those items look finished.

The original photo was an 8 bit image so there is some shadow loss, but you only lose a leg here and there, and as long as they have at least one leg, they can lean, so get back to work!

Presently this location is a public museum but not all buildings are open, and this one is sometimes locked, but there are pictures, but, the photos are from the door, which is on the left side. This view is impossible to get, so its hard to know what the left wall and band saw area looked like.

The band saw is still there, and its this dull gray color, looks mostly handmade, and its attached to the ceiling and posts, I can only assume when on, the thing swayed. Many of the wheels and belts aren't there today, and even in this image, I can't tell where the power source came from. Its possible they had small motors in those boxes. I do like that they did protect the belts from hands getting gross blood all over them.

Uploaded

February 7th, 2024

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