Stories

There had been several blacksmiths in Kalle Itäniemi’s family, and Kalle himself was also known as a skilled smith. One high summer before World War II, a teenage boy was sent by bike from Himanka to Kalle’s smithy in order to bring scythes for repair. The distance on rough roads was no less than a hundred kilometres. After the difficult journey, the boy arrived at the smithy, where farmers from Lestijärvi were waiting for their turns. Kalle advised the exhausted boy to enter the house and ask for food. The farmwife Elsa served him food and kept him company. Then Kalle and the boy went to collect the scythes, which had been carefully tied to the bike. In the smithy, Kalle instructed the boy to use the bellows to keep the coals at the right temperature. The farmers waiting for their turns did not like the queue-jumping, to which Kalle noted: “You have had all the winter to come and have your scythes sharpened!” (Rekonen 2018).