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From ShakerWoods.com Archived Articles
“We have a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Harpers Ferry and it isn’t uncommon to see a black bear foraging or to find rattlesnakes sunning on a rock,” Stuart said. “We were fortunate to be able to buy the farm before property value started to rise and for 24-years we’ve been casting pewter cups, bowls and plates not unlike the pewter ware our forefathers used at the time our country was founded.” The developing high tech industry in Fairfax County, next to Loudan is attracting 5,000 new residents into the county every month and the couple watches the area filling up with people. On a particular May evening, they are watching another type of immigrant. The 17-year locusts were invading the county at the rate of 1.6 million per acre, hatching daily, crawling up the trunks of trees where they chew holes in the branches to stash their eggs ready to begin the next 17-year cycle. "Can you hear the locusts?" the crafter asked. The sound is unmistakable. The sound of the singing locusts comes humming through the phone line, not unlike the sound of a distant locomotive. “We stay indoors and remind ourselves they only last a few days,” he said. “And how did you happen to choose pewter crafting as a vocation?” “I guess it was for lack of an alternative,” he answered thoughtfully. “Karen and I met in high school and we both did double majors in college including teaching. I went overseas to teach while she took an internship in pewter craft at Fredericksburg. When I came back and we decided to marry, it seemed we should try pewter as an independent business before having children.” They didn’t know how to do mass quantities of the historic replicas so they majored in the basic Jefferson cups, bowls, and plates that are relatively easy to make and not available anywhere else. The business flourished and within a few years, they began their family. Three of their children are teenagers now and their youngest is 3-years old.
The Helbles design, carve and make the molds they use exercising complete control over the quality. “The law requires that pewter contain at least 90% tin. We use 92% tin, 1% copper and 7% antimony, a white hard metal that comes out of Brazil and China. The antimony makes the tin harder. “When Buddy Epson was playing the Tin Man in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ they covered his skin with powdered antimony to give him that silver look. It blocked his pours and he couldn’t breathe. They rushed him to the hospital and he almost died. Live and learn. From his experience, we know that we have to be careful with the way we handle our metals.” As they grew in their knowledge of managing the business, they added more creative and labor intensive ware including vases and candlesticks. They also make pitchers, creamers and hammered trays.
Over the years their line of ornaments has expanded to eleven or twelve styles in 250 designs, not all in stock all the time. Their animal designs encompass rhinos to llamas; cats and dogs, horses and other farm animals. They depict a variety of sports and many professions on their pewter ornaments. “We can engrave some things at the show. If we need to engrave them in the shop, we can ship. We ship 2,000 items every year,” Stuart says. The couple is justly proud of the reputation they have built for quality work. “My motto is ‘If it isn’t good enough for my mother, I don’t want my name on it. We stand behind everything we make and when our name is on the bottom, you know we’ve done our best.” © Copyright ShakerWoods.com |
