Today was a really good one. We visited two places and had excellent tours. The first was the Mason and Hamlin Piano Company in Haverhill, Mass. They are one of only three piano manufacturers left in the United States. Our tour guide was the production manager. It was terrific. Everything from receiving wood to shipping completed pianos in three hours. One thing I learned is that there is lots of hand work in making a piano. Their claim to design fame is a tension resonator which keeps the geometry of the sounding board fixed so that the bow is not lost. They have also pioneered actions which are made of filled nylon and carbon fiber. These actions are more precise and need less maintenance. We certainly didn't expect such an extensive tour, but we were greatly satisfied by it. One of those undocumented gems.

Our second stop was the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site in (you guessed it) Saugus, Mass. This was the first technically successful iron works in North America. It operated from 1646 to 1670.It finally closed because it was not profitable. How could that be? It was the only source of iron in the colonies, the rest had to be shipped from Europe. It should have been a captive market and wildly successful. The reason can be summed up in one word: GOVERNMENT. The Massachusetts Bay Colony set the price for the iron from the works. They wanted to make sure the people got a very good price. Unfortunately, they were setting the price below the cost of production. Governments seem to think that something for nothing is a good thing. That golden goose was really tasty, wasn't it?

Today's photo is of the iron works replica which was built in the 1950s. One thing they know for sure is the locations of the buildings because the foundations were in place. There was also a slag pile which helped. The works have actually been operated, but not for a while. The buildings pictured are the iron furnace, forge and slitting mill. I think it would be great fun seeing these in operation.