Letter: Sharing more to the story of blacksmith’s resurrected truck
To the editor,
More of the story…
– In the March 20 issue of the Paso Robles Daily News, was the story about how a ’36 Ford truck that belonged to Fred Cuendet was resurrected. Fred had owned the blacksmith shop on the corner of 13th and Railroad Streets. The shop was in place for 50 years and then it became the home of Chubby Chandler Pizza. Today it is the Backyard beer garden on Thirteenth.
When the blacksmith shop ceased operations, two of the big doors from the building ended up at Pioneer Museum. There were blacksmith shops in every town including one in Templeton on Main Street where the sign is still seen. It is true that Mr. Cuendet became known for his skill at making custom branding irons. They were a much-needed commodity in those times.
What ties these interesting facts together is that Mr. Cuendet verified each finished branding iron by burning its mark onto the doors of his building….those same doors, with all the branding marks that are at Pioneer Museum in the historic blacksmith shop display adjacent to the branding iron display! To make it even more interesting is that both of these displays are right next to the Swift Jewel Barbed Wire display with 1000 pieces of different barbed wire samples. It is the 2nd largest collection this side of the Mississippi River.
To see this local history and thousands of other local artifacts, Pioneer Museum is open Thursday – Sunday from 1p.m. to 4. p.m. at 2010 Riverside Ave., Paso Robles.
Chuck Desmond
Paso Robles
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