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EDOUARD
ISABEY OPENED A SMALL MACHINE shop beside Richard Shore’s implement
warehouse about 1893. He came to the French settlement at Grande
Clairiere a few years earlier but, having served his apprenticeship as
a gunsmith and mechanic in France, he was not interested in farming and
found in the young town of Hartney a suitable field for his talents.
His capabilities with machinery impressed the English speaking farmers
slowly, so Mr. Isabey opened a bowling alley beside his machine shop to
augment his income. He married the niece of Father Gaire who came from
Lorraine, France, to be her uncle’s housekeeper. The Isabeys built a
sturdy brick house near the south end of West Railway and there made
their home for the rest of their lives. Mr. Isabey enlarged his machine
shop in 1901 and built a brick pool room beside it in 1904, disposing
of his older bowling alley and pool-room to Dr. Gahan who turned it
into Hartney’s second drug store.
Mr. Isabey was a member of Hartney’s first Brass Band, acted as a
leader for some time and played in it for many years. Mr. Isabey was a
tall man, with a short black beard and as he played his horn, while the
band marched down the street, he was an impressive and outstanding
figure.
Mr. Isabey was early interested in automobiles. He installed an engine
in a buggy and ran the vehicle around Hartney’s streets to the
amazement of the citizens before Mr. Crawford’s Ford car appeared to
add to their interest. Mr Isabey was one of the earliest mechanics able
to service automobiles and gradually his machine shop became a garage.
Adapted
from The Mere Living, page 105.
A Day
in the Life of a Mechanic
Eduoard Isabey’s transition from machinist to auto mechanic enabled him
to develop a whole new profitable life in Hartney. Some information
about this kind of work, following, suggests Mr. Isabey’s worklife.
When automobiles became available just before the beginning of the 20th
century, there were a myriad of manufacturers making hand-fitted
vehicles. Production runs were low and spare parts difficult to obtain.
For the early car owner, there were no auto repair businesses. If the
owner himself maintained his vehicles, he would seek out a bicycle
mechanic, machinist, plumber or blacksmith to repair or fabricate
parts. Wealthier car owners employed chauffeur-mechanics as servants
who would drive and maintain their vehicles.
By the 1920s, motorized vehicles were common place and, as
manufacturers like Ford used standard interchangeable parts, it was
possible for the vehicle repair industry to grow, either as independent
companies or as dealerships for a specific automotive maker. Mechanics
were paid by the hour or day and repairs were billed for the actual
time taken.
Repair shops with good mechanics had a big advantage as repairs were
quicker and therefore cheaper. Even within the same shop which mechanic
was assigned to a job could make a big difference in the cost. To
introduce some stability to the market, standard times for set repair
jobs started to be used for billing.
This interior of automobile repair shop suggests
Eduoard Isabey’s workplace.
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