CNHI News Service Music Man: Collection of collections

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Audio slideshow: Allen Lake's crafted collection

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Allen Lake uncases a Swedish Hummel, one of the many instruments he's made since retiring from Morehead State University in 1983. Photo by John Flavell THE DAILY INDEPENDENT (ASHLAND, Ky.)

Allen Lake strums a Swedish Hummel at his house in Morehead, Kentucky. Since retiring from Morehead State University in 1983, he's taken up carving and instrument making to keep himself busy. Photo by John Flavell THE DAILY INDEPENDENT (ASHLAND, Ky.)

Allen Lake strums a dulcimer called a "bagpipe" in his home in Morehead, Kentucky. Photo by John Flavell THE DAILY INDEPENDENT (ASHLAND, Ky.)

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It might take a team of scientists to document all of the things retired biologist Allen Lake has collected, carved or constructed through the years.

MOREHEAD, Ky — It might take a team of scientists to document all of the things retired biologist Allen Lake has collected, carved or constructed through the years.
Blake, 83, has what would appear to be an unending series of “another thing to show you” as he points out the art, instruments, tools and trinkets on display in the home he shares with his wife of nearly 60 years, Betty, who has a few collections of her own. While there are plenty of things crafted by others, much of their surroundings are made up of things Lake himself built or created.
“This house was 40 by 24 when we moved in with five kids. That’s not a lot of room,” he said with a chuckle before adding, “I’ve been building since.”
Lake came to Morehead shortly after his service with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and worked as part of a six man crew which built 23 houses in one summer. He points out the work was done in the days before power tools, when every board was cut by hand with a manually powered saw.
The Lake home, considerably expanded since they moved in, is a comfortable showcase for items ranging from his carvings of horses in motions and dogs of emotion to Betty’s pottery, baskets and glassware including 500 different types of food jars displayed on 200 feet of gallery shelving he built for them. He built the grandfather clock near the doorway as well as the floor it stands on.
If forced to choose, Lake might admit musical instruments, especially things with strings, are among his favorite possessions. The myriad of instruments related to the dulcimer family dominate much of his melodic collection, although he has picked up a few others along the way which might defy the imagination and skills of any modern musician.
“I’m always interested when I find an instrument,” he said with a gleam in his eye, after gingerly moving a hurdy-gurdy out of the way to retrieve a Hummel Swedish dulcimer and coax a version of Beethoven’s “Ode To Joy” from the strings and fingerboard.
From another case he reveals a French dulcimer, or Eponet Des Vorges “which translates to ‘The little piano of the mountain,’” he said, before moving on to his Nyckelharpa, a Japanese-built India dulcimer with numbered keys like an old-fashioned typewriter; and a triangular bodied Russian balaka, which has similarities to the mandolin often employed in American bluegrass music.
There’s also the hammered dulcimer he built and tuned himself, not far from a ukulele he finished in the past year. In a room full of rare and often forgotten forms of music making devices, one of Lake’s own creations may be the most unusual. It is a “courting dulcimer” designed to be played by two people sitting dangerously close and face to face. He made one side a “lefty” so Betty could play it, and the other side following the usual pattern preferred by those with a dominant right hand. The slightly unusual-looking wood used for the courting dulcimer’s acoustic body was salvaged from a packing crate which carried a telescope to Morehead University from Japan.
“I call it Oriental Oak,” he said, laughing and making it understood he has no idea what type of tree the wood originally came from.
“Another thing ...,” he said opening a door and revealing a back room with hundreds of implements. “I collect tools.”
Among the many devices in their appropriate places is a noticeable number of Crescent wrenches of the style found in practically any tool box. Lake explained the Crescent company’s founder began his production in Jamestown, New York, which is also his home town. Pulling a screwdriver with a “T” handle from a rack on the wall he pointed out the Crescent firm actually marketed other tools which weren’t the handy wrenches which have survived to modern use. The collection has highlights including items manufactured and used in Great Britain, and beyond, hundreds of years ago.
Hanging from the ceiling above the expanse of tools are many of Betty’s hand-woven baskets.
Near the front door, Lake explains his interest in the things he keeps is simple.
“This is all just for fun,” he said. “This is a great life we have. It would be a shame not to have fun.”
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.