Popular Technology Volume I Part 10

The whole process generally occupies from twelve to sixteen months.

When strong solutions of tannin are used, the leather is formed in a much shorter time; but, in that case, it is much more rigid, and more liable to crack. It is rendered smooth and compact, by beating it with a wooden beetle, or by pa.s.sing it between rollers.

10. Oak bark, on account of its cheapness, and the quant.i.ty of tannin which it contains, is more extensively employed by tanners than any other vegetable substance. In sections of country, where this kind cannot be conveniently obtained, the bark of the hemlock, spruce, and chestnut, the leaves of the sumach, and various other astringents, are subst.i.tuted.

11. The process of tanning calf-skins is somewhat different in many of its details. They are first put into a solution of lime, where they remain during ten or fifteen days, and are then sc.r.a.ped on both sides on the beam, with a circular knife, as in the former case, and for the same purpose. They are then washed in water, and afterwards immersed in an infusion of hen or pigeon's dung. Here they are left for a week or ten days, according to the state of the weather and other circ.u.mstances; during which time, they are frequently _handled_, and sc.r.a.ped on both sides. By these means, the lime, oil, and saponaceous matter, are discharged, and the skin is rendered pliable.

12. They are next put into a vat containing weak ooze, and afterwards removed to several others of regularly increasing strength. In the mean time, they are taken up and handled every day, that they may be equally acted upon by the tanning principle. The time occupied in the whole process, is from two to six months. The light and thin sorts of hides, designed for upper leather, harnesses, &c., are treated in a similar manner.

13. The tanner procures his hides and skins from various sources, but chiefly from the butcher, and from individuals who kill the animals for their own consumption. Great quant.i.ties of dry hides are also obtained from South America, where cattle are killed in great numbers, princ.i.p.ally for the sake of this valuable envelope of their bodies.

THE CURRIER.

1. It is the business of the currier to dress the thinner kinds of leather. In most cases, in the United States, except in and near large cities, the business of tanning and currying are usually united in the same individual; or, at least, the two branches of business are carried on together, by the aid of workmen, skilled in their respective trades.

2. The mode of dressing the different kinds of skins, varies in some respects; but, as the general method of operating is the same in every sort, a description applicable in one case will convey a sufficiently accurate idea of the whole. We shall, therefore, select the calf-skin, since it is more frequently the subject of the currier's skill than any other.

3. The skin is first soaked in water, until it has become sufficiently soft, and then shaved with the _currier's knife_, on the inner side, over the _currier's beam_. It is then placed on a table, somewhat inclined from the workman, and scoured on both sides with the edge of a narrow, smooth stone, set in a handle, and again, with an iron _sleeker_ of a similar shape. The skin is next _stuffed_ with a composition of tallow and tanner's oil, on the flesh side, and then hung up to dry. Afterwards it is rubbed on the hair side with a board, and again sc.r.a.ped on the flesh side with the knife. Having been thus prepared, the skin is blacked on the flesh side with lampblack and tanner's oil, and subsequently rubbed with paste, applied with a brush. When it has been dried, the whole process is finished by rubbing both sides with a gla.s.s sleeker.

4. Horse hides are blacked on the hair side, or, as the curriers term it, on the _grain_, with a solution of copperas water. Leather designed for harnesses, for covering carriages, and for other similar purposes, is also blacked on that side in the same manner.

5. The trade of the currier is divided into two or three branches.

Some dress only calf-skins and other thick leather designed for shoes, harnesses, and carriages; others confine themselves to dressing skins, which are to be applied to binding books, and to other purposes requiring thin leather. It may be well to remark here, that the dressers of thin leather usually tan the skins themselves, using the leaves of sumach, instead of bark.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHOEMAKER.]

THE SHOE AND BOOT MAKER.

1. As the shoe is an article of primary utility, it was used, more or less, in the earliest ages. Some writers suppose, that the Deity, in clothing man with skins, did not leave him to go barefooted, but gave him shoes of the same material.

2. The shoes of the ancient Egyptians were made of the papyrus. The Chinese, as well as the inhabitants of India, and some other nations of antiquity, manufactured them from silk, rushes, linen, wood, the bark of trees, iron, bra.s.s, silver, and gold, and sometimes ornamented them with precious stones.

3. The Romans had various coverings for the feet, the chief of which were the _calceus_ and the _solea_. The calceus somewhat resembled the shoe we wear at present, and was tied upon the instep with a latchet or lace. The solea, or sandal, was a thick cork sole, covered above and beneath with leather, and neatly st.i.tched on the edge. It left the upper part of the foot bare, and was fastened to it by means of straps, which were crossed over the instep, and wound about the ankle.

Roman citizens wore the calceus with the toga, when they went abroad in the city, while the solea was worn at home and on journeys. The solea was also used at entertainments; but it was changed for the calceus, when the guests were about to surround the table.

4. The senators wore shoes, which came up to the middle of the leg, and which had a golden or silver crescent on the top of the foot. The shoes of the women were generally white, sometimes red, scarlet, or purple, and were adorned with embroidery and pearls; but those of the men were mostly black. On days of public ceremony, however, the magistrates wore red shoes.

5. Boots were used in very ancient times, and were primarily worn, as a kind of armor, with a view of protecting the lower extremities in battle. They were, at first, made of leather, afterwards of bra.s.s or iron, and were proof against the thrusts and cuts of warlike weapons.

The boot was called _ocrea_ by the Romans, who, as well as the Greeks, used it in the army, and in riding on horseback, and sometimes in pedestrian journeys.

6. The fashion of boots and shoes, like every other part of dress, has been subject to a number of changes, as regards both their form and material. In Europe, about one thousand years ago, the greatest princes wore shoes with wooden soles. In the reign of William Rufus, of England, the shoes of the great had long, sharp points, stuffed with tow, and twisted like a ram's horn. The clergy preached against this fashion; but the points continued to increase in length, until the reign of Richard the Second, when they were tied to the knees with chains of silver or gold. In the year 1463, Parliament interposed, and prohibited the manufacture or use of shoes or boots with _pikes_ exceeding two inches in length.

7. Lasts adapted to each foot, commonly called _rights and lefts_, were not introduced into England, until about the year 1785; nor was cramping, or _crimping_, the front part of boots practised there for ten years after that period. These improvements did not become generally known, or, at least, were not much used, in the United States, for many years after their adoption in Great Britain.

8. Many facts, besides the preceding, might be adduced to prove, that the art of making shoes and boots, although uninterruptedly practised from the earliest ages, has received many important improvements within the last fifty years.

9. In Europe and America, boots and shoes are commonly made of leather. In shoes for females, however, it is not unusual to use prunello, which is a kind of twilled, worsted cloth. In all cases, thick leather is used for the soles.

10. The business of _making_ boots and shoes is carried on very systematically in large establishments. The materials are cut out and fitted by the foreman, or by the person who carries on the business, whilst the pieces are st.i.tched together, and the work finished, by workmen who sit upon _the bench_.

11. As a matter of convenience, the trade have fixed upon certain sizes, which are designated by numbers; and, corresponding to these, the lasts are formed by the last-maker; but, to be still more exact, individuals sometimes procure lasts corresponding to their feet, on which they cause their boots and shoes to be made.

12. The following is a description of the process of making a leather shoe: after the materials have been cut out according to the measure, or size, and the parts of the _uppers_ have been st.i.tched together, the sole-leather is hammered on the _lapstone_, tacked to the last, and trimmed with a knife. The upper leather is next stretched on the last with a pair of pincers, fastened to its proper place with tacks, and then sewed to the bottom of the sole with a waxed thread. A narrow strip of leather, called a _welt_, is also fastened to the sole by similar means, and to this is st.i.tched another sole. A heel being added, the shoe is finished by tr.i.m.m.i.n.g and polishing it with appropriate instruments.

13. The edges of fine leather shoes and boots, are trimmed with thin strips of the like material, whilst those of prunello, and other thin shoes for ladies, are bound with narrow tape. The binding is applied by females with thread, by means of a common needle.

14. Shoe-thread is commonly spun from flax; that from hemp is much stronger, and was formerly preferred; but it is now used only for very strong work. The greater part of the shoe-thread used in the United States, is spun by machinery, at Leeds, in England, from Russian flax.

The wax employed by shoemakers, was formerly composed of tar and rosin; but it is now most usually made of pitch.

15. The shoemaker, in sewing together different parts of his work, uses threads of various sizes, which are composed of several small threads of different lengths. A hog's bristle is fastened to each end of it, which enables the workman to pa.s.s it with facility through the holes made with the awl.

16. An expeditious way of fastening the soles of boots and shoes to the upper leathers, is found in the use of wooden pegs or bra.s.s nails.

The old method, however, is generally preferred, on several accounts; but chiefly, because the work is more durable, and because it can be more easily repaired.

17. Journeymen working at this trade most usually confine their labours to particular kinds of work; as few can follow every branch with advantage. Some make shoes and boots for men; others confine their labours to those designed for ladies; but, by their aid, the master-shoemaker can, and usually does, supply every kind at his store.

18. It is no uncommon thing in the country, for the farmers to purchase leather, and employ the shoemaker to make it up; and this is done, in most cases, on their own premises. The shoemaker employed in this way, removes from house to house, changing his location, whenever he has completely served a whole family in his vocation. In such cases, he is said, by the trade, to be _whipping the cat_. The set of tools with which he operates, is called his _kit_.

19. The shoemaker usually buys his leather from the manufacturer; and procures his tools, tacks, and various other articles of a similar nature, at the _finding stores_. In some cases, the shoemaker with little or no capital, gets his materials from the _leather-cutter_, who makes it a business to supply them ready cut to the proper size and shape. There are, however, but few leather-cutters in our country; but, in England, this branch of trade is one of considerable importance, and is frequently connected with that of the leather-dresser.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HARNESS MAKER &c.]

THE SADDLER AND HARNESS-MAKER, AND THE TRUNK-MAKER.

THE SADDLER AND HARNESS-MAKER.

1. The invention of the saddle has been attributed to the Selians, a people of ancient Franconia. Under this impression, it has been supposed that the Latins gave it the name of _sella_. The period at which it was first used, cannot be ascertained. It is certain, however, that the horse had been rendered subservient to man, several centuries before this convenient article was thought of.

2. At first, the rider sat upon the bare back of the animal, and guided him with a switch, but afterwards with a strap put round the nose. In the course of time, the rider came to use, upon the back of the horse, the skins of beasts, in order to render his seat more easy. The Greeks, and many other refined nations of antiquity, sometimes used superb trappings, composed of cloth, leather, and skins dressed with the hair on; and, in addition to the gold, silver, and precious stones, with which these were ornamented, the horses were often otherwise decked with bells, collars, and devices of various kinds.

3. The Romans, in the days of the republic, deemed it more manly to ride on the bare back of the animal than on coverings. At a later period, they used a kind of square pannel, without stirrups; and about the year 340 of the Christian era, they began to ride on saddles. It appears, that those first employed were very heavy, as the Emperor Theodosius, in the same century, forbade the use of any which weighed over sixty pounds. The use of saddles was established in England by Henry the Seventh, who enjoined on his n.o.bility the practice of riding upon them.

4. The frame of a saddle is called a _tree_. It is not made by the saddlers, but by persons who confine their attention to this branch of business. The trees are constructed of wood, with a small quant.i.ty of iron, and covered with canvas.

5. In making a common saddle, the workman first extends two strips of _straining web_ from the pommel to the hinder part of the tree, and fastens them with tacks. The tree is then covered on the upper side with two thicknesses of linen cloth, between which a quant.i.ty of wool is afterwards interposed. A covering of thin leather, usually made of hog's-skin, is next tacked on, and the flaps added. Under the whole are placed the pads and saddle-cloth; the former of which is made of thin cotton or linen cloth, and thin leather, stuffed with hair. The addition of four straps, two girths, two stirrup-leathers, and as many stirrups, completes the whole operation.

6. The roughness, or the little indentations in the flaps, are produced by pa.s.sing the leather between rollers, in contact with a rough surface, or by beating it with a mallet, on the face of which has been fastened a piece of the skin from a species of shark, commonly called the dog-fish.

7. Saddles are often covered with buckskin, curiously st.i.tched into figures, and having the s.p.a.ces between the seams stuffed with wool; this is particularly the case in side-saddles. The form of saddles, and the quality of the materials, together with the workmanship, are considerably varied, to suit the purposes to which they are to be applied, and to accommodate the fancy of customers.

8. The process of making bridles and harness for horses, is extremely simple. The leather is first cut out with a knife of some description, but usually with one of a crescent-like form, or with a blade set in a gauge, and then st.i.tched together with the kind of thread used by shoemakers. The awl employed in punching the holes is straight; and needles are most commonly used, instead of the bristles which point the shoemaker's threads. The mode of manufacturing saddle-bags, portmanteaus, and valises, is too obvious to need description.