LEATHER LEGACY

In 2013, after the death of his great uncle, William Brooks Hooper, in Philadelphia, Mississippi, Thad Hooper inherited his choice of tools associated with his relative’s hobbies. He knew little about his great uncle’s affinity for multiple hobbies until his death.

“He was a perpetual hobbyist,” Hooper said. “He made candles, worked with wood, leather, was a locksmith by trade. You name it, he was doing it.”

After briefly trying woodworking, Hooper chose the tools of a leathersmith and started his inherited hobby, even participating in the Double Decker Arts Festival in 2016. By 2020, the hobby became a full-time venture. He is self-taught, having read old books on the craft of leatherworking he found with his great uncle’s tools. There was lots of trial and error, and perhaps a bit of leathersmith DNA.

“If I see it, it,” Hooper said of leather crafts.

The Meridian-born Hooper and his wife, Annie, were living in Huntsville, Alabama, and in 2020, went to Colorado to visit Annie Hooper’s parents, who’d bought a house there. While they were visiting, a storefront in Minturn became available.

“I went back to Huntsville, sold our house in 24 hours and headed back to Colorado,” Annie Hooper said. “We rented from my parents and opened the shop where we sold 80 percent leather and the rest was pottery and other things made by local artists.”

Minturn Mercantile opened in June 2020 and closed in Dec. 2022 when the couple, both Ole Miss graduates who met after college, returned to Oxford just before last Christmas.

For now, they are staying at The Z Bed & Breakfast, owned by Annie ’s family. A round table in an alcove off the kitchen is Hooper’s temporary workshop. Large sheets of leather stand rolled up in one corner while leatherworking tools — large spools of thread, a rawhide mallet, a rotary razor blade, a small square of marble and a few rubber mats — are scattered around the leathersmith’s feet. And, of course, there’s the unmistakable rustic scent of leather.

“We’re around it so much, we often don’t notice it,” Annie said.

Hooper is a patient man, his wife said. And patience is a good trait to possess as a leathersmith, especially when stitching by hand with two needles and heavy-duty thread.

His arsenal of inventory includes wallets, bottle openers, valet trays, totes, Yeti sleeves, flasks, aprons, journals, knife sheaths, guitar straps, Christmas stockings and more.

“I have always enjoyed working with my hands and being creative,” Hooper said. “Leatherwork accomplishes both, and it never feels like work.”

See Hooper’s work on Instagram @hooperleathercompany and at minturnmercantile.com or visit his booth at Double Decker.