St june 2015

The Leather Retailers' and Manufacturers' Journal

June 2015

Shop Talk!

With Boot and Shoe News

Little's BOOTS

Celebrates Years 1915 - 2015

Since 1984

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Shop Talk! |

The Leather Retailers’ and Manufacturers’ Journal

with Boot & Shoe News

Laugh Lines 6 Hide Report 11 Boot & Shoe News 20 Classifieds 60

Pg. 26

Tandy Thrives.............................21 Saddleback Leather Gives Back.......27 Little's Boots: A Texas Tradition......26 Ft. Worth Stockyard.....................46 Seminar Roundup.........................48

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Online with links to advertisers and online information www.proleptic.net ShopTalkLeatherMagazine

With a camera in one hand, a micro recorder in the other, and a Red Bull in the other, girl reporter Jennifer Fulford wings her way across the entire USA, seeking out stories that will impress, delight, and send a shiver down your spine!

This issue is Jennifer’s and we want to thank her for all the hours and effort she put in doing Grade A No. 1 stories about so many of our wonderful friends in the great Republic of Texas. Thank you, Jen! In addition to being a Grade A No. 1 journalist, Jennifer is also a published novelist and poet. We’re really lucky to have her writing for Shop Talk!

Shop Talk!

published by Proleptic, Inc. P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816 Ph (828) 505-8474 | Fax (828) 505-8476 www.proleptic.net

Shop Talk! is published monthly (ISSN 1547-0121) by Proleptic, Inc. Subscription rates are $36 annually, $39 (US) for Canada and Mexico, and $54 (US) for all other countries. Shop Talk! is the official monthly publication of the Saddle, Harness, and Allied Trades Association (SHATA). SHATA members receive a $4 discount on annual subscriptions. For more information on subscriptions, advertising rates, or SHATA membership, contact us at (828) 505-8474 or www.proleptic.net

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Ask for Brahma Webb® at your local harness shops. Complete harnesses or Brahma Webb® are available from the following distributors.

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Laugh Lines When The Unexpected Happens Remember this: the worst things in life are also for free.

A wealthy old lady decided to go to a New Mexico photo shoot for the summer, taking her equally old poodle named ‘Parkles along for company. One day the poodle started chasing butterflies and, before long, ‘Parkles discovered that he was lost.

Wandering about, he noticed a mountain lion

heading rapidly in his direction with the

intention of having lunch. ‘Parkles

thought, “Oh, no—I’m in deep doo

doo!” Noticing some bones on the

ground close by, he imme diately settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the mountain line was about to leap the old dog exclaimed loudly, “Boy—that was one delicious mountain lion! I wonder if there are any more around here.”

Hearing this, the young mountain lion halted his attack and slunk away into the rocks. “Whew!” said the lion, “that was close! That old poodle nearly had me!”

Meanwhile a snowshoe hare who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby hiding spot figured he

could put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the mountain lion.

So off he goes but the old poodle saw him heading after the mountain lion with great speed and figured that something must be up. The snowshoe hare soon caught up with the lion, spilt the beans on the dog, and struck a deal.

The young lion was furious at being made a fool of and said, “Here, snowshoe rabbit, hop up on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!”

Now ‘Parkles saw the mountain lion coming toward him with the snowshoe rabbit on his back and thought, “What am I going to do now!” but instead of running, the dog sat down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hadn’t seen them yet, and just when they got close enough to hear, the old dog started grumbling and complaining loudly, “Where is that dern rabbit? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another mountain lion!”

Moral to the story: Don’t mess with old folks. Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill. Bull and brilliance only come with age and experience.

[This joke was cheerfully stolen from the September 2013 issue of Western Mule Magazine.]

This woman rushed to see her doctor, looking very worried, and all strung out. She rattled off, “Doctor, take a look at me! When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair was all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were bloodshot and bugging out, and I had his corpse-like look on my face!

What’s WRONG with me, Doctor!”

The doctor looks her over for a couple minutes and then calmly says, “Well, I can tell you that there ain’t nothing wrong with your eyesight.”

6 | june 2015

Shop Talk!

Teacher: Why are you late, Lucy?

Lucy: Because of the sign.

Teacher: What sign?

Lucy: The one that says, “School Ahead. Go Slow.”

Teacher: Ivan, why are you doing your math sums on the floor?

Ivan: You told me to do it without using tables!

Teacher: Susy, how do you spell “crocodile”?

Susy: “K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L”.

Teacher: No, that’s wrong.

Susy: Maybe it’s wrong but you asked me how I spell it!

Teacher: What is the chemical formula for water?

Levi: HIJKLMNO! Teacher: What are you talking about?

Levi: Yesterday you said it’s H to O.

Shop Talk!

june 2015

| 7

hurry!! sale ends 6/30/2015

Cowboy Boot

Dictionary of Leatherworking Tools c. 1700-1950

by Tyler Beard with photos by Jim Arndt: paperback, 320 pp.

By the same duo that did the original Cowboy Boot Book and then Art of the Boot. This effort is every bit as good.

A must for boot collectors & boot lovers. Note: This book measures 6” x 6”. 500 color photos. Was $15.95

and the Tools of the Allied Trades by R. A. Salaman: paperback, 350+ pp. Useful information for harness and saddlemakers, shoe and boot makers, hat and glove makers, book binders and more. The most complete leather-working tool reference available.

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Artistic Leather of the Arts and Crafts Era

By Daniel Lees, 272 pp. Hardback. Historical information on individual artists and manufacturers. Includes 540 color photos of leather objects made from 19001929. Was $69.00

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United States Military Saddle

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by Randy Steffen: paperback, 158 pp. Traces the development of the McClellan saddle.

Covers all models and variations. Great reference book. Was $24.95

Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work

By Raoul Graumont and John Hensel, 4th edition, hard cover, 689 pp. This is the reference for any and all knots that have ever been tied on land or sea. Splicing also discussed. Was $39.95

SALE PRICE: $21.20 Cowboy Collectibles & Western Memorabilia

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with Revised Price Guide by Robert W.D. Ball & Ed Vebell: soft cover, 157 pp. Color throughout. Find artifacts essential to life in the Old West. Cover rifles, pistols, saddles, clothing, boots, hats and gun rigs. A wonderful book that makes the era come alive! Was $29.95

The Business of Saddle Making

SALE PRICE: $25.45

by Pete Gorrell: paperback, 58 pp.

Includes: pricing; retail vs. wholesale; figuring cost; market strategy; work sheets. Was $12.50

Saddles

by Russell H. Beatie, hard cover, 391 pp. An eclectic & interesting collection of information about saddles of all types, past and present. Discusses the history and development of each part of the saddle. Evolution of saddles is traced from prehistoric times to present. Sidesaddles also featured along with English and American Cavalry saddles.

Photos are generally poor quality but are plentiful & depict interesting & unique historical saddles and other riding accessories. Was: $75

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98 | june 2015

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Shop Talk!

A mangy looking guy goes into a bar and orders a drink.

The bartender says, “No way.

I don’t think you can pay for it.”

The guy says, “You’re right.

I don’t have any money but if I show you something you haven’t seen before, will you give me a drink?”

The bartender says, “Only if what you show me isn’t risqué.”

“Deal!” says the guy and reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a hamster. He puts the hamster on the bar and it runs to the end of the bar, down the bar, across the room, up the piano, jumps up on the keyboard and starts playing Gershwin. And the hamster is really good.

The bartender says, “You’re right. I’ve never seen anything like that before. That hamster is truly good on the piano.”

The guy downs the drink in one gulp and asks the bartender for another.

“Money or another miracle or else no drink,” says the bartender. The guy reaches into his coat again and pulls out a frog. He puts the frog on the bar and the frog starts singing.

He has a marvelous voice and great pitch. A fine singer. A stranger from the other end of the bar goes over to the guy and offers him $300 for the frog.

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“It’s a deal!” the frog’s owner says, and the stranger grabs the frog and runs out of the bar.

“Are you some kind of nut!” the bartender yells. “You just sold a singing frog for $300. It must have been worth millions. You must be crazy!”

“Not so,” the guy says with a big grin on his face. “The hamster is also a ventriloquist.”

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New England Needles Inc. Pfaff Pegasus of USA, Inc. & many more

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Shop Talk!

june 2015

| 9

Some Corporate Mergers Planned for 2015 *Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W. R. Grace Co. merge to become Hale Mary Fuller Grace. *Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Keebler Crackers merge to become Polly-Warner-Cracker. *John Deere and Abitibi-Price merge to become Deere Abi. *Zippo Mfg., Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining merge to become Zip Audi Do Da. *Honeywell, Imasco, and Home Oil merge to become Honey I’m Home. *Federal Express and UPS merge to become Fed UP. *Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will merge to become Fairwell Honeychild.

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10 | june 2015

Shop Talk!

The Hide Report

your global perspective

The following articles originally appeared on www.hidenet.com, the leading source for news about the global hide and leather markets. The information is dated from early May 2015. Enjoy—as we’ve reported for the last three issues, hide prices continue to decline.

Hide Prices Continue Downward

Federally Inspected Slaughter

More Heavy Texas Steers were produced during the last week of April than were sold. Hides were down $2 and sold at $84 and $83 in late April with seasonal averages of 60/62 lbs. with some 62/64 lbs.

FIS, including Saturday, May 2, was estimated to be 566,000, up from 544,000 the week before. The total for the same weekly period last year was 610,000. For year to date, slaughter is 9,310,000, down 7.4% from 10,059,000 a year ago, a difference of 749,000 head.

Branded Steers were down $1-2.00 and sold at $84 and $83. Butt Branded Steers also fell $2, down from $97 and $96, selling at $95, $94, and $93 with averages of 60-64 lbs.

Heavy Native Steers were generally steady, selling at $97 and $96 on average weights of 60/64 lbs.

Heifers were down $2 on average weights of 48/50 lbs.

Northern Chinese Tanners Closed As reported in late April, sources in Hebei and Jiangsu provinces continue to hear about government closings due to pollution concerns.

H

ANSEN

WESTERN GEAR

English Tanner J. E. Sedgwick Sold Tanning company Joseph Clayton and Sons of Chesterfield will acquire J. E. Sedgwick, a producer of saddle and bridle leathers based near Birmingham in the UK. The merger will create the largest vegetable tanning group in the UK. Both businesses will continue to operate as separate units with their existing management teams. The new operation will have a combined turnover exceeding 6 million pounds sterling with a joint workforce of around 60.

Clayton’s managing director, Ian Walker, said, “While it is easy to see us as two very similar vegetable tanning units, our product ranges

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june 2015

| 11

only have a narrow area of overlap. Claytons produces a wide range of bespoke [custom] leathers with a variety of end uses while Sedgwicks focuses on bridle and saddlery leathers. . .this is not an exercise in consolidation but in growth for two long-standing businesses.”

Ban on Russian Exports Continues The ban on the export of semi-finished leather from Russia will be extended from May 25 to November 25, 2015. The ban was already been in effect since October 1, 2014, by Russian government decree No. 826 which prevents the export of wet tanned hides (bovine, buffalo, and equine animals) without hair, including wet blue semi-finished. With this measure, the government aims to ensure the supply of raw materials for the domestic leather and footwear markets.

Dominican Republic Expands Free Zones The Dominican Republic has 60 free zones,

9.1% more than 2013. These duty free, exportonly manufacturing zones allow the Caribbean country to take advantage of the proximity to the US. Jose Tomas Contreras, president of the ADOZONA association of free zones, said that higher production costs in China and the continuing US economic recovery are making the free zones idea increasingly successful.

Companies operating in free zones in the Dominican Republic at the moment include around 30 footwear and footwear component manufacturers and three tanners.

Indonesia Inaugurates $60 Million Nike Shoe Factory Indonesian Industry Minister Saleh Husin inaugurated the new US $60 million shoe factory of Changshin Reksa Jaya in Garut (West Java) which will produce Nike branded shoes. The shoe factory has an annual production capac-

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Shop Talk!

ity of 15 million pairs and will employ 5,500 people. Reportedly, all of the shoes produced at this plant will be exported to Europe, USA, and other parts of Asia. . . .

seriously burden financial balances of companies (in fact, low labor costs have been one of the key reasons why foreign footwear companies started production in Indonesia). . . .

Over the years 2011-2013, investment in Indonesia’s footwear industry grew by an average of 4.7% year-on-year according to Husin. In 2013, investment in the footwear industry of Indonesia totaled USD $836 million.

Another obstacle in Indonesia’s footwear industry is the lack of domestic supply of raw materials—most importantly leather and rubber. Despite being one of the world’s leading producers of natural rubber, rubber needs to be exported first for processing purposes as domestic facilities are still insufficient.

In 2014, Indonesia exported a total of US $4.1 billion worth of footwear, up 6.4% from the preceding year. However, this meant that the country failed to achieve its US $5 billion footwear export target in 2014. This failure was partly the result of cancelled investment projects of foreign investors. Earlier his year, it was reported that a total of sixteen investors, mostly from South Korea and Japan, had cancelled their plans to establish footwear factories in Indonesia due to uncertainty over Indonesia’s minimum wage growth. These wages have been growing rapidly in Indonesia in recent years and

Japan Keeps Hermes Sales Growth on Target French luxury goods maker Hermes posted an 8% rise in first quarter sales on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in Japan. That was down from nearly a 10% growth in the fourth quarter but broadly in line with analyst’s expectations and matched the firm’s financial targets.

The maker of the Birkin and Kelly handbags said sales in its own stores rose 10% at constant currencies with foreign exchange fluctua-

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june 2015

| 13

tions boosting revenue by 103 million euros ($113 million US). . . .

In contrast, sales at the fashion and leather goods unit of industry leader LVMH, which includes Louis Vuitton, Celine, Dior, and Fendi brands, rose 1% in the first quarter, below expectations. Kering’s Gucci saw an 8% sales drop.

Revenue in Japan, one of Hermes’ biggest markets, rose by 15.2% at constant currencies but was up only 7.7% in the Asia-Pacific region mainly consisting of China, as trading remained tough in Hong Kong and Macau. . . .

Soon, We’ll Be Able to Grow Our Own Handbags Sophie Hackford, director of WIRED Consulting, spoke at last week’s Conde Nast Luxury Conference about new technologies that could help the luxury industry. There was a talk of 3-D printers and virtual reality, but the most jaw dropping portion of her presentation focused on sustainable fabrics. It turns out that you no longer need to kill a cow for its skin: A company called Modern Meadow is growing real, soft, smells-like-leather-because-it-is-actually-leather in a lab.

This “leather” is made by taking a biopsy from a cow, which is totally harmless, and replicating those cells endlessly—so in theory, you only need one cow. And it’s not just to replicate the leather to mimic the leather as a fabric but it’s to improve it—so there’s a point where you can actually super-engineer these materials to give 8149 Twp. Rd. 662 | Dundee, OH 44624 Ph: 330.359.0147 | Fax: 330.359.0196

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them tunable properties. And of course, when you’re tuning these materials yourself, there’s no hair to remove, there are no scars, no insect bites, no waste, because clearly you’re growing what you need. You can also dial up or dial down the softness, the breathability, the durability of the leather—you can even weave electronics through the piece.

Most interesting is that you can actually grow this directly around a 3-D shape—you can grow a handbag without any seams. You can grow a car seat without any seams. You can grow a glove without any seams. . . .

The technology might sound futuristic but there are whisperings that Modern Meadow may already be working with brands. . . .

[Editor’s Note: there follows a similar piece which was written by Liza Darwin and appeared on April 28, 2015, as a news item on www.yahoo.com.]

Lab-Grown Leather Might Be the Future We can credit Stella McCartney for helping to pioneer the vegan leather movement in high fashion. But, now that both luxury designers and brands like Zara have since joined in, faux leather isn’t just eco-friendly—it’s also considered cool. From jackets to handbags, this new wave of sustainable pieces proves that we don’t have to sacrifice softness, quality, or style in order to be PETA-approved. In fact, some of the offerings are so good, they even rival the real thing.

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Taking a different tack, the sustainability startup Modern Meadow has just created a new way to wear real leather that doesn’t entail killing any animals in the process: The secret lies in growing leather in the lab. Over the past several years, the Brooklyn-based company has quietly developed a technique call “biofabrication” which uses a biopsy from a single cow in order to replicater the skin. Not only is the process completely harmless to the animal, but the best part is, these skin cells can be replicated again and again—meaning you can produce as much or as little as you need. The end result feels and looks like real leather because it’s the same material. The only difference is the complex process from which it’s created.

Modern Meadow’s CEO Andras Forgacs explained to Fast Company that designers can also manipulate the leather to better suit their needs: thicker, thinner, stringer, or even without seams. “Our goal is not perfect biomimicry.

We’re not looking to create the ‘I can’t believe this is not slaughtered leather, or I can’t believe

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this is not a slaughtered hamburger’,” he said.

“It’s to create products that if you were to design from the ground up, you could actually imbue with better properties in truly desirable ways.”

Creating real leather products doesn’t only raise concerns about animals and farming practices— much of the material is often scrapped in the process. Modern Meadow’s techniques eliminates the need for leather tanneries (which are often filled with harmful chemicals) as well as this leather waste. WSJ [Wall Street Journal] reported that the business obtained $10 million in funding in 2014, and, according to The Cut, it’s already in talks with fashion designers to provide leather for upcoming collections.

As the company says on its website, “We’re working hard to provide solutions to some very big global problems, which takes time. We look forward to engaging with you as we build a future of sustainable, eco-friendly, and cruelty-free animal products.” . . . .

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june 2015

| 15

One Man’s Response After reading the above two articles I come away with the feeling that all of this is uninformed futuristic speculation bordering on the silly if not misleading. I have to ask: --have any of these people ever toured a tannery?

--have any of these people ever toured a slaughter house? Ever?

It’s hard to know where to begin because I admit that I am seriously confused. The term “leather” is used repeatedly but I need to ask, is that correct? Do these people understand what leather is and that leather doesn’t come directly from any known animal?

Do they mean “tissue” as in skin which, if you want leather, needs to go through a complex chemical process called “tanning”?

I’m not sure what “harmful chemicals” used in tanneries are being referred to. Perhaps they are some of the same harmful chemicals I have under my kitchen sink which would prove fatal should I imbibe them which I normally do not.

Could they please list these chemicals and explain why they are harmful and what or whom are they harming?

Have any of these people ever inspected a tannery’s water treatment facility in order to understand how effluent is handled so that it never poses a threat to the environment or people?

Or do they simply make statements?

Do any of these people understand how closely

regulated slaughterhouses are? I might point out that cattle are never, anywhere in this round world, slaughtered just for their skins—which isn’t leather. Skins are a byproduct and, if they weren’t made into something, we would have a mess on our hands—what to do with the nasty skins. Bigger landfills? Off to the renderer? It might be added that while slaughter may not be a pleasant thing to witness, it is, by and large, not cruel. That’s not a matter of opinion. That’s a federally regulated fact and it’s disgusting and disingenuous for anyone to make that suggestion without presenting even a shred of corroborating evidence. Zip. And I’m not asking for a single example but an industrywide review of beef packers.

“Vegan leather” is neither. It’s most likely vinyl (or some sort of microfiber) so let’s call vinyl vinyl for the sake of accuracy. Could the Leather Industry of America file a cease and desist on those companies employing misleading labels?

Has anyone actually seen a sample of this tissue which was written about above? Has a square inch of the material ever been produced? A square foot? A 1,000 sq. ft.? Research is a great thing but it takes more than a petri dish to supply the needs of even one small manufacturer. Rather, you’d need a facility as big as a small shopping mall—kind of like a tannery.

And what would the price of this product be? $1/sq. ft.? $10? $150? Does it even exit and, if it does, what would it cost? I’d like to hear the figures.

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I’m not too clear either about what “big global problems” exist regarding tanneries and leather that need to be solved. Who really needs this language of panic? Could someone let me know what the problem is which presents yet one more vague threat to our well-being?

Please don’t get me wrong—I am all for science. All for research. All for new materials, but

Selection

Weight (lbs.)

why make statements which can’t or aren’t supported by any concrete facts? It all sounds very cool and very hip but, at this moment in history, it smacks more of science fiction than reality.

Nor is there any need to vilify tanners, tanneries or the leather they make. American tanneries are good corporate citizens, environmentally responsible, and provide 100’s of jobs—what more could you ask for?

March (early)

April (early)

May (early)

Price Last May (early)

$88-90

$85-86

$106-107

$101-102

$115-117

Heavy Texas Steers

60-62

$95-98

Heavy Texas Steers (Hvy)

70-72

$104-106

Branded Steers

60-62

$95

$88-90

$84-85

$106-107

Branded Steers (Hvy)

70-72

$102-103

$99-100

$95-97

$114-116

Colorado Steers

60-62

$92-94

$88-90

$83-85

$105-106

Butt Branded Steers

60-62

$102-107

$97-98

$96-97

$112-113

Butt Branded Steers (Hvy)

72-74

$102-104

$106-110

$105-109

$117-119

Heavy Native Steers (Hvy)

70-72

$105-107

$108-110

$107-109

$120-122

Heavy Native Heifers

48-52

$85-87

$81-82

$76-78

$97-99

Branded Heifers

48-52

$83-85

$77-78

$73-74

$95-97

Heavy Native Cows

48-52

$69-72

$68-69

$65-66

$86-88

Branded Cows

48-52

$65-67

$63-66

$62-64

$75-77

Spready Dairy Cows

48-52

$79-82

$77-79

$75-77

$91-95

100-110

$78-82

$77-79

$77-79

$92-98

Native Bulls

$101-102

Shop Talk!

june 2015

| 17

Leather Specials Moser Leather let us know that they have started to cut “old logger style” lace out of double backs which have been treated with oils and waxes. Earth tones or black. 1/8” wide. 40”-60”, 60”-80”, 80” plus. Call for pricing.

Moser also has a line of bridle shoulders in assorted weights and colors. Their next auction will be in Miami, OK, right before the Roundup in Wichita Falls, early October.

Contact: 239 S. Edgewood Ave., Hamilton, OH 45013, (800) 874-1167, www.moserleatherco.com.

18 | June 2015

Shop Talk!

Copper/Stainless Steel Prices

Copper Stainless

Beiler’s Mfg. & Supply Manufacturing address 290 S. Groffdale Rd. Leola, PA 17540 (717) 656-2179

Main Office & Warehouse 3025 Irishtown Rd. Ronks, PA 17540 (717) 768-0174

Manufacturers of Leather, Nylon or Biothane Products like Halters, Harnesses or other Equine or Pet Related items. Distributors of Harness & Saddlery Hardware. Leather, Leather Oils, Biothane & Nylon Webbing plus other Equine Products.

Call us for any custom made Harness or Saddlery Hardware item you may need.

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june 2015

| 19

Boot & Shoe News

PEOPLE and PRODUCTS and PLACES

111th SSIA Convention This year’s convention will be held on July 25-26 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL. You can call (888) 421-1442 to reserve your room.

Help Wanted!

That’s what we hear from boot maker Mike Vaughn.

He’s looking to hire somebody with experience yesterday. You may contact Mike at 2390 Orchard Rd., Bowie, TX 76230, (940) 872-6935.

Goods & Services Those oily, waxy logger boot laces are now available from Moser Leather Co., 239 S. Edgewood Ave., Hamilton, OH 45013, (800) 874-1167. Different lengths available. Other great sources for laces are Tennessee Tanning at P O Box 967, Tullahoma, TN 37388, (931) 455-3441, www.tntanningcompany.com.

Also Auburn Leather Co., P O Box 338, Auburn, KY 42206, (800) 635-0617, www.auburnleather.com. Auburn has an amazing selection of colors and finishes.

products and components. Vendors from around the world. Details at www.anpic.com.

Boot & Saddle Contests are BACK! Hey—good news! Jim Taylor will be handling the saddles and Mike Vaughn will take care of the boots at the Roundup this year. Some categories have been added. Buckles or plaques will be awarded to winners but no money or prizes. Details will be posted soon!

Please contact Kathy Kimmel at Kimmel Boot at 2080 County Road 304, Comanche, TX 76442, (325) 3563197, www.bootandsaddlemakertradeshow.com.

So get started on making the prettiest pair of boots or saddle possible and bring it to the Roundup this year in Wichita Falls, TX! It’s the best.

ANPIC It’s the largest footwear and leather show in North America—ANPIC. It will take place this November 5-7 in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, at the Polioforum, right across from the Holiday Inn! It’s a great place to either exhibit or attend. You name it, they have it—everything from lasts to leather and every finished

20 | June 2015

Shop Talk!

Tandy Store in Austin, Texas, Thrives in Artistic Community

By Jennifer Fulford, East Coast Bureau Chief

uch can be said about a store from the customers it keeps. At Tandy Leather Factory in Austin, TX, the customers are eclectic and young, sifted in with the traditional. When in Texas, do as the locals do. Mix it up.

M

This store has been around in the same spot since 1969 and is three hours south of the Tandy headquarters in Fort Worth. The Austin store is as low key as the Fort Worth store is on the cutting edge (see Shop Talk! February 2014). No major renovations have taken place at the Austin store like those in Fort Worth. No matter. Customers don’t mind.

In between two major roads that can confound outof-towners, the Austin Tandy store on Cameron Rd. attracts a variety of leather enthusiasts. One morning this spring during its Open House sale, several shoppers are young men (one with tattoos); then there are older patrons who are known to the staff by first name, a college batting coach from California on a mission to buy a “Texas” hide (because they’re better than back home), and a local fashionista.

Clothing designer Gail Chovan spends a good fifteen minutes deciding on a leather dye for a piece she’s working on in her studio.

“I’m in here at least once a week,” Chovan admits.

She shows her work in Paris (France, not Texas).

Store manager Dennis Guerra appreciates that no two days in his six-day work week are alike in the Austin store, the place he’s managed for twentythree years. He started with the company much longer ago in 1979.

“We see everything from Cub Scouts to home décor people, interior decorators, upholstery people, some boot makers, primarily saddle makers more than boot makers. It’s a big gamut of people,” Guerra says.

Tandy has been in business since 1919 and is arguably the best known retail distributor of leather and leather crafting supplies in the United States and the world. About 105 company owned stores are operating in the states, UK, Spain, and Australia. Buyers

Shop Talk!

june 2015

| 21

can qualify for wholesale prices if they meet certain criteria. Tandy focuses on the small crafter and offers tools, classes, and accessories along with an assortment of leathers. In Austin, a customer can also find saddle skirting and associated saddle making tools.

Not many exotic leathers are stocked but some embossed craft-cuts in shades of gold, turquoise, and white are available.

Guerra, 62, teaches many classes himself in Austin.

His area of expertise is basic carving techniques, dye work, staining, and stamping. Classes are held in the back of the retail store. Upcoming classes include Western leather carving, swivel cutting and beveling, and an open table workshop, all for about $25/ session. Guerra sports a cuff he made and shows me another piece he finished that’s framed in the

classroom area. It’s of particular pride to him, an eagle head on a feather, all carved in leather and painted realistically. It took him three tries.

“I carved the eagle head first then I did the carving on the feather,” he says. “It’s all done with acrylic paints. The painting on that probably took as long as the carving.”

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People just like him take his classes.

“The biggest thing I’ve seen in the last few years is the trend toward the hobbyist crafter becoming a small business,” he says and credits it to free social media tools. “It used to be Etsy and eBay, now it seems like its more Facebook and Instagram.”

Guerra says he knows one customer who came to the store to start making dog collars.

“We taught him what he needed to know about dog collars, and friends started asking for them. And before you know it, someone asked him to make a guitar strap, and now he makes guitar straps that he sends all over the world.”

Guerra says he’s heard statistics that indicate 6% of the population will spend time on a craft for an average of two years. He wants his crafters to keep going; and that’s where education and customer service become important.

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“We have to be able to ask the right questions, find out what they are doing, direct them to the right thing,” he says of his new customers. “Once we direct them to the right thing, we often show them how to do what it is, that idea in their head.”

The store doesn’t have a spare square inch. Every wall and shelf contains a new treasure. At least two dozen full-size hides hang near the storefront, where Dave Ceo, a batting coach, finds one for his coat making hobby. He doesn’t do it for a living, but he makes a nice profit when he finishes one– of several thousand dollars.

In the next aisle, there’s the old timer who is happy to show off his leather pouch.

He wanders around most of the store, as do most of the customers. Too much to look at, and wouldn’t it be nice to have one of those?

“I think we are seeing now more [trends] for upholstery than we did,” Guerra says. “I think a smaller part of our business is kids’ crafts. We used to have a large presence in schools, but not as much anymore.”

It’s hard to get out of this place without buying something, especially when everything is on sale,

June 2015

| 23

except for a few of the crafted items on display.

That nice piece of leather right there, in the sale bin, seems just right for a new handbag. Sigh.

To contact the Tandy Leather Factory store in Austin, call (512) 302-4440 or (888) 498-9881. Stop by the store at 5318 Cameron Rd., Austin, TX, 78723, or e-mail manager Dennis Guerra, austin108@ tandyleather.com. Gail Chovan’s work is online at www.GailChovan.com. For appointments, email her at info@gailchovan.com.

24 | June 2015

Shop Talk!

SAVE 15%

hurry!! sale ends 6/30/2015 The Basics of Saddle Fit

Art of The Western Saddle

By Pete Gorrell. A guide to understanding the relationship between the saddle tree and the horse’s back. For saddle makers and anyone who rides. Very practical.

Was $21.95

Highlights the work of great traditional and contemporary saddle makers.

Was $52.00

SALE PRICE: $18.65

SALE PRICE: $44.20 How to Make Whips

Halter Making: A Step by Step Guide

by Ron Edwards: hard cover, 166 pp.

Contains detailed instructions on making everything from a basic 8-strand whip to bullwhips, snake whips, and whips made from precut lace. Includes instructions on plaiting names in whips & using plaiting designs for whip handles. Was $24.95

16 pp. booklet which gives detailed, step-by-step instruction on how to make two styles of a horse halter.

Instructions for both flat throat latch and a rounded throat latch. There are also size charts for making a pony, yearling, cob, horse, and stallion size halter. Specs for both styles of halters are given. Was $16.50

SALE PRICE: $14.00 Horses, Hitches and Rocky Trails

By Joe Black, 128 pp. Referred to as the packer’s bible.

Written in the language of the West, it is a complete and often humorous presentation of the method of packing horses into the wilderness. Amplified by the brilliant drawings of artist Joe back, the book is for both the amateur and professional packer. Was $12.95

Soft cover, 112 pp. Color, beginner to intermediate, basic bag design, 27 projects, many styles, many patterns. Was $20.00 Limited Quantity

SALE PRICE: $17.00 Bags

Soft cover, 384 pp. Color, pictoral history of handbags from 1550 to present, many mediums, wonderful source book. Was $35.00

SALE PRICE: $29.75

Making Leather Knife Sheaths, Vol. 1

Spiral bound, 142 pp. Color, beginner to intermediate, four projects, patterns, teaches excellent leather working techniques. Was $25.00 Limited Quantity

SALE PRICE: $21.25

SALE PRICE: $11.00 Handmade Leather Bags & Accessories

SALE PRICE: $21.20

Cowboys Complete Saddle Making “The best saddle making book written to date.”

by John Hopper. Spiral bound. 360 pp. 100’s of Pictures, Patterns & Measurements, Step-by-Step Instructions, Western Saddles, Hunting Equipment, Halters, Bridles, Hobbles, Chaps, Breast Collars, Pack Equipment, and more. Was $44.00

SALE PRICE: $37.50

PROLEPTIC, Inc. P.O. Box 17817 • Asheville, NC 28816 • Ph 828.505.8474 Fx 828.505.8476 | shoptalk@proleptic.net • www.proleptic.net

BOOKsale

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June 2015

| 25

26 | June 2015

Shop Talk!

Founders of Saddleback Leather Give Back as Success Expands

by Jennifer Fulford, East Coast Bureau Chief

Once in a while in this business, a few incredible success stories defy ordinary explanation. If you were Dave Munson, sitting dirt broke and single in Mexico fifteen years ago, the dream of making it big in leather might induce fits of laughter. Leap forward. Today, try on three companies. A family of four. Enviable philanthropy. Oh, and did we mention the films?

We should really just let Dave tell it.

“A wife and two fabulous kids and fourteen Rwandan sons and daughters and a cool dog and a crooked federale sent to kill me kind of makes up the Saddleback story.”

That is the start of Dave’s version of how he got from point A—thrashing about Mexico trying to rub two pesos together—to point B, Presidente (yes, e at the end) of Saddleback Leather Co. The company motto for its line of full leather bags, wallets, briefcases, and luggage is “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.”

Was there a crooked ferderale mentioned? Anyway, Dave had been a volunteer school teacher in Mexico and had wanted a good book bag. That’s basically why he went searching for someone to make the design he’d been thinking about. Later, on a return trip to the states, his bag got so much attention that he decided to have more bags made in Acapulco.

He bounced around a little and finally sought help to learn how to make bags, which he found in Leon, Mexico. Here is Dave’s version again, which is posted on Saddleback Leather’s website: “Pretty much everybody pointed me in the same direction of Don David (The don of a family is the oldest and most respected patriarch in the family).

So I started my search for his little workshop/store-

front. When I walked in, I knew I was home. This gentleman had a big wide smile and gentle sparkling eyes that put me right at ease.”

Don David was a third generation leather craftsman whose family had used the same shop since they started in business. Munson worked for him for a while, learning what he could, and struck out on his own again, this time in Juarez. Three years later and fed up with poor living conditions, he moved to El Paso, got married, and really got serious about his company. Soon, Saddleback Leather solidified into the real deal.

Dave is one of those people who, from the outsider’s perspective, seems to have led a charmed life. He’s well traveled and is good at storytelling. He certainly has gratitude for all that’s happened in his 43 years and will sincerely explain that praying went into many decisions that have added up to his success.

His wife, Suzette, an equally charming go-getter at 43, is frank about their evangelical convictions and ethics. However, she says they’re not entirely comfortable being labeled “religious.” Nonetheless, they make decisions based on prayerful convictions to create good outcomes, in their lives, and the lives of others. They are also sticklers for quality. As businesspeople, they want to put out the best.

“Everything is important to us to have high quality.

Everything,” says Suzette, “the leather, the stitching, the thread, the rivets.”

Saddleback is headquartered in Fort Worth where it employs about a dozen folks; they manufacture in a factory in Leon, Mexico, employing many highly skilled craftspeople. Leon is also where they source their leather and pigskin. The southern produc-

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june 2015 June 2015

| 27 | 27

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Saddleback’s designs are formidable. Saddleback luggage is a far cry from the ordinary black canvas roller bags plunked down at a typical airport. The luggage looks like props Indiana Jones might use. Heirloom, rugged, privileged. Classic lines, no tooling. The leather suitcase runs just over $1,000, and their utility duffle is a more affordable $590. The classic briefcase is the bestselling product, about $600.

Saddleback uses an expansive leather cutting machine, an impressivelooking slab of machinery that reduces the waste involved in cutting pieces for each product. It basically looks like two ping-pong tables pushed together long ways. This CNC technology (computer numerical control) is an alternative to the old clicker presses which are primarily used in their Mexico facility. Utilizing a computer program, an operator loads several patterns to be cut at once, maximizing the surface area used on each hide. It reduces wasteful cuttings (and who doesn’t have a backroom full of leather scrap?); the yield goes up on each hide.

Dave designs all of the men’s products for Saddleback. Suzette designs the work for Love41, an offshoot company of women’s bags and jewelry that the Munsons started when Saddleback’s success grew.

Now, all proceeds from Love41 go directly to charity, to the tune of thousands of dollars each month. Giv-

ing back is a big part of the family business model.

The name Love41, by the way, references Psalm 41, a blessing for those who help the poor.

“We say we do business as a ministry, as an outreach, not that we do outreach as a business,” she says.

“When God gives to you generously, more is required of you.”

Saddleback in Fort Worth operates side-by-side with a distribution company run by Patricia Chamberlain, Dave’s sister. Chamberlain Shipping Inc. handles all of Saddleback’s and Love41’s fulfillment, along with a few other clients. Cousins, nieces and nephews fill many positions with the companies. The Munsons want to share their good fortune and spread it around. That means to other countries, too.

Rwanda turned out to be one of the parts of the world they’ve chosen to help. As Saddleback Leather succeeded, one of the major decisions they made was how to be charitable. This is a deep calling for both Dave and Suzette. In fact, they think the companies they run are fortunate because they focus more on giving back than taking in.

“Both Dave and I came from families that were givers – families that were not at all wealthy but just givers,” explains Suzette.

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june 2015 June 2015

| 29 | 29

The Munsons travel to Rwanda frequently, two to three times a year, to visit the women and children who are the beneficiaries of their philanthropy. They also travel to other places. Even after they had two children, they didn’t stop traveling. The kids, now grade school age, come with them which is possible since Suzette home schools them. Being their own bosses gives them the flexibility to do the things they feel a calling to do. It wasn’t always like this – remember Dave in Mexico? At one time there, he spent three years sleeping on a floor in a $100 apartment with no running water.

He writes, “I was tired of wondering if my old truck would be there in the morning and leaving the glove box open so that my loving neighbors wouldn't break the glass to find out it was empty. I was tired of drug dealers and prostitutes on the corner of my street and ignoring the same old foot cop trying in vain to pull me over every morning to get a bribe and I was getting pretty tired of the no hot water thing too.”

But the pendulum has swung. During the last holiday season, they fulfilled around 9,000 orders. And their newest venture is Chamberlain’s Leather Milk, a company selling cleaning and conditioning liniments for leather. That’s in a building across the way.

How did this happen? Marketing?

30 | june 2015 30 | June 2015

“Dave is a genius when it comes to his natural ability to market. He just gets it,” says Suzette. “I don’t get it. He gets it. He has a very unique, natural gift. Very transparent. A great writer. Phenomenal writer. He has had very unique experiences in life, and people are attracted to that. They love the story behind it.”

Another of Dave’s big ideas to do good works is by supporting filmmakers. Dave and Suzette helped fund and produce a short film about a niece who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, the rarer form of the disease. The short film, “Midnight Three & Six,” was screened at Sundance Film Festival this year. There’s a link to more creative projects from Saddleback Films on the company website, just click The Story.

Though a mere 5’2 ½”, Suzette seems much more statuesque because of her positive personality. Next to Dave’s 6’2 ½”, a little chutzpah doesn’t hurt. Dave is the big ideas guy, and Suzette takes a more practical approach to business. She was very skeptical about leaving her fulltime job as a bookkeeper to work on Saddleback enterprises exclusively. But it was a decision that she doesn’t regret.

The company logo is the profile of a Labrador wearing a sombrero. It’s a nod to Dave’s late dog, Blue, who accompanied him across Mexico during the

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A Christmas Riddle

O

nce upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life was, of course, perfect.

Unfortunately, the diving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple and Santa had an accident. Only one of them survived.

One snowy, storm Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress.

Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.

Who was the survivor?

There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys.

Not wanting to disappoint any children on the eve of Suzette Christmas, the perfect couple loaded Santa and his toys into their SUV. Soon they were driving along, delivering toys all over the world.

The perfect woman survived. She’s the only one who really existed in the first place. Everyone knows that there is no Santa Claus, and there is no such thing as a perfect man.

Davethe So, if there’s no perfect man and no Santa Claus, perfect woman must have been driving. This explains why there was an accident.

early, heady days of his bachelor enterprise. Oh, Love 41, same location, different website: www. about that federale who wanted to kill Dave? Maybe Love41.com. Email ihaveaquestion@love41.com. that’s a story better left for another time.

A very merry Christmas and a prosperous (and healthy!) 2015 from all Chamberlain Shipping Inc., same location, different Shop Talk! each and everyone of you out there! ofLeather us here Saddleback Co. isat located at 5500 Egg to Farm website, www.ChamberlainShippingInc.com. ChamRd., #820, Fort Worth,Merry TX, 76244. Christmas See www.Saddle- & Happy berlain’s Leather Milk,Year!! nearby at 5501 Feed Mill Dr., New backLeather.com. Or call customer service at (210) #650, Fort Worth, TX, 76244. See www.Leather858-5210. Email ihaveaquestion@saddlebackleather.

Milk.com. com. On Facebook, Facebook.com/saddlebackleather.

8Shop | Talk!

December 2014 Shop Talk!

juneShop 2015Talk! | 31 June 2015 | 31

BOOKsale

SAVE 15%

How to Make Cowboy Horse Gear

by Bruce Grant, author of Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding. Also conatins apx. 42 pp. section by Lee M. Rice entitled“How to Make a Western Saddle”. Paperback. 186 pp. For beginning rawhide braiders. Covers making a Turk’s Head, rawhide bosal, braided hackamore, reins, headstall, romal, quirt, honda, hobbles, decorative braided knots, and more. Was $12.95

SALE PRICE: $11.00 The Cowboy Boot

by David R. Stoecklein: hard cover, 170 pp. Color throughout. There’s a little history and a lot of great pictures. Great section on “Pee Wee” boots.

Quite a few photos of pretty women wearing pretty boots. Special section on “Working Boots of Today” and “Going to Town Boots.” Was $35

Fine Art of the West

This is one of those hefty coffee table books that is not simply loaded with gorgeous pictures of all things Western such as saddles, silver, boots, holsters, pistols, hats, and spurs.

Rather, each picture has been chosen with a lot of thought and often depicts an unique historical development or an example of unusual workmanship. The many photographs are accompanied by thoughtful commentary and solid historical research that make the craftsmen and the products they created very present to the reader whether he or she is a rank amateur, veteran leather worker, or just an interested reader. Many historically important saddle makers, bit makers, boot makers, etc. are covered in some detail. 270 illustrations.

10 3/8” x 12 ¼”. Was: $75.00

SALE PRICE: $63.75

SALE PRICE: $29.75

Floral Pattern Drawing for the Artistically Impared

A systematic approach to developing patterns for western floral carving. How to: layout your design, draw flowers and leaves, develop your own floral patterns, numerous design ideas and more. Plus: 8 pages of flowers and leaves to be used. By Pete Gorrell - Academy of Western Artists Saddle Maker of the Year 2000 & Al Stohlman Award Recipient 2007. Was $18.95

Wheels Across America, Vol. 2

Hardback with dust cover. 134 pp. Color.

Over 400 photos of historical carriages, wagons, hearses, stage coaches, commercial vehicles, and more.

Chapters include: “Museums & Private Collections,” “Manufacturers, Distributors, Dealers, Jobbers & Agents,” “Contemporary Craftsmen,” and “Carriage Art.”

SALE PRICE: $34.00

SALE PRICE: $16.10

UT! BRIDLEWORK A Step-By-Step Guide

BY ROBERT H. STEINKE

Encyclopedia of Rawhide and Leather Braiding

SEO CLO

by Bruce Grant, hard cover, 528 pp. Dozens and dozens of braids illustrated and described. Step-by-step explanation for each entry. If you could have only book on braiding, this would have to be it. Great for both reference work as well as instruction. Heavily influenced by Argentine braiders and their techniques. Was: $29.95

SALE PRICE: $25.45

Bridlework: A StepBy-Step Guide

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shoptalk@proleptic.net • www.proleptic.net hurry!! sale ends 6/30/2015 32 | June 2015

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Was: $36.00

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Reins (different styles) Accessories Martingales Nosebands Schooling Aids English Girths & Stirrup Leathers Softcover. 270 pp

SALE PRICE: $24.00

Shop Talk!

1915-2015

Little’s Boots: A Texas Tradition A

by Jennifer Fulford

fter 100 years, the story of Little’s Boot Co. doesn’t need a lot of embellishment. Beyond Texas borders, diehard fans of Western custom boots eventually end up at the doorstep of Dave Little in San Antonio for his one-of-a-kind footwear. It’s fate.

Or, more truthfully, impeccable production.

ly native Spanish-speakers, build the Western boots customized for each buyer. (see shop photos, Littles055 and 008) About two to three pairs of boots are finished each day. Customers wait almost a year to get them.

Dave Little’s family business has a reputation for quality, fit, finish, and design. Basically, no one can own a pair unless they physically haul themselves into the store for a fitting. This might change, but it’s a method that’s kept the company thriving for four generations.

The story of Little’s Boot Co. dates back to 1915 and the starry eyes of one Lucien Little.

Lucien was an enthusiastic Texas shoe salesman who decided to open a store of factorymade footwear. Soon, it was him, his son Ben, and their two grandsons, John and Dave, who joined the family enterprise. Fancy boots, the likes of which they only make now, didn’t come into the retail picture until the 1940-50s when Ben shifted the production to customized boots.

Eventually, dress boots became all Little’s made, a direction Dave spearheaded in the mid ‘70s. His older brother, John, who steered the company too, passed in 2005.

Little calls the style a high-quality dress boot “suited for the ranch owner not the ranch hand.”

His daughter, Sharon, and son, Duane, smile to themselves when he says this. They’ve heard Dave’s stories and quips over and over again.

They work at Little’s full time, versus patriarch Dave, 83, who’s enjoying full-time semi-retirement (wife Mary Jane has officially left the building). Dave really isn’t working, but he can’t keep from thinking up new ideas for the business.

His latest idea? Remote fittings, says Dave. To expand, he even bought the building across the street on auction at the courthouse steps. About this scheme, Sharon and Duane think, “We’ll see.” They’ve lived the Little’s big dream ever since they were born.

Sharon, 54, is the first person most people meet when they come into the retail store, south of downtown San Antonio. The store is situated in a non-glamorous commercial strip on Division Street. In a separate building a few steps from the store, Duane, 51, is busy in the shop, where about a dozen craftspeople, mostShop ShopTalk!

Talk!

“We’re about a year behind, seven to eight months,” Duane says.

“The old story is you make more money not by more production but by raising the standard of quality, and that’s what we did,” Dave says.

Their remarkable success has been earned by reputation only. They insist that they’ve never advertised. They have a catalogue (about twenty years old) and give away some boots on occasion, but otherwise, word of mouth is their best friend.

The movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta didn’t hurt business either. The Little family remembers a distinct uptick in sales because of the increased popularity of Western goods after the movie was released in 1980.

“People who were bankers and lawyers, because

June June 2015 2015 | |

33 33

it was so popular, they wanted that one pair of boots to have,” Sharon recalls, “and they may have worn them once or twice a year, but everyone had to have a boot because that was the phase. It wasn’t just Texas, it was everywhere.”

Business continued to improve with the release of Tyler Beard’s and Jim Arndt’s boot books, “Cowboy Boots” (2004) and “Art of the Boot” (2006). One of the books has forty-eight pictures of Little’s boots. These propelled the business into international fame. Dave says Jim and Tyler spent a day in the store taking as many pictures as possible for one book. They just wanted to make sure they had enough good stuff.

“I came in an hour early, and they were already at the door,” Dave says. “They took pictures for eight hours.”

Most people don’t come in to just browse and

think about it. They know about the quality of Little’s boots, the reputation of the company, and are nearly salivating to have a pair of their very own. Or a second pair. Or a pair for the second generation. Little’s doesn’t make boots for kids, no matter how hard you whine, but the grown children of their most loyal customers return.

“It makes me feel old when they bring their kids in, who I remember as this tall,” Sharon says, leveling her hand about yea-high, “and they’re in college now, and they are buying them boots.”

Basic boots start at $1,700. We’re talking basic—nothing but boot, no fancy stitching. The most popular boot these days is a men’s in dusty dark brown that combines two exotic leathers, a crocodile vamp—seam up the back—with quill ostrich top and an opposite

“The old story is you make more money not by more production but by raising the standard of quality, and that’s what we did,” Dave says.

34 | june 2015 35

Shop Talk!

oval crocodile border. Dave designed it. A dress boot for sure. Cost: $10,000. Value: Priceless.

One business decision that has paid big dividends is the incredible number of sample boots in the retail store. It’s a showcase. There should be accompanying fireworks. Custom creations line every wall except along the plate glass at

the front of the store. For years, Little’s made a second pair of most custom orders just to show them off. It’s like being in an ice cream shop where the freezers go on and on forever full of mouthwatering flavors, like cactus flower and flaming rose. How do you choose a style when every boot is a masterpiece of sweet leather?

Ok, that description may be a little too much,

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Email: kimmels@cctc.net Phone: (325) 356-3197 Fax: (325) 356-2490

june 2015 June 2015

| 35 | 35

but not for some. These days, instead of making a second pair for display, Little’s just makes a matching boot top. They hang them on hooks like swatches for visitors to handle and study the design and stitching.

The sample boots and tops display the creativity of customers and the bootmakers. Boots sport skulls, guns, historic buildings, landscapes, grass, flowers, animals, logos, sayings, oil rigs, chili peppers, flags, people, skeletons, and flourishes of every shape and color. Sometimes, says Sharon, the key to a good design is convincing the customer that less is more.

36 | june 2015 37

Often, there’s too much to pick from and the customer just can’t decide. Due to the vast design options, how could any customer not struggle to select?

The store has been visited by famous musicians and movie stars, millionaire oil tycoons, and Alex Haley. Remember him? He wrote Roots. Years ago, he happened into the store one day to order a pair of boots. Because of Haley’s quiet demeanor, the Littles, not easily starstruck, didn’t exactly know who he was.

Until they asked his name for the ticket. All in a day’s work.

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Some customers buy boots just for personal display. One bought a “boot of the month” for a while on a running tab. A few pay up front.

Those customers make sales a breeze, Sharon admits.

In recent years, the store became the backdrop for an insurance commercial. Hartford Insurance Company chose Little’s retail shop to stage a commercial in 2011 that aired during the Super Bowl. Even now, cus-

tomers come in and say, “Haven’t I seen this place somewhere on TV?” You sure have.

The commercial can be viewed on YouTube under the title “The Hartford –Martinez.” The cowboy boot purses featured in the commercial are designed by Rootin Tootin Boutique at www.RootinTootinBoutique.com.

“That was the first time we learned about location fee,” Sharon says. “It was a major production.”

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june 2015 June 2015

| 37 | 37

l. Ruben Diaz, Foreman; c. Juan O. Ortiz; r. Juan DominguezHernandez

There is Ruben Diaz, the foreman, who quietly goes about his business. He is credited in the catalogue as one of the men “who have made Little’s what it is today, quality.” He has worked for Little’s since 1968, making patterns and cutting leather. Juan O. Ortiz builds tops. He is considered one of the best in the business and is gifted at inlay and overlay designs. Alongside them are Juan Dominguez-Hernandez, who also creates tops, inlay, and overlay designs. Victor Velasquez assembles tops; Rafael Moreno is the bottom guy, known as the laster/ mounter; Jose Leon Sosa finishes all soles and heels, and cleans and shines boots; Jose Pena

“For a thirty second commercial, it took them twenty-four hours,” Duane adds.

The cachet of Little’s Boots is one aspect of this success story. The other aspect revolves around the craftspeople who continue to be the backbone of production. One employee celebrated forty-seven years with the company theCRday 3024 160 after Shop Talk! visited. Collectively, the Millersburg, OH 44654 experience is so deep that the folks in the shop, Ph: 330-359-1501 or “factory,” have their own spread in the comFax: 330-359-0501 pany catalogue.

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38 | June 2015 38 | June 2015

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is the boot repairman, who also helps Sosa on lasts and finishes.

Even after all these years, there’s still some halted communication between the native Spanish- and English-speakers, but everybody seems to know the technical terms in both languages to result in a great product.

One boot that gains a lot of admiration from shoppers is a Kangaroo boot with hand lacing up every seam and on the pulls. It takes about fifty hours of labor. Remarkable.

The shop space is no frills. The sewing machines are tried and true 315 Singers with more stories to tell than some of the employees. The only real technical touch to production was introduced by Duane, who decided to track customer orders better. He created a cutsheet for every person who orders a boot that includes the customer’s picture and the boot type, so that after months in cue, he could better remember the customer and the order.

This cutsheet is stored electronically, but by all accounts, computers have very little else to do with production. A paper copy of each order ticket is placed in a plastic bin and circulated

Shop Talk!

Shop Talk!

june 2015 June 2015

| 39 | 39

Cowboy Bits And Spurs

by Joice I. Overton: hard cover, 160 pp. This book successfully combines “Working Cowboy” knowledge with “Cowboy Collectibles,” describing the actual usage, background, and value of cowboy bits and spurs, along with many other accessories. Reg. $39.95

SALE PRICE: $33.95

How To Establish Prices For The Saddlemaker Or Leatherworker

by Robert G. Brenner: paperback, 68 pp. The best pricing information available for the leatherworker. It answers all the questions you ever had about your business. This is the real thing and will help any craftsman to be a better businessperson. Reg. 39.95

SALE PRICE: $33.95 Making a Halter/Bridle: A Step-by-Step Guide

Braiding Rawhide Horse Tack 180 drawings and photographs, the reader is shown every step of the process, beginning with a fresh cowhide, continuing through cutting strings and braiding, and ending with finished reatas, bosals, hobbles, or reins. Reg. 16.99

Discusses different types of tannages, hide/ leather terminology, selecting harness leather, grading leather, chrome versus vegetable tanned leather, latigo, and more. Handy reference. 20 pages, 5x7, soft cover. Reg. 16.00

SALE PRICE: $14.44

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(828) 505-8474 • (828) 505-8476 shoptalk@proleptic.net • www.proleptic.net Art of the Boot

by Tyler Beard, photographs by Jim Arndt: soft cover, 160 pp. Elegant presentation throughout.

Intense focus on the boot makers’ craft. Lots of great background notes on the different boot makers included. Reg $24.95

SALE PRICE: $21.20 All the Pretty Saddles

By Nick Pernokass, 65 pp. Handy reference tool for buyers of new and used saddles written by a professional saddle maker. Reg $18

SALE PRICE: $15.30 The Leatherworking Handbook

Restoring Vintage Western Saddles

by Valeri Michael: paperback, 120 pp. Great for most any leatherworker. Total of 10 projects from simple to advanced complete with instructions and patterns. Also gives some background and theory of leatherworking and discusses tools, techniques & construction methods. Was $19.95

By Alain Eon: Alain is one of the foremost restorers of collectible saddles in world. He shares all his secrets about how to restore worn out and “dead” leather in his new 64 page book. His methods are practical and easy to understand. Was $45.00

SALE PRICE: $16.95

40 | June June 2015 2015

SALE PRICE: $38.25

Shop Shop Talk!

Talk!

between the craftspeople once the leather is cut. Everything is executed by hand.

The shop accommodated both retail and manufacturing before the Littles renovated a duplex next door that now serves as the retail store.

The site has been Little’s location since 1960, having first started in downtown San Antonio next to the famous Buckhorn Saloon. Several old pictures from the company’s history are framed and hang in the retail space. Dave is happy to point out who’s in each shot. He is as bright-eyed as his grandfather and founder Lucien must have been. Dave’s mind is sharp as he roams around his familiar surroundings.

It’s good to be King of Boots. (see anniversary boots, Littles091, 078) Little’s Boots is located at 110 Division Ave., San Antonio, TX, 78214. Call (210) 923-2221 or fax (210) 923-6818. See www.LittlesBoots.com.

Or email Sharon@littlesboots.com.

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| 43

Impressions from FOD (Friends of Dave)

by Jennifer Fulford, Texas Beat Reporter

Friends of Dave (FOD) chimed in about their impressions of Dave Little and Little’s Boots.

Jim Ardnt, Photographer for “Cowboy Boot Book” (1992), “Cowboy Boots” (2004), “Art of the Boot” (1999/2006), and “Buckaroo Boots” (2015) (FOD for 24 years): “Well, he’s the best in the world. There’s nobody who makes a better boot. I think his quality and expertise in boots is unsurpassed. And it’s really Dave, even though Sharon has taken over running it, Dave looks at every pair that goes out the door and studies them. I’ve probably seen more boots than almost anybody just because I’ve photographed them, I’ve done calendars, I’ve done five books. You’ll never see a mistake on a Dave Little boot either. You’ll never see a boo-boo or a stitch outta place or leather cut wrong or skived wrong.”

Eddie Kimmel, custom bootmaker, Kimmel Boots, Comache, TX (FOD for 35 years): “I just have a lot of respect for Dave. He’s built something he’s passed along to his family. He’s always been a guy who is willing to give advice, even if it was advice you didn’t want to hear. It usually was true. I kinda listened to what he told me. He’s just a great guy. Dave doesn’t pull any punches and explains this isn’t an easy business to get into or succeed at. . . . He taught me to pay attention to the leather you throw away. Every piece of leather that goes in the trash is part of the equation, that could be about 25 percent.”

Sal Maida, Maida’s Boots, fourth generation boot maker, Houston (FOD for 40+ years): “When I was 14, 15 years old and we were vendors at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which was the largest rodeo in American, dollar figure in America, Dave Little had a booth. So did we. And I’m a fourth generation boot maker; he’s a third. My grandfather would call down to his booth and scream and holler and tell Dave to send me back to our booth. My young artist inspiration as a boot maker and designer – for color and flare and piz-

44 | june 2015

Shop Talk!

zazz – came from standing in his booth and becoming mesmerized over his art. Our boots were street boots for the Texas oil man in Houston, predominantly black, brown, not a lot of detail in the top of the boots. . . . Our friendship continued for many years, and I picked him up a few years back in San Antonio to travel to small boot shops to say hello and see if they needed anything to help them out. We were so excited about our trip, we didn’t get separate rooms. . . .We talked boots from morning to sundown and in between because we couldn’t stand to not talk about it.”

Mike Vaughn, custom boot maker, Bowie, TX (FOD for 34 years): “He’ll just call and ask how things are going. A lot of us (Texas boot makers) all try to talk. We’ll stay in touch. The one thing I can say is that Dave’s done nothing but bent over backward to be helpful. If there’s a supply, or some what-not, that we can’t find, he’ll help. . . . I actually went to Dave’s shop for the first time ever two weeks ago. We spent the whole afternoon together. Wanted me to stay another day, said ‘You can’t go back yet,’ but I told him ‘I got boots to put together.

Orders waiting. There are people feeding my dogs and horses.’ He said, ‘They’ll do it one more day if you ask.

You’d do it for them.’ That’s just the kind of guy he is.”

Carl T. Chappell, custom boot maker, St. Jo, TX, 2011 Bootmaker of the Year, Academy of Western Arts (FOD for 20+ years): “I’m three years back ordered, and the guy who works with me is a year back ordered, and I don’t know how far behind Dave is, but there’s not much point in being competitive with somebody when you are so far behind you can’t see daylight. There seems to be more work than all of us can get done. . . . The ones that are making good boots have all the business they can stand and the ones that aren’t go out of business.

All our customers know quality boots, you know? If you don’t make quality boots, you don’t stay in business.”

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Shop Talk!

june 2015

| 45

The Fort Wort

The history book of the li

The Fort Worth Stockyards are no longer working stockyards. If you’re from Texas, you probably already know that. If you’re not, go visit. The place is meant for tourists. The area around the old stockyards, once considered the gateway to the West from the late 1800s, is now a mixture of shops, hotels, saloons, museums, and restaurants designed to keep the flavor of the past alive. Twice daily, local

by Jennifer Fulford, Texas Beat Reporter

46 | June 2015

cowboys drive longhorn cattle through the district, just like in the bad old days. That’s about as Disneyesque as it gets; otherwise it feels pretty rough and ready. Which is fine because isn’t it tiresome that everything always has to be so perfect? Too all-inclusive? Too staged?

The stockyard district is a throwback. Anchoring the major intersection at Exchange Ave. and N. Main Street is M.L. Leddy’s Boots and Saddlery. Even Leddy’s proclaims itself a “respite from the rest of the world’s hurried and impersonal pace.” Eighty-five years old, the store reeks of the past, and the family still runs it, the fourth generation. Step inside and be swallowed in Western aura; even the lighting seems

Shop Talk!

th Stockyards

ivestock industry in Texas

to promote an Old West feel. Find boots off the rack or order a custom pair on the premises. Plenty of hats to match.

Hankering for a watering hole? Just cross the street to a hotel, café, or dry goods store. Farther down, drink something cold and frothy (ever heard of Billy Bob’s?). Even farther down, stroll through the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame or watch a quick draw competition. Real pistols. Real re-enactors. Real fun.

Forth Worth Stockyards Station, 130 E. Exchange Ave., Fort Worth, TX, 76164, (817) 625-9715, www.

FortWorthStockyards.org.

Leddy’s Boots, 2455 N. Main, Fort Worth, TX, 76164.

By phone (888) 565-2668. Info@leddys.com or www.Leddys.com.

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Seminar Roundup Folks enjoy swapping know-how at Boot & Saddle Makers Trade Show

Detail of floral leather carving

Every October for the past twelve years, Wichita Falls, TX, turns into a mecca for folks whose passion and livelihood is working in leather. The impulse behind all the energy and excitement is the Boot & Saddle Makers Trade Show, a lively event that draws about seventy vendors and exhibitors annually. To the leather artists and craftspeople who attend, it’s known as the Roundup, a great place to find thousands of “must have” items under one roof — saddle trees, boot lasts, fine leathers, hand tools, hardware, findings, silver trim, accessories, stitching machines, books, and tons more.

But the trade show, which saw nearly 1,000 attendees this past fall, is not only a sociable venue to hunker down and

by Lynn Ascrizzi, Staff Writer

do business. Kathy and Eddie Kimmel, co-organizers of the two-day event, have found that a sizable number of show goers like to get their creative juices flowing by attending the show’s up-close-and-personal, free seminars.

Led by expert boot and saddle makers, the how-to demonstrations are held inside the Wichita Falls Multiple Purpose Event Center (MPEC). The teaching sessions, which can be from one-half hour to two-hours long, are relaxed and informal. People can drop in and leave when they need to. “We’ve got about 42,000 square feet for the show, including exhibit, storage, and seminar areas,” Kathy Kimmel said In 2014, seven seminars were offered, set at different times on both days of the show. Altogether, it’s estimated they attracted 200 or more attendees. “All the people who teach the seminars are so much a part of what happens,” Kimmel said.

First held about seven years ago, the learning events quickly became a popular attraction. “There are people who call in continually to know what the seminars are going to be about. Boot makers just getting into the business love to go in and learn from them. And boot makers making boots for years enjoy them. It’s in your blood. You can never learn enough,” Kathy Kimmel said.

Presenters sign up for seminars on a voluntary basis, Kimmel added. “It’s a laid back thing,” she explained, regarding her selection process. “It’s all like family to us.

Most of them have been in business for ten to twenty years. I literally go into my database and ask someone if they want to give a seminar. And bless their hearts, they often do. They are more than happy to give back their knowledge and experience to the boot and saddle industry. We are grateful for that.”

PRESENTERS & TOPICS It’s not only show goers who benefit from the learning events. Presenters also enjoy the satisfaction of interact-

48 | June 2015

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interstate as your flow line. Most of the time, the flow line is part of a circular pattern. It can be full circles or partial circles. It depends upon what style of carving you want to do.

Sometimes you use an S pattern, sometimes a sine wave — a gentle curve pattern. Regardless, it is still a circular motion, whether a full or partial circle.”

ing with fellow leatherworkers and friends. “They [attendees] are learning, but some voice their ideas to the presenter,” Kimmel said.

To get a better idea of the enriching experiences that the seminars provide, here is a rundown of the presenters and topics offered at the Oct. 3 -4, 2014, Boot & Saddle Makers Roundup: • “Floral Layout,” Bryan Wildt, Village Leather Shop, Star City, AR

Photo courtesy Bryan Wildt

For his demonstration, boot and saddle maker Bryan Wildt centered his talk on how to lay out a pattern in preparation for carving the decorative floral designs widely used on boots, briefcases, saddles, and other leather goods.

“When I first learned floral carving, they thrust you into the carving part but didn’t explain how to draw a pattern.

To me that was frustrating. I felt that the tools needed for this kind of seminar were pencil and paper and a big eraser and not swivel knives, bevellers, veiners and thumbprint/pear shaders,” he said.

For the half-hour-long seminar, Wildt used a big piece of poster board to demonstrate flow line variations. “We started real simple and advanced to full circles. If you start drawing circles on a blank piece of paper, you’ll see how each circle flows into the other circle,” he commented.

Wildt said he received a lot of good comments from participants. And, a leatherworker in attendance invited him to teach floral layouts at Tandy Leather in Oklahoma City, OK, on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. “I’ll have more time then, and I hope that during that demonstration people will have pencils, paper, and erasers, will draw a flow line and start drawing a floral pattern,” he said.

During his hour-long workshop, Wildt showed how he lays out a pattern using a flow line. A flow line, he explained, is the foundation line from which all other lines of a design flow to make it eye pleasing. A flow line helps to create a balanced, harmonious design.

“Boot makers just getting into the business love to go in and learn from them (seminars).

And, boot makers making boots for years enjoy them. It’s in your blood. You can never learn enough.”

— Kathy Kimmel, co-owner, Kimmel Boot Co. “If you can’t draw, you can’t carve. . . . You can use a Texas rose or a Sheridan flower — it doesn’t matter. I didn’t teach a particular design. How you lay it out is all the same. It’s understanding the use of a flow line. That flow line is an ‘invisible’ line. You don’t carve that line. All the other lines of the design flow into that line,” Bryan said.

He cited the example of a car merging back into traffic off an entrance ramp, onto the highway. “Imagine the Shop Talk!

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• “Fitting,” by Lee Miller, Texas Traditions, Lee Miller Boots, Austin, TX To boot maker Lee Miller, seminars help turn the Boot & Saddle Makers show into a well-rounded event. “It gives people a reason to stay and learn something. Most trade shows offer some kind of education. It’s an important part of the show. The shopping is one part but the sharing is another,” he observed.

Miller, in business since 1986, currently has a four year backlog on boot orders. He recalls giving a seminar the first time they were held at the Wichita show. “I’ve done three seminars now. It’s fun. It’s an honor to get up there and talk to people, to share what you’ve learned. I know as a boot maker what it’s like to have questions.”

Photo courtesy of Lee Miller. Natural pigskin and black kangaroo boots with tulip inlay, from Texas Traditions, Lee Miller Boots.

This past October, Miller gave a half-hour presentation on how he fits a cowboy boot. “The most difficult part is fitting the feet. That’s where you succeed or fail. If you do a good job, you stay in business. It takes years to earn how to do it.” To his seminar, he brought a list of twenty tools he uses to fit boots. Among them was a Brannock Device, the metal contraption used to measure your feet at the shoe store.

“A lot of boot makers don’t use them. I use them. So, I explained why it’s a good tool for checking the size of your customers’ feet. You can measure the total length from heel to toe and from the heel to the ball of the foot. It gives you some degree of accuracy. It also gets the customer to talk about what they wear. When you make boots, you have to fit their mind as well as their feet. If a customer says, ‘I like my boots really loose,’ you have to know that,” Lee said.

Among the other tools he talked about were the contour gauge, a woodworker’s tool that he uses to show the shape of the foot, and the pedigraph or Harris Mat that takes an ink print of the bottom of the foot. “The pedigraph shows the arch and where the person might bear pres-

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sure. The industry nowadays uses a digital machine that you stand on, but I don’t think a pedigraph is a thing of the past. It shows nice forms that are clear and easy to read. Pedigraphs are readily available, but not a lot of boot makers use them.”

He also discussed the simple virtue of a quality tape measure. “A fabric shop tape measure stretches. I use a tape measure made specifically for setting up a last that’s made in Germany.”

After the presentation, when he started packing up, a whole lot of people came up to talk to him. “They didn’t want to ask questions from their chair. The seminar gave them an opportunity to put forth their ideas and suggestions and to get one-on-one instruction,” he said.

• “Carving,” Jesse Smith, Jesse Smith Saddlery, Pritchett, CO Jesse Smith gave a two-hour demonstration on leather carving, although the topic had been listed as “tooling.”

“When I say tooling, I talk about using a stamp, like a geometric or basket stamp. A lot of people intertwine the terminology of tooling and carving,” he said. For the session, he brought some leather, stamping too, and swivel knives. “In a two-hour seminar, you can’t cover a whole lot. I gave a quick overview.”

For his design image, he chose a Northwest floral pattern

Miller made his first pair of cowboy boots in 1975. “My first pair of boots didn’t fit,” he said, with humor. “I had to give them away. They were beautiful boots, but they didn’t fit.” In 1977, he went to work for renowned boot maker Charles Russell “Charlie” Dunn. At the time, Dunn was 79 years old. In 1986, when he turned 88, Miller bought his mentor’s Austin shop. Dunn died in 1993, at age 95. “It changed my life,” he said of working with the master.

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Northwest style, he used a small stamp to create each seed in the cluster. “Everybody had a good time. I encourage questions. There’s a lot of back and forth,” he said.

Jesse Smith works on a leather carving in his workshop.

Smith is currently doing research for a book he plans to write on Northwest carving.

drawn in pencil on frosted acetate, a paper with a nonglare surface that accepts pen, ink or pencil. He placed his pattern onto a piece of leather and used a camera and TV screen to project the image. “That way, the whole crowd can see what’s happening,” he explained.

First, he transferred the pattern onto the leather with a stylus. Then, he cut the image into the leather with a swivel knife. Next, he carved the design — a single flower with surrounding stem work. And, he included all the beveling, shading, veining, and seed work. To do seed work in the

Besides helping fellow leatherworkers, his seminars also help promote his art and teaching work. “I have noticed that when I teach, about half of the people in attendance buy pattern packs from me. I sell quite a few of my belt and note patterns. I’ve had people come up to my shop [in Pritchett] and take my saddle or leather making class. I’ve gained students through teaching seminars,” he said.

A fulltime saddle maker for fifty years, Smith has spent decades teaching professionally. In the 1960s, he earned an associate degree in applied science in commercial art from Spokane Community College, in Spokane, WA. Later, he taught a saddle making program at that college for twentyone years, upgrading the curriculum to make it a numberone course. At the time, he also owned and operated a saddle making business in Spokane. After retiring in 2000, he returned to Colorado. Today, he teaches one-on-one classes in saddle making and leather carving at his home workshop, located on a 3,000 acre ranch, thirty-two miles from Pritchett (population 140), a town that also boasts of a post office, a school, and a mechanic’s shop.

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to make it different. If you do everything by the correct measurements, you can still have a bad fitting boot. There are things you need to take into account besides the size of the foot,” he said.

A work in progress.

“Students spend a week at the ranch. I’ve got a bunkhouse by the front door of the shop. The closest motel is 50 miles away in Springfield [CO],” he said. Smith also continues to make custom saddles, tack, and leather goods at his saddlery.

• “Top Patterns” and “The Dutchman & Setting the Heels,” Carl Chappell, C.T. Chappell Boot Shop & Trail Town Custom Leather, Saint Jo, Texas.

When it comes to cowboy boots, Carlton T. Chappell wears at least three hats — as boot maker, designer, and teacher. He operates his workshop and boot making school in Saint Jo, a small, north Texas town set at the junction of the historic Chisholm Trail and California Road. Chappell is a big fan of the Boot & Saddle Makers Roundup.

The next day, he gave an one-hour session on “The Dutchman, and Setting the Heels.” “A Dutchman is just a wedge under someone’s foot,” he explained. “It’s built into the boot, to turn the foot in or out, to correct the foot. It’s kind of like corrective shoeing on a horse. It’s the corrective use of a leather wedge. Or, you can build up the wedge out of cork or other material. It’s a type of orthopedic work. I showed them how I build what looks like a double sole, but it actually has a Dutchman inside. Most people don’t want their shoes to look orthopedic. Setting the heels is part of a corrective shoeing technique.”

“If you do everything by the correct measurements, you can still have a bad fitting boot. There are things you need to take into account, besides the size of the foot.”

— Carl Chappell, C.T. Chappell Boots He estimated that each session drew about twenty-five to thirty attendees. “A lot of them were ex-students who wanted clarification on stuff. A lot were people just getting started. Some were boot makers who wanted to see how I do it,” he said.

Chappell will be teaching boot making again at a public event during the 22nd Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show in Sheridan, WY. (May 15-17, 2015). He will also be one of two judges in their boot making contest.

From left to right: Carl Chappell, Kelly Karnes, and her dad, boot maker Mike Karnes.

Although he loves to make boots, these days, he devotes more of his time to teaching his art. “I’ve got an advanced

“I attend every year. I only missed one. It’s a real good get-together. I teach different subjects every year,” he said. At the 2014 trade show, he gave two seminars.

His first demonstration was a half-hour session on how to make paper patterns to build the tops of boots. The topic also included how to change patterns to suit customers’ feet.

“If someone has real soft, fat feet, I cut the pattern down in some area. If they have hard, bony heels, I’ll have 54 | June 2015

Shop Talk!

lars, leads, horse tack, and the like.)

student, Hayden Hrncir, in my shop right now. She is building two pairs of alligator boots, top and bottom — one pair a bright pink, the other, bright blue,” he said. Hrncir is the founder of Lukken Leather (www. lukkenleather.com).

“I mostly teach,” Chappell noted. But boot making is still on the bench.

“I’ve still got lots of boot orders to catch up with. I’m too far behind to quit,” he said.

• “Pull Straps,” Mike Karnes, Mike Karnes Boot Shop, Aubrey and St. Jo, TX

Mike Karnes, maker of custom, handmade cowboy boots, gave a half-hour, show-and-tell demonstration on how to make different kinds of boot pulls. “One boot pull [design] is proprietary for me. I’ve never seen anybody else do it. You make a loop of veg tanned leather with a rein rounder,” he said. (A rein rounder is a tool used to round leather straps and is often employed in the making of handles, dog col-

Karnes spent the biggest part of his session showing folks how to make a 7” standard pull strap and attach it on each side of the boot. “The common mistakes people make are using leather for pull straps that is way too heavy — like, the same material they use for a boot top. Six or 7 oz. leather is way too heavy for a pull strap. It’s very difficult to sew in the piece,” he said.

Custom made Instead, to make a nice boot pull, boots with oak he splits boot top leather with a bell leaf motif by knife skiver. “There’s more than one Mike Karnes. way to skin the cat,” he quipped. “If you want a 1” wide pull strap, you start working with a 2” wide piece of leather. Before you fold the leather over, you insert nylon fabric reinforcement. It’s not webbing but garment nylon, so it doesn’t stretch. And then you fold the strap to the middle.”

He also talked about making boot pull holes. “It sounds like pull holes would be more simple that boot pulls, but,

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if properly done, it’s not more simple. The pull hole needs an extra piece of leather between the boot lining and face of the boot, so you’ll have more substance to pull on. I showed folks how to make them look stronger and more refined,” he said.

Karnes splits his work week between two shops. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday he works at 2109 W. Sherman Highway, Aubrey, TX , and on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, he works at 105 S. Main Street, Saint Jo, TX (on the Square). “I make all the Trail Town boots in St. Jo. I do most of the top work in Aubrey and most of the bottom work in St. Jo.” “This has been the busiest year ever,” he added. “I’ve built more boots this year than I’ve ever built. I received two orders from oil executives. There’s more work than I’ll ever get done.”

The next Roundup is scheduled for October 2-3—make plans now to attend! More great (free) seminars will again be offered by some of the best in the business.

CONTACTS Boot & Saddle Makers Trade Show Kathy and Eddie Kimmel 2080 County Road 304 Comanche, TX 76442 (325) 356-3197 kimmels@comanchetx.com kimmels@cctc.net http://www.bootandsaddlemakertradeshow.com/

Lee Miller Texas Traditions Custom Handmade Boots 2222 College Ave. Austin, TX 78704 (512) 443-4447 texastraditions@mac.com Jesse Smith Jesse Smith Saddlery 499 County Road Pritchett, CO 81064 (719) 643-5553 jessesmithsaddle@gmail.com Carl T. Chappell C.T. Chappell Boot Shop & Trail Town Custom Leather P.O. Box 322, Saint Jo, TX 76265 (940) 995-2600. chappellboots@live.com www.cthapelbootshop.com www.trailtowncustomleather.com Mike Karnes Mike Karnes Boot Shop P.O. Box 63 Saint Jo, TX 76265 (940) 465-8034

Bryan Wildt Village Leather Shop 200 Knight Haven Circle Star City, AR 71667 (870) 628-3454

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BOOKsale

Leather Tooling & Carving

Sheridan Style Carving

by Bill Garner and Clinton Fay: paperback, 136+ pp. This is a book by carvers for carvers and leatherworkers who appreciate world-class craftsmanship. Readers are taken step-by-step through the process of laying out and tooling the intricate patterns of the famous Sheridan style.Was $35

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by J.H.L. Shields: paperback, 80 pp.

Probably the best book on the market for craftspeople wanting to learn how to build or repair an English Saddle. Was $14.95

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by Robin Yates: paperback, 60 pp. Stepby-step instructions for how to make a Western Saddle. Includes instructions and descriptions of tools, cutting, rigging and much more.

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by Chris H. Groneman, soft cover, 111 pp. with 148 photos & diagrams. This book was originally published in 1950 and has a very dated look in the way it’s organized as well as in the types of projects and styles of carving that are presented. However, with that said, there maybe forgotten ideas, techniques, & patterns that someone who stamps and carves leather would be happy to rediscover. Has the look of a classic. Was: $11.95

SALE PRICE: $10.15 Whips and Whipmaking

by David W. Morgan: paperback, 132 pp. An illuminating exposition of the uses as well as the construction and design of whips. This book revives an aspect of our technological and social history that had fallen into neglect.

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SALE PRICE: $16.95 Braiding Fine Leather: Techniques of the Australian Whipmakers

by David W. Morgan. For beginner/intermediate. Flat and round braiding–4, 6, 8 strand. 7 projects. Clear step-by-step instructions. 148 pp. Was $19.95

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by Bruce Grant: paperback, 191 pp. The definitibe book in its field. Contains detailed illustrations, step-by-step instructions and a wealth of incidental, fascinating information.

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SALE PRICE: $8.45 Shoe Repairs That You Can Do Resoling Rocky Mountain Boots • Installing Lifts in a Woman’s Sneaker • Rebuilding Birkenstock Sandals • Resoling an Allen Edmunds Men’s Dress Shoe • Making Your Repair Shop Successful • Half Soles & Heels for a Western Boot • Repairing Worn HeelsResoling Running Shoes • Potions & Lotions • Rocky Mountain Boots Revisited: New Soles & Mid-soles • Installing a Three-Quarter Wedge into Sandals. 52 pp. Was $22.50

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2015

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Classifieds

Buy or sell or trade

Classified ad rates are $26.50 for the first 20 words and $.65 cents for each additional word. Words (or groups of letters) fewer than three characters are not counted when calculating the cost of the ad. Street addresses are counted as one word. City, state, country, and zip or postal code are combined and counted as one word. Enclose payment when submitting ads. Ads received without payment will be held until payment is made. Ads must be received no later than the fifth of the month prior to the month you wish the ad to run (e.g. ads for the February issue must be in our office by January 5). Typed or neatly printed ads are preferred. We are not responsible for mistakes due to handwriting. Faxed ads must be typed and are accepted with MasterCard, VISA or Discover only.

Wanted Wanted: New subscribers from Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizaon. Now is the time to renew! Give us a call at (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net or visit www.proleptic.net.

Wanted: Complete tool collections. Contact: Shop Talk!, P O Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

Wanted: Bench equipment. Any condition. Skivers, splitters, pressers, spotters, etc. Also parts and pieces—bolts, frames, springs, blades. We pay shipping. Contact Shop Talk!, P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

Wanted: Equestrian and Western work including prints, posters, paintings, etc. Contact: Shop Talk!, P O Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, www.proleptic.net.

For Sale Hitching Post Supply has a large inventory of mane and tail horsehair by the pound for use in pottery, mecates, braiding, hitching, and more. Suoplier of 8-ply mohair cinch cord, both available in natural and dyed colors. Instructional books and DVD’s at www.hitchingpostsupply.com, (800) 689-9971 or (360) 668-2349.

Singer patcher 29-4 sewing machine. Good condition. Guaranteed to work. $400. Contact: Ruben Yoder, Yoder’s Collar Shop, 25090 County Hwy J66, Davis City, IA 50065, (641) 442-2517.

Leather Unlimited. Quality wholesale leather distributor since 1970 including oak, deerskin, garment, rawhide, oiled cowhide, furs, and more. Quality leather goods, leather tools, black powder gear, all steel clicker and mallet dies. Complete Internet catalog at www.LeatherUnltd.com or call (800) 993-2889 for quality leather and friendly service from a USA family-owned and operated business.

For Sale: New blades for 6” hand cranked splitters; Standard Rivet #2 spot setters with staple dies; A-G flip top embosser; Fortuna top feed skiver; and more. Call for complete list of sewing machines and equipment. Buy, sell, trade. Can deliver.

Contact: Roy Peakes, 5 Sibley St., Auburn, MA 01501, (508) 769-8899.

Liquidating entire inventory. 7 hvy. Duty sewing machines— Cobras, Artisan, Juki’s. 2 embossing machines. 12” USMC

60 | June 2015

splitter. 12” Aperture band knife. 2 creasers. Singer 112 dbl. needle. 14” strap cutter. 3 Standard Rivet spot machines. 5 nylon hole burners. 2 chap machines. 5 cargo trailer container loads of saddles, bridles, halters, leads, etc. No reasonable offer refused. Contact: Ben Day, Western Specialties, 3106 Cedardale Rd., Mt. Vernon, WS 98174, (360) 708-4201.

Install and remove Chicago screws quickly and easily in the shop or on the trail. $16.95 + $4 S&H. Call for wholesale pricing. Contact: JP’s Bridle & Equine Tool, 26266 E. County Road 700 N., Easton, IL 62633. (309) 562-7266. E-mail: jpequinetacktool@casscomm.com, www.jptacktool.com.

For all your leather needs. Call Moser Leather (800) 8741167 or (513) 889-0500. You can visit our website at www. moserleatherco.com. (R&B) For Sale: The Pro-Concho Turner: The only one in the U.S. Makes removal of decorative conchos a snap! Used with electric drill. Take the fuss and bother out of a difficult job with the Pro-Concho Turner! Saves time, makes money! Rubber gripper protects the concho and makes removal or installation easy. Only $29.00 plus $3.95 S&H, 6-inch steel shank, and rubber gripper. Ready to use! Contact: Proleptic, Inc., P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net.

Wholesale Harness & Supplies! Brahma web, PVC sheeting, PVC belting, nylon webbing, nylon thread and hardware.

We manufacture a full line of synthetic harness parts. In stock for immediate shipping, including blinds, gig saddles, molded curved crowns, cruppers, winker stays, and lots of die cut parts, etc. Ask for your FREE catalog! Contact: Countryside Mfg., 504 S. Humbert St., Milton, IA 52570.

For Sale: “Making Harness: A Step-by-Step Guide”, $58 plus $5.50 S&H. Specs and instructions on how to make and repair six styles of harness from pony to draft, driving, team wagon and mule. Contact: Proleptic, Inc., P.O. Box 17817, Asheville, NC 28816, (828) 505-8474, e-mail: shoptalk@proleptic.net, www.proleptic.net.

For Sale: Pricing Guide: “How to Establish Prices for the

The “Word of the Day” is moue.

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Saddle Maker and Leather Worker.” Only $39.95 plus $4.50 S&H. Contact: (828) 505-8474. (12/12) For Sale: New and used Adler, Brother, Consew, Juki, Pfaff, Singer machines for sewing bio-plastic, canvas, leather and nylon. Available in single or double needles, standard, long arm, flatbed, postbed, cylinder arm. Contact: Bob Kovar, Toledo Industrial Sewing Machine, 3631 Marine Rd., Toledo, OH 43609, (866) 362-7397 or (419) 380-8540. (11/10) For Sale: Tools for the Professional—Ol’ Smoothie swivel knives, blades, stamping tools, and more. Contact: Chuck Smith Tools, Smith & Co., P O Box 2647, Valley Center, CA 92082. (760) 749-5755. Fax (760) 749-5355. E-mail: olsmoothie@sbcglobal.net. (R&B) www.theleatherguy.org for all your leather, tool, and supply needs. Friendly, helpful staff at (507) 932-3795. (R&B) For Sale: Juki Pro 2000. Like new. On stand with clutch.

Ready to use on line shaft. $4,200, Contact: G.R.T. Saddlery, 149 Chestnut Rd., Dayton, PA 16222.

Shoe & Boot Help Wanted! Experienced boot maker wanted immediately.

Contact: Mike Vaughn Handmade Boots, 2390 Orchard Rd., Bowie, TX 76230, (940) 872-6935.

Total shoe repair equipment for sale. All supplies go with it.

Price $5,500. Contact: Gerald Manor, Portland, IN, (260) 7264172 or (260) 726-4343. Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri. Noon to 4 pm.

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ADVERTISERS INDEX A. Lyons..............................................20 American Leather Direct......................7 Barta Hide............................................20 Beachy Blacksmith.............................14 Beiler’s Mfg. & Supply........................19 BioThane.......................................26, 37 Bogle Greenwell Machinery Corp.......9 Booth & Company..............................43 Bowden Saddle Tree..........................18 Brayer..................................................14 Brodhead Collar Shop..........................9 Buckeye Engraving............................55 Buckle Barn USA................................44 Buena Vista Blankets.........................15 Buggy Builder’s Bulletin....................47 C.S. Osborne.......................................59 Campbell-Randall...............................61 Chino Tack..........................................28 Chupp Blacksmith Shop....................43 Chupp Brothers Wholesale...............50 Coblentz Collar...................................61 Colonel Carter's Merchantile.............56 Danny Marlin Knives..........................16 Double K..............................................52 Fairview Country Sales......................38 Fiebing Leather...................................40 Fine Tool Journal................................51 Gfeller Casemakers, Inc.....................45

Goliger Leather Co., Inc.....................45 Hadlock & Fox Mfg. Co......................31 Hand Plait Leather................................7 Hansen Western Gear........................ 11 Harness Hardware..............................24 Hastilow . ............................................46 Hermann Oak............inside front cover Hide House..........................................10 Hillside Harness Hardware..back cover International Sheepskin.....................48 Kalico Products..................................51 Kelly-Larson Sales.............................55 Kimmel Boot Roundup.......................35 Landis Sales & Service......................47 Leather Crafters Journal....................39 Leather Machine Co., Inc., The..........63 Lewis Sales Co...................................50 Maine Thread......................................22 Mid-River Sales...................................46 Miller's Wholesale Harness...............22 Mules and More, Inc...........................21 N & A Harness Shop...........................12 Nettles....................................................9 Nick-O Sew..........................................41 Nutra-Glo.............................................28 Ohio Plastics Belting Co....................51 Ohio Travel Bag..................................22 Pecard..................................................55

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Perfectex Plus LLC.............................47 Precision Saddle Tree........................57 Proleptic.................... 8, 25, 32, 42, 53, 58 RJF Leather...........................................9 Raphael Sewing Machine/TechSew............ ............................................11, back cover Sam Troyer..........................................52 Schwartz Productions........................17 Shelton-Reynolds, Inc........................15 Sheridan Leather................................39 Shetler’s Collar Shop.........................45 ShoTan.................................................13 Small Farmer’s Journal......................43 Smoke & Fire Co.................................21 Southstar Supply................................19 Springfield Leather.............................10 Steel Stamps.......................................49 Sugar Valley Collar Shop...................56 Sun Bias, Inc.......................................13 Sweat Pad Shop............................15, 54 TechSew/Rapheal Sewing Machine............. ............................................. 11, back cover Tennessee Tanning............................56 Texas Custom Dies.............................24 Toledo Sewing......................................3 Troyer's Harness................................43 Weaver Leather.....................................5 Western Mule......................................16

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62 | June 2015

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P.O. Box 17817 • Asheville, NC 28816 (828) 505-8474 • FAX (828) 505-8476 www.proleptic.net

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