![]() The lime solution dissolved the hair and epidermis and caused the hide to swell, which opened the fiber bundles in the dermis layer for later penetration by the tanning material. Next, hides were soaked in lime for several days. After being shipped to a tannery, the hide was soaked in water until it was soft and any last pieces of flesh and fat were removed. After the hide was taken off the animal, it was covered with salt, which simply acted as a preservative. In the 19th century, the process to convert animal hides into useable leather involved several steps. Coupled with rising displeasure with the horrible conditions of “The Swamp,” this led to the development of tanneries across much of the Northeast. ![]() What New York City lacked, however, were large groves of hemlock, which grew farther upriver in the Catskills, Adirondacks, New England, and Pennsylvania. The area soon became concentrated with tanneries and leather-goods manufacturers, gaining its name from the large quantities of wastewater filled with organic matter and the constant odor of curing animal hides. This was an ideal location because hides could be shipped in from foreign sources and water was readily available. The Dutch built New York’s first large scale tannery in 1638 in New Amsterdam, in an area later known as “The Swamp” near the present-day Brooklyn Bridge. With the rise of cities and the specialization of work, leather tanning quickly developed into its own industry. Back then, almost every farm and homestead prepared its own leather from slaughtered domestic or wild animals. In colonial America, the creation of leather from animal skins was a crucial part of life. This story played out across the Northeast and helped shape the forest that we know today. In the industry’s 19th century heyday, as many as 64 tanneries were operating in the Catskill region of New York, and estimates hold that 70 million hemlock trees were harvested for their bark. All of this can make it hard to remember that at one time the manufacturing of leather goods was an economic engine sustaining many communities in the northeastern United States.įrom a forestry perspective, it’s also worth remembering that eastern hemlock ( Tsuga Canadensis) played a crucial role in the early hide-tanning industry. Today, synthetic materials have replaced leather in many shoes and boots nylon and reinforced cotton have replaced leather in coats and a cow hide is more likely to become gelatin than it is a saddle. As our understanding of chemistry evolved, these materials were replaced by vegetable, mineral, and then nonorganic ingredients. Turning animal skin into a durable product requires processing, and in primitive times, hides were tanned using animal brains, dung, urine, ash, and smoke. They’ve worn it, walked on it, sat on it, wrote on it. ![]() Since the dawn of history, humans have made great use of leather.
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