Welcome to The Leather Supply House
The worlds largest selection of musical instrument leathers.

History of Leather Tanning and It's Movement Into the New Millennium

Tanning traces its roots in the New World in the early 1600’s in the Northeast.  This area contained the necessary elements of good leather crafting: soft water, fur bearing animals, and tanning materials from tree bark.  A few tanneries remain dating back over a hundred years.  The Leather Supply House in proud of working with these US tanneries located in Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, and California.  They began and remain a family owned business.  This sense of closeness in enhanced further by numerous family connections among current employees.  The craft parallels that of organ building, both being rich in traditions.

Throughout the early part of the 1900’s the leather industry was a very important part og the US economy and social culture.  Between 80-90% of the leather was tanned in the US.  During both World Wars and the Depression, the tanneries prospered due to the constant demand for military and domestic leather products.  They remained stable until the late 1970’s when 3 international events took place: Russia was at war with Afghanistan, the Ayatollah took over Iran (hence an embargo on African hairsheep), and Turkey chose not to export raw sheepskins.  These countries supplied the fine raw material used to produce lightweight organ leather.  Further, the efforts of the Environmental Protection Act caused many tanneries to close rather than invest in compliance measures.

Today, in an era of manufacturing companies moving offshore for economic reasons, the tanneries purchase our leather from are determined to remain in business.  By investing in ownership in raw material plants in Africa and Haiti, they can produce high quality leather to the specifications recommended in Aging of Organ Leather* by completing the finishing process stateside.  Traditions and a new level of college-trained employees enable quality control in management and production to achieve the highest quality leather.  Using the best materials, upgraded and new machinery, improvements in buildings and work conditions, demonstrated to the community, their employees and us the dedication to maximum performance in producing quality leather.

The Leather Supply house, these global tanneries, along with the Leather Industries of America are working diligently to continue the use of chromic oxide in the tanning process and the latest techniques insure that our tanners and the Leather Supply House will remain viable well into the 21^st Century and beyond.

* Aging of Organ Leather – Harley Piltingsrud, Principal Investigator Jean Tancous, Co-Author 1994 Copyright – The Organ Historical Society, Richmond, VA.

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