Nothing Better Than a New Pair of Boots

There's nothing like a new pair of boots!  Within the last few months I bought a couple of new pairs of boots, a square toed (more of a dress style) pair, and a pair of new fire boots for my job.  There are striking differences between the 2 pairs of boots.  The square toed boots feature designed stitching, emblems sewn into the boot, and a heel and sole that are made of a composite material that also accent the boot well.  The fire boots are instead made for a functionality, to keep my feet safe in hot embers and ash.  These boots are made almost entirely of leather, with the exception of a "Vibram" sole which will not melt or burn when in direct contact with coals and embers.  These boots are more heavily sewn, but lack the flair and appearance of the cowboy boots.

Drews Boots. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016. 

One thing these boots do share in common is leather.  I also do a good bit of leather work in my spare time, building wallets, belts, and other items by tooling, staining, and stitching leather.  I love the many, many things that can be done with leather.  Products made of leather are found around us everyday, just about anywhere you go in the world.  Boots are no exception, they are extremely popular right now.  But how often does one pause and think about, just where did my boots come from?

As I look into this, I am going to use the fire boots as the subject of looking into that question. Firefighters have to meet very specific requirements when it comes to their boots, the main requirements being: all leather, Vibram sole, and 10" high top to the boot to protect the ankle and lower part of the leg.  Few manufacturers can meet these specifications.  The brand I chose is called "Drews Boots", located in Oregon.  Drew's touts a reputation of an "All American Made" product.  So as we trail the history of my pair of boots, we know now that they were hand-made in a boot shop in Oregon.  The leather that went into the boot was made in the USA.  While I cannot locate on their website exactly where in the USA their leather comes from exactly, let's look at the leather process in the US.

Tanned leather "side" "The Leather Guy." The Leather Guy, N.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.

Drews may do all the work to put together a great looking product, but they have to do some shopping themselves to obtain the leather to create their product.  Boot manufacturers seek out their leather from leather producers, often called "Tanners" or "Tanneries" where leather is prepared for the final product. A tannery such as "Horween Leather" turns an animal hide into, "tannages from our vegetable tanned Genuine Shell Cordovan to Sport Leathers and Footwear Leathers such as Chromexcel".  So just what is the role of a tannery?  The website "Leather for Us" states, "Leather is produced traditionally even today. The skin, discard  of the food industry, is "recycled" from the tanneries and processed  with advanced machinery and vast research, in such a way  to make it a  “noble” and fashionable material. There is a large number of tanneries, but the uniqueness of the result is given by the ability and the skill of experienced  craftsmen".  Just as was done in ancient times, tanners soak an animal hide, flesh it (remove all meat/flesh from the back of the hide), remove the hair, then go through the delicate process of tanning that removes fibers, grease, balances the pH levels to prohibit decay, and finally use chemicals and minerals that give the leather a desired texture and color, which will then be ready for say, a boot manufacturer.

We still are not at the answer of where the leather comes from.  The tanner receives a hide; where does the hide come from?  With the boot example, let's stick to cowhide although leathers come from various types of hide.  "Leather for us" states that, "Immediately after killing the animal, in order to avoid degradation processes in the tissues, the skin is salted, dried or refrigerated before the production process of tanning starts".  So we now know that immediately after slaughter, a cowhide is removed from the animal carcass and goes straight to a preservation mode to prepare it for the tanner.  While there is a lot of controversy about this part of the process, let's suffice it to say that cattle are slaughtered under requirements of the 1958 Humane Slaughter Act, which in it's most notable requirement calls for, " the need to have an animal completely sedated and insensible to pain. This is to minimize the suffering to the point where the animal feels nothing at all, instead losing a consciousness from which it will never awaken" (Wikipedia).  

Feedlot "Feedlot – Engorde a Corral." AGROadvance. Agroadvance, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.

From the slaughterhouse, we can trace the cow that produced the leather back to a feedlot where the cow was fed and conditioned prior to shipment for processing.  Before the feedlot these cattle arrived at such a facility from farms and ranches from all over our country.  It is really hard to say when it comes to leather if you are using a product of the small, family farmer, or that of more of a business farm or ranch.  With the mix of cattle that end up at the feedlot, there can really be no way to be sure.  

"Grass Finished Beef." James Ranch. James Ranch, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.

As I look into the process I have to wonder, how many people purchase a pair of boots and think about where the leather to make that boot came from.  Do they realize that agriculture provided the means for their fashion?  Do they realize that leather production is a very time consuming process, and that leather changes hands so many times from the farm, to feedlot, and from the slaughterhouse to the tannery, eventually to the boot manufacturer?  I would think that a detailed look into the process would sicken some people, especially when we look at the fate of the animal, along with the fairly gross process of processing a hide to create a leather product.  For myself, I find a lot of satisfaction knowing that very little (if anything at all) goes to waste when an animal is processed.  For me that hide provides comfort, safety, and style.  It gives me a whole new level of respect right down to the farmer feeding cattle on the range our in their fields.  It also amazes me that this ancient process of tanning hides and producing leather has changed very little over thousands of years, and we still use many of the same applications with leather today.  



References:

Drew's Boots | Boulet Boots | Winter Pac Boots | Drew's Boots. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
Horween Leather Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
"The Leather Production Process." Production Tan Leather - How Leather is Tanned for Handbags - Shoes - Clothes - Hide, Harness and Saddle - Production. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
"Humane Slaughter Act." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.