The leather was produced locally in tanneries in Périgueux, Mussidan, Villamblard, everywhere in the valley where a stream allowed the soaking with oak or chestnut tannin and the cleaning of the hides in the 19th century. At the end of this century, new industrial units for the treatment of leather appeared such as in Neuvic sur l’Isle where a megisserie worked and softened sheep skins from several departments and even imported from Argentina before making basane slippers.
The numerous leather craftsmen present in the villages, saddler-saddler and shoemakers, worked in the 19th century for agricultural harnessing, equestrian saddlery and leather shoes. However, until 1900, the majority of peasants used sturdy clogs for field work. The mechanisation of agriculture and the development of the shoe industry in the Isle valley led to the virtual disappearance of saddler-shoemakers and clog makers in the inter-war period.
Illustrations :
– Postcard of the old tanneries of Sainte Aulaye in the 1910s. (Icon library of the SHAP24)
Curiosities of leather?
– The hoofer’s hoof parison hooked onto the workbench « adorns » the hoof to give it its shape little by little. (©Musée André Voulgre).
– Shoemaker’s ruler to determine the size of shoes (©Musée André Voulgre).
– Triple shoemaker’s anvil for assembling shoes (©Musée André Voulgre).
Materials to be touched: leather, galosh shape, hoof blank, clog…