What the Heck is a Cordwainer?

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Uh, what the heck? What the fire truck is that? More shoes Sarge? Really?

Language alert...

Yes, more shoes, but no jelly donuts. Though I am currently a disgusting fat body, I am working on it. I try very hard to avoid jelly donuts and unlocked foot lockers. Just sayin'...

Anyhoo, Sunday's post had this comment...

Cordovan, sure I know what that is, a type of leather, or something, but the precise definition was not available in my databanks, only this...

No wait, that's "Corinthian leather" and I'm quite sure the Marine Corps doesn't make shoes out of old Chrysler New Yorker seat covers. Furthermore, I was sorely disappointed to learn that there is actually no such thing as "Corinthian leather"...

Yup, a marketing gimmick, seems the leather actually came from someplace in New Jersey, I'm with you Captain Kirk, what a kick in the family jewels to learn that.

Anyhoo, I digress.

It seems that back in the day, Marines wore shoes made from horses' asses. No, I don't mean shoes made from shoe clerk types in the Pentagon, nor do I mean shoes made from politicians, and/or used car salesmen. No, let me 'splain...

Shell cordovan (or cordovan) is a type of leather commonly used in high-end shoemaking. Cordovan is an equine leather made from the fibrous flat connective tissue (or shell) beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. The leather derives its name from the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was first produced by the Visigoths in the seventh century, and later also by the Moors. It is a difficult and expensive leather to make, and in the late 19th and early 20th century was mostly used for razor strops to sharpen razors in barber shops. More recently it has been increasingly used for shoes, wallets, and watch straps due to its aesthetic qualities and exceptional durability. Shell cordovan has a unique non-creasing characteristic. Because it is made of connective tissue, it is smooth and lacks the pebbled effect of leather derived from animal skin. (Source)

Leather made from a horse's butt, from Spain, invented by Visigoths.  Well, that is kind of cool...

Visigoths
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Now the Visigoths were the western branch of a group of Germanic tribes known collectively as Goths, the eastern branch were the Ostrogoths. Not to be confused with this lot...

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So yes, the Marines used to wear Cordovan leather shoes, including the enlisted Marines in WWII, ya know, the Big One, Dubya Dubya Two. Apparently, some consider shell cordovan to be the "King of Leathers," and this article makes a pretty decent case for that.

So I learned that on Monday (laboring on Labor Day, taking one for the team...). Something else I learned, when I nearly used the word "cobbler" in the title, thinking in my vast ignorance that that was a fellow who made shoes. Oh dear, I was so effing wrong.

A shoe cobbler is a person who mends and repairs shoes. The profession has been around for most of human history. Some people assume that cobblers and shoemakers (called cordwainers in England) are the same profession, and while that may be true today, it wasn’t always so. 

At one time, shoemakers/cordwainers were the skilled artisans tasked with making shoes out of brand new leather, while cobblers were the ones who repaired shoes. In fact, cobblers were forbidden from working with new leather and had to use old leather for their repairs. The difference between the two trades was once considered so vast, it was a serious insult to call a shoemaker a cobbler (the latter of which, not so coincidentally, is a term that also means to work clumsily or bungle). 

The shoemaking and cobbler trades were forced to merge around the beginning of the 19th century when the introduction of mass manufactured shoes left shoemakers out of work and having to accept lower paying repair jobs. (Source)

Now about those cordwainers, seems they have their very own ward in London (not far from St. Paul's), with a rather nice statue...

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So there you have it, we all learned something new today, well except for you "happy few" who already knew about shell cordovan and cordwainers. If you did know, have yourselves a jelly donut, I'm pretty sure Pyle has more in his footlocker...




(Just don't let Gunny catch you!)