Odds N' Ends

GOURD CANTEEN ..... These things are very very old, and appear all over the world. This one is lined with beeswax. The white stuff is raw hide, and the plug on top is made from a deer antler tip. I was lucky enough to do some work for the Autry Museum of the West and gave it to my contact there. A canteen almost like this one appears in a Fredrick Remmington painting in their collection. LADIES HALTER TOP .... A 70's icon, my girl friend developed this style working in Estes Park. We made these things in batches of 36 and couldn't keep up in the summer of 75'. This one is a display item I made for a Tandy Leather store I managed. White deer skin, horse hair. glass beads ..... the designs are burnt and dyed. FARRIER'S APRON .... Oil tanned cow hide, hand sewn, design burnt into leather. Another Tandy store sample. MY MOCCASINS .... Sorry for the poor picture, I was never very good about taking pictures of my work. These are made from two types of elk skin for the uppers, and an alum tanned cow hide soles & bead work. The blonde uppers are made of a thick split oil tanned elk, the darker leather is a green elk & is fringed. The soles are wet molded, are 1/4 of an inch thick, and have the toe that Apache's were fond of using. They buttoned up the side using Indian head penny buttons. MY CAPOTE OR BLANKET COAT ..... This thing is a dark forest green, and is made from Whitney Point Trade blanket & elk skin. It has antler buttons. Again, the designs in the elk are burnt into the leather. The Whitney Co. made the famous Hudson's Bay Trade Blankets. They are still in business, and have been making wool blankets since the latter part of the 17th century. The famous " Points" on the blankets were an easy way to tell the size of the blanket when it was folded up, and are just a series of hash marks dyed in one corner .... The more marks the bigger the blanket. This was used in the barter of beaver pelts. One "point" ... one beaver, four "Points" .... four beaver pelts.