Twin Leather in Brockton, Mass., was founded by Richmond and Raymond Castano, twin brothers, in 1949. The company made leather soles.
Brockton was known throughout the world as the epicenter for shoe making (and leather). (Historical note: The U.S. government ordered more than half of the boots for Union soldier during the Civil War from Brockton manufacturers.) Related businesses to feed area shoe manufacturers grew, then the trade waned as the industry gradually moved business overseas.
“A local bird toy manufacturer kept coming in and buying all our vegetable-tanned leather scraps, that resulted from miscut leather washers,” said Castano. “Curious to what was being done with them, I found out the answer was toys. Bird toys. This came at a good time because our shoe finding trade was dwindling. The vegetable-tanned leather is a pretty important element for bird toy makers.”
He notes that an alternative process for leather curing involved chrome, which is highly toxic to pets.
Read the entire article: Bird Toy Makers Thrive in Niche Market.
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