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- Subject is exactly "Salz Tannery"
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This photo of the Salz Tannery lunchroom was taken sometime during the mid-1950's. According to Jeremy Lezin, Salz was one of the very few companies in the 50's and early 60's that hired African Americans. As a point of interest, Helen Salz, Ansley's…
The historic Salz smokestack dated back to the beginnings of the tannery in the 1890's. It fell during the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. Salz staff thought that it had killed an employee who was working in the vicinity when it fell, but fortunately…
San Lorenzo Tannery employees used sharp knives to "hand flesh" or separate the flesh from the hides. The San Lorenzo Tannery began its relationship with Kullman-Salz in the 1880's. It was later sold to Kullman-Salz in 1917. It closed in 1929 due to…
This photograph was taken in 1954 when hides were still hand-scudded. After hair and flesh were removed chemically and mechanically, scudding removed fine hair roots to produce leather of even grain and depth. [Artistically, it is interesting to…
The spray machines at Salz Tannery needed to be constantly adjusted. Depending on the finish required, the spray booths deposited waxes, lacquers, oils, dyes, pigments and protein solutions on the leather. Before this, the leather was dried. After…
A stack of sides on a "horse." Horses were used at Salz to move sides of leather into measuring until the company closed in 2001.
Stan Blackburn, a 32-year Salz Tannery employee, hauls hides through the plant. Blackburn's stepson, surfer Jay Moriarity, died in a diving accident. Shmuel Thaler/ Sentinel photos.
Stripping tanoak from trees was a labor intensive process. Salz Tannery purchased tanoak bark from suppliers who found a good supply along the Mendocino coast. The man in the photograph worked for a supplier.
Tan pits could be dangerous so employees often worked in pairs while removing vegetable tanned hides from them. Jeremy Lezin remembers that as a kid "Salz sales manager Howard Halper fell into the pits while conducting a tour." The term…
Tanoak bark was stacked for drying. Originally harvested locally, tanoak provided the chief ingredient in tanning California Saddle Leather (TM), a Salz specialty. As local supplies dwindled, Salz purchased it from suppliers throughout California.…