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Ansel Adams photographed this Salz employee to illustrate a typical beamhouse outfit. The coverings were made of leather for safety because the "beamhouse" was where hides were tanned in large open pits.
A Salz employee illustrates the scudding process that removed fine hair roots from the hides. It was a very exacting and challenging task. The implement used was a large, dull blade. The hide was stretched over a wooden, sloped structure designed…
Salz employee Red McCafferty and a co-worker work with a machine called a "splitter" to separate the hide structure into two distinct layers. Splitting the leather into a thinner, more pliable form, increased its markets.
Joe Bellas, plant superintendent at the Salz Tannery during the 1950's holds the finished leather product. Bellas was Yugoslavian, and according to the Lezin family "tough and fair".
The forklift was the modern day replacement for the dray horse. Even into the late 1950's, bark was stored and dried across River Street from the main Salz Tannery complex and transported across River Street/Highway 9 as needed.
Bark storage was crucial to the smooth operation of Salz Tannery. You needed to cut and store enough bark to last for a year. There was no protection from fire at the River Street sheds.
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.…
Vegetable leather, drying slowing in the tack rooms high above the tanyards at the A.K. Salz Company.
A Salz tannery employee glazing California Saddle Leather (TM). After tanning and processing, each side was glazed twice, to create a mirror-like surface.
An employee at Salz tannery, working the splitting machine. Split leather was used for making wallets, purses, briefcases and shoes.