CRAFT OF THE STONE AGE
Leatherworkers maintain small, steady presence at the Fair
t’s like Indiana Jones central,” artisan Dan
Groussman says of the decidedly unfussy leather
satchels he makes. Indeed, many of his Hippo
Handcrafted Products wouldn’t look out of place
hanging off an explorer’s shoulder. “When (these
people) walk in, I actually say, ‘You’re my ideal
customer,’” Groussman says.
The Oregon Country Fair hosts a wide variety of craft
booths every year, though only 10 stalls selling leather
goods will be featured this time around. But with Oregon’s
cowboy culture, demand for leather goods never seems
“I
Dan Groussman
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to be an issue. From belts to parfl eches (a type of Native
American rawhide bag), there’s plenty to satisfy anyone’s
rawhide madness.
Hippo Handcrafted Products, however, is one company
that takes the ancient craft to a whole new level. The
goods are designed for practicality, with no rhinestones or
glitter buckles. The online store has a range of products,
from small bi-fold wallets ($52) up to the mack-daddy
Saranella satchel. Big enough to hold a laptop and a load
of magazines, it costs a cool $1,060.
The price can be partly explained by Groussman’s
attention to detail. “Regardless of cost, you have to have
the best quality,” he says. He talks about his material with a
great fondness. Classic rawhide can be brittle, Groussman
explains. He’d rather work with “the kind you’d want to
squish your face against.” Suddenly, paying more than
$100 for a planner makes sense.
On a certain level, it’s surprising that leatherworking
has survived so long as part of Oregon’s craft heritage.
Leather has garnered a stigma over the years because of
its animal source — not to mention that modern tanning
often involves smearing the skin with plant or chemical
derivatives. At times, the leather may even be preserved
with oil made from mink fat or cattle bones.
But Groussman doesn’t seem that bothered. “A lot
of these processes are those we’ve been using since the
dawn of time,” he says. “It was probably our fi rst craft.”
Groussman expresses empathy with people thinking about
animal rights. But as a crafter, he has no qualms about
working with his leather material of choice, cowhide. “The
difference between skin and leather is like the difference
between a tree and paper,” he says.
BY BRIT MCGINNIS
Many people actually bring up ethics issues whenever
he runs his craft booth, Groussman says. After more than
15 years working at the Fremont Sunday Market in Seattle,
he says he can’t recall any incidents that turned ugly. “I
usually just engage them in a conversation.”
Groussman says he believes in the integrity of his
product, so much that it occasionally hinders innovation.
For example, the idea of combining the hides of two
different animals made him uncomfortable for years. “I
didn’t want to combine the genetic material,” he says.
But his attitude changed over time, and he now mixes the
colors to make “bi-cow” and “tri-cow” pieces.
Groussman is prepared to jump in to the fray of
leatherworkers at the Oregon Country Fair. The OCF
features artisans who also dabble in bone, full hides and
taxidermy. In Groussman’s experience, the demand for
leather has not gone down signifi cantly, only changed. He
receives ideas for new products all the time. The latest?
An all-leather iPod sleeve: the ultimate crossover between
cowboy and city slicker.
ew
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