Glove Industry timeline and book list

VII.  Date Line

 

  • 1370BC: Red leather gloves presented to Egyptian official Ay. .  Being red we assume they were alum tanned and dyed red with Kermes.
  • 8th cent: Beowulf writes about the use of gloves
  • 12th century: tanners settled in the region of Grasse, France, trading in leather and hides.
  • 1338: The Wittrell Psalter (Illustrated Psalm Book) shows pictures of men and women farm workers wearing gloves and mitts
  • 1347: The ordinances for the Guild of Glovers in London were made. Joined with the Pursers in 1498 and then in 1502 the Glovers company merged with the Leathersellers, but they separated later and the Glovers Company were granted a Charter (Letters Patent) from King Charles I in 1638. Guilds were also established in Perth and Worcester.
  • 1376: Date of the Black Prince's gloves currently on display above his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral in Southern England
  • 16th century: The new fashion for perfumes added a pleasant fragrance to the tanneries in Grasse. Perfumed gloves were all the rage
  • 1614: in Grasse: By letters patent, the king created the title of Master Glovemaker
  • 1697: The Glovers of Worcester (England) stated that their employees were "decrepit and unfit for any other employment" (Commons Journals, XII, 16)
  • 1834: A glove maker from Grenoble, France brought about a revolution in glove making. Xavier Jouvin invented a system that "consisted of the establishment of rational methods adapted to the different sizes of hands, thus enabling the maker to produce exact fitting gloves. The scissors were replaced by the "main de fer" (iron hand), the proportions of which were carefully calculated for each size. From The Leather Trades Review, 11th August 1948. p 287
  • 1867:  a workable sewing machine was displayed at the Paris Exposition

 

VII.  Booklist and References

 

1.  Leather Industry A Glossary of the Main Terms and Processes Issued by ICI (Dyestuffs Group (undated but est. at 1948)

2. The Mistery or Art of the Leathersellers of the City of London.  Undated

3. Leather, by John Waterer.  Chapter 5 of Singer and Holmyard:History of Technology Vol II, ca 1956.

4. The Tanner. Leonard Fisher, published by Godine 1986

5. Report to the Leeds Association of the Leather Trade on Leather Manufacture in the United States by H.R.Procter  1894

6. Leathercraft in the Lands of Ancient Persia by Sylvia A.Matheson published by Colomer Munmany, SA

7. A Liverpool Merchant House, being the history of Alfred Booth and Company 1863-1958 by A.H.John published by George Allen & Unwin 1959

8.The Principles of Leather Manufacture by Prof H.R. Procter, London, 1922

9. The Manufacture of Leather by C.T.Davis (quoted from 7 above)

10. New and Complete Treatise on the Arts of Tanning, Currying and Leather-Dressing by Professor H.Dussauce Philadelphia and London, 1865

11.Hides and Skins  by John R Arnold published by A.W.Shaw Company 1925

12. The Tanning of Clothing and Gloving Leather, edited by P.S.Briggs, TPI 1980. Section 3 Glove Leathers by N.W.Palmer and E.P.Marsden

13. Gloves  by Valerie Cumming  published by B.T.Batsford 1982

14. Leathercraft by Eileen Greenwood .  Volume Two  Published by E.& F.N. Spon Ltd.  1949

15. The Scents of a City, by Ross Collins published in Fargo-Moorland Forum January, 1955

16. The Glovers of Yeovil, by Peter Lawson-Clarke 1996

17. Perfume, by Patrick Suskind. (an unusual novel, based on the perfumed glove industry in France, and a lot about Grasse) A rather disturbing film was made based on the book in which a replica of a Parisian Tannery was built. 360  degree panoramas were still available in February 2009 on the website at http://www.perfumemovie.com/

18. The Glove Cities, by Barbara McMartin with W.Alec Reid, Lake View Press 1999

19.  Gloversville, A Romantic Step Back into the History of American Glovecraft by Jay G. Ruckel.  LaCrasia Creations, New York 1985

20. A Gentleman's Wardrobe by Paul Keers, 1987

21.  Le Gant, by Fanche Le Reste   -  Jacques Damase editeur in France - 61 rue de Varenne Paris 7e.

22. Love of a glove, by C. Cody Collins -  Fairchild Pusblishing - 1947.

23. Gloves, their Annals and Associations, by S.W.Beck, London 1883

24. A History of the Glove Trade, by William Hull London 1834

25. Pittards 1826-1976, C.W.&Co.Ltd Pittard, 1976

26. Glove Leathers, JBF Industries, Gloversville, NY undated ca 1970

27. Leathercraft Vol II, Advanced Stages- Clothing and Dress Accessories, by Eileen C.Greenwood.  London 1949.  Chapter II Glovemaking, from which the glove diagram was taken.