Patent Leather [Edit]

In general, patent leather begins as a superior grade of fine grain leather that undergoes a process to achieve the glossy look. An early reference to patent leather is in the 1793 British periodical, The Bee, or Literary Weekly Intelligencer, which notes—in an article entitled “Hand’s patent leather”—that “a gentleman of the name of Hand” in Birmingham, England obtained a patent for preparing flexible leather having a glaze and polish that renders it impervious to water and need only be wiped with a sponge to restore it to its original luster. In November 1799, inventor Edmund Prior of Holborn, London, England received a patent for a method of painting and colouring all kinds of leather, and in January 1805, inventor Charles Mollersten of Hackney Wick received a patent for applying a chemical composition in the preparation of hides, skins, and leather to give “a beautiful gloss.” However, patent leather primarily owes its popularity to Seth Boyden.

In 1818, Boyden received a piece of German manufactured patent leather (said to be a German military cap front) from a local carriage manufacturer and used that to investigate the possibility of creating a version of leather in the United States that was treated in such a way that the material would be decidedly more dressy than work boots and similar leather goods, but retained its desirable qualities of protection and durability. Reverse engineering the European patent leather, he ultimately discovered a way to produce his own patent leather. Using a formula that was based on a series of treatments using layers of linseed oil-based coats, the new shiny leather began commercial production on 20 September 1819. Boyden’s efforts resulted in the production of glossy leather that quickly caught on as a complement for formal dress. Ironically, Boyden never patented his inventive process.

Later, the substitution of plastics (such as Parkesine) for multiple treatments with linseed oil allowed patent leather to be produced more cheaply. Eventually, synthetic resins further simplified the process and cut production costs even further, making mass production of patent leather possible.

In the UK fashion trends of the 1960s, shoes, boots and handbags were often made of patent leather or vinyl. Patent shoes were available in red, white, blue, hot pink, orange, green and yellow, as well and black and white.