Shell cordovan (or cordovan) is a type of leather commonly used in shoemaking. Cordovan is an equine leather made from the fibrous flat muscle (or shell) beneath the hide on the rump of the horse. The leather derives its name from the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was originally prepared by the Moors.
Horween Leather Company is known for its production of Shell Cordovan, and the Chicago Tribune called it the “Cordovan capital of the world”.
Production
After removal from the animal, the hide is measured from the root of the tail 18 inches forward on the backbone. The hide is cut at right angles to the backbone and the resulting pieces termed a “front” (the forward part) and the “butt”. The term cordovan leather applies to the product of both the tanned fronts and tanned butts, but is especially used in connection with the term galoshes, meaning the vamps or boot-fronts cut from the shell of the butt.
After being tanned, leather from the “front” is typically used in the fabrication of gloves, or blackened, to be used in the tops of shoes. The “butt”, after tanning, is passed through a splitting-machine which removes the grain, or hair side, revealing what is termed the “shell”. The close fibers of the shell result in a smooth and pliable leather used almost exclusively in the manufacture of shoes and watch straps, although another use is for the manufacture of finger protection tabs for recreational archery, where it is prized for its toughness, longevity, and protective qualities.
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Horween Leather Company is located in a five-story block-long factory at 2015 North Elston Avenue (at Ashland Avenue, near the Chicago River), Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the oldest continuously running tanneries in the United States, and the only one still located in Chicago.
Isadore Horween founded the company in 1905, and worked in it until 1949. His two sons, Arnold Horween (Chairman and President; 1949–84) and Ralph Horween, became executives of the company and worked in it after their careers as All American football players for the Harvard Crimson, and playing in the National Football League.
Arnold’s son Arnold Horween, Jr., worked in it from 1953–2003, and his son Arnold “Skip” Horween III has worked in it from 1972–present. The fifth generation of Horweens, Nicholas (Nick) Arnold Horween, has worked at the company from 2009–present.
Horween Leather Company offers an array of tannages using primarily cowhide and horsehide, and also using smaller quantities of calf and bison hides. Its leather is used in a number of products including sporting goods (footballs, basketballs, and baseball gloves), footwear (casual and dress shoes, golf shoes, work boots, and cowboy boots), bags, wallets, briefcases, belts, clothing (fine leather jackets and coats), and other apparel and accessories. It is known for its production of Shell Cordovan (the Chicago Tribune called it the “Cordovan capital of the world”), professional football leather, and Chromexcel (a type of long-lasting cowhide), among other leathers. It is the exclusive supplier of leather for National Football League footballs, and also supplies the leather that is used for National Basketball Association basketballs.
By 2003, most U.S. tanners and leather workers had relocated to countries with lower labor costs, and Horween Leather Company was shipping most of its products to them. In 2003, the company began supplying leather for the Arena Football League. In 2005, the company had sales of over $35 million. In 2006, it became the only tannery in Chicago; at one time, the city had as many as 40.
As of 2012, Horween Leather Company had 160 employees, and annual revenues of approximately $25 million. In a typical week, it processes 4,000 cowhides and 1,000 horsehides into 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of leather. As of 2013, Horween Leather Company was one of fewer than a dozen tanneries in the U.S., down from over 250 in 1978.
About 85% of the leather at Horween Leather Company is made from cowhide.[
Horween Leather Company has provided Rawlings with leather since 1929.[27] In 2003, Horween was providing leather for 3,000 Rawlings baseball gloves annually, and half of professional baseball players were using baseball gloves made from Horween leather.[4][28]
Wilson Sporting Goods is Horween Leather Company’s largest customer, using the company’s leather in manufacturing footballs and basketballs.[1] Horween Leather Company has supplied Wilson with pebbled cowhide since 1941.[29]
Since 1941, Horween Leather Company has been the exclusive supplier of leather for National Football League footballs.[12][16][30] The arrangement was established initially by Arnold Horween, who had played and coached in the NFL.[2] During that time, he met and played against George Halas, an NFL player and later coach and owner of the Chicago Bears, with whom he became friends. Halas’ connection with the Wilson sporting goods company and the NFL led to Horween Leather Company supplying the leather with NFL footballs.[4] The company uses its own “Tanned in Tack” process.[12][16] Although footballs are often called “pigskins,” they are made from Horween Leather Company-supplied steer hides that are embossed with a pebble pattern.[1][12][31] Horween Leather Company also supplies leather to Spalding (a division of Russell Corporation) for indoor Arena Football League footballs.[7]
Horween Leather Company’s leather is also used to make National Basketball Association basketballs.[1]