Exploring the county's leather past

Since the Mexican ranches produced tallow and cowhides for leather, one might expect that it started then, but those hides were shipped untanned to the East Coast for processing into leather goods.

A necessary ingredient for tanning leather back then was tannic acid obtained from the bark of certain oak trees. These trees, it seems, flourished in the redwood forests of our Pacific Coast. There’s the connection. California became the nation’s tanning center. By the 1850s there were four tanneries here in San Mateo County.

Joseph Frank

Back in those early days, a man named Joseph Frank came to San Francisco and worked for a tobacco and cigar dealer. In 1857, he opened his own shop at 85 Clay St. The Joseph Frank Company dealt in imported cigars, oil, dye, shoes and tanning equipment.

One of San Mateo County’s tanneries, Wentworth and Company, ran deeply into debt to the Frank Company. In 1885, Frank bought the Redwood City property occupied by Wentworth.

Meanwhile, Joseph Frank had retired and his seven sons were running the business. They changed the name to S. H. Frank and Company after the oldest son, Samuel, who had been in charge since 1879. In 1888 Wentworth and Company became Frank Tanning Company.

After Frank took over, the tannery was made more efficient and modernized, no doubt, with the newest and best tannery equipment. They hired German tanners, said to be the most experienced. Business took off and Frank Tannery had offices all over the nation. They won first prize at the Chicago Fair in 1896 for leather quality.

Saddles and harnesses

Most of Frank’s products were saddles, harnesses and shock absorbers for wagons and carriages. World War I changed things. The military replaced horses and wagons with trucks and the demand for leather products declined.

Frank then specialized in a type of logger’s boot that was popular for awhile.

Frank Tanning company closed in 1959 and the old buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1968.

Joseph Frank’s original store at 85 Clay St. was at the waterfront. The Bay has been filled since then and the street renumbered. In 1906, S. H. Frank and company relocated temporarily, but returned to the original location, specializing in profitable tanning equipment. Today the business is still there. The address is now Battery Street, thanks to a new entrance, and they deal in imported leather goods.

For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 750 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.

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