Kidskin or kid leather is a type of soft, thin leather that is traditionally used for gloves (hence the phrase 'kid gloves,' used since at least 1888 as a metaphor for careful handling).[1] It is widely used for other fashion purposes such as footwear and clothing. Kidskin is traditionally made from goatskin - more specifically, the skin of young goats (or 'kids'), although equivalent leathers such as lambskin and chickenskin (actually a form of calfskin) give the same effect.[2]
Usageedit
Kid leather is, and has been used for a number of purposes other than gloves and footwear. Early flexible hair rollers were sometimes made from kidskin, giving a very tight curl.[3]
A form of early medieval parchment, called carta lustra, acting as tracing paper was made using kidskin.[5]
Dollsedit
Kid was particularly widely used in doll-making during the nineteenth and early twentieth century as a popular material for both French and German doll bodies, particularly fashion dolls.[6][7]
Musical instrumentsedit
Kid-leather is often used in the construction of musical instruments such as the bag of the tsampouna, a form of Greek bagpipes.[8] It was also an option for drumheads such as those on tambourines,[9] and specifically, on the Bulgarian daire.[10]
Industrial usesedit
The Dalén light, used in lighthouses, uses a paraffin-wax saturated kidskin diaphragm in its construction.[11]
Typesedit
In 1916 it was noted that there were over sixty types of goatskin, distinguished by the tanning and finishing processes used.[12] Some of these types are:
Glacé (or glazed) kid - Extremely glossy, shiny finish, often made in more readily available sheepskin, although true kidskin makes better quality glacé kid.[18]
Gold (or silver) kid - Kidskin gilded for a metallic finish.[19]
Kangaroo kid - Kidskin finished to emulate kangaroo leather.[12]
Mat kid - Beeswax and olive-oil treated kidskin with a dull, soft matte finish.[12][20]
Vici kid - A trademark for high quality chrome-tanned kidskin with a soap and oil finish, developed by Robert H. Foerderer in Philadelphia in the mid-1880s.[12]
Referencesedit
^Victor, Terry; Dalzell, Tom (2007). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p. 381. ISBN 978-1134615346.
^Cumming, Valerie (1982). Gloves (Reprinted. ed.). London: Batsford. ISBN 9780713410082.
^Suga, Yusuke; Penney, Alexandra (1980). Beautiful hair by Suga (1st ed.). New York: Random House. pp. 50–52. ISBN 9780394507507.
^Laurent de Lara, David (1860). Elementary instruction in the art of illumination and missal painting on vellum. London: Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts. p. 60.
^de Hamel, Christopher (2001). The British Library guide to manuscript illumination : history and techniques. Toronto: British Library. p. 62. ISBN 9780802081735.
^Herlocher, Dawn (2008). Collectible Dolls. Krause Publications. p. 110. ISBN 9781440219214.
^A Child's World of Long Ago. Hudson River Museum. 1975. pp. 3–4.
^Lomax Wood, Anna (2012). "Kalymnian Tsambóuna and Song Repertoire in the Family of Nikitas Tsimouris". In Bucuvalas, Tina (ed.). The Florida folklife reader. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 99. ISBN 9781617031403.
^Nicholson, William (1821). American Edition of the British Encyclopedia: Or, Dictionary of Arts and Sciences ; Comprising an Accurate and Popular View of the Present Improved State of Human Knowledge, Volume 8. Mitchell, Ames and White. p. 261.
^Buchanan, Donna A. (2006). Performing democracy : Bulgarian music and musicians in transition. Chicago, Ill. [u.a.]: Univ. of Chicago Press. p. 482. ISBN 9780226078267.
^Renton, Alan (2000). Lost sounds. Latheronwheel: Whittles. p. 10. ISBN 9781870325837.
^ abcdefghijAllen, Frederick J. (1916). The Shoe Industry. Рипол Классик. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9785874447977.
^Lewandowski, Elizabeth J. (2011). The complete costume dictionary. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 62. ISBN 9780810877856.