This week on The Historians podcast, Rod Correll discusses his memoir Learning to Be a Leatherman: A Rite of Passage (Troy Book Makers, 2022). Correll lived in the leather business for 50 years, from childhood up to when he left the business in the 1980s.
Rod Correll, who lived some years in Gloversville, is descended from two important figures in the leather industry.
His grandfather, a German immigrant, founded Herman Loewenstein Incorporated in 1893, a respected export-import firm in New York City. Loewenstein’s son Rudy headed the business in the 1940s. The son adopted his mother’s name, Correll, as his last name. He purchased the Ellithorp tannery in Gloversville (formerly Cain’s tannery) in 1941 to prepare leather for his products.
Rudy Correll’s company served the women’s high fashion shoe and handbag industries.
Rod said, “I love the(leather) industry. I had some wonderful times but it had not been my choice. It had been my Dad’s choice.”
You can listen to the podcast here.
You will find more podcasts and stories at bobcudmore.com.
For a full list of this week’s New York Almanack podcasts announcements click HERE.
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