Two collors, one natural color ond one dyed
homcw
dry before being pocked for (hipping
to buyerv
A collor fromet Jock Kendall
о»
he ottochei the
buckle with one of the (hop's oncient mochines, used
since the business began in 1901
Horse Collars Are
Booming Again
From Ulount Pleasant comes harness
for the» nation's horses — and an occa¬
sional lion.
By ELIZABETH SW AKI\(iE\
You can bet that whal Tom Kendall
and his sons Lane and Jack don’t know
about making horse collars, saddles,
harness or any other equestrian
equipment isn’t to be known.
As sixth and seventh generation
saddle, harness and collar makers, the
Kendalls own and operate A. C. Lentz
Saddlery in Mt. Pleasant, a little more
than 30 miles northeast of Charlotte on
Highway 49.
Despite a 1974 move from the white
two-story frame building built for the
business in 1914. the business remains
rich in tradition. The Kendalls use the
same tools and machinery A. C. Lentz
(Tom’s uncle) used when he made his
first harness in 1901. The two dozen
machines, once powered by gasoline
engine, are now run by electricity, and
the demands for different types of
equipment have changed over the
years, but business is boomingjust as it
was at the turn of the century.
The main line of business now is
horse collars. The demand alternates
between collars and saddles about
every 20 years. "When I was 10 1
would come home from school and
sew1 collars." says 54-year-old Tom.
"I kept making them all along until the
demand tapered off in the early 60s."
Helping The Environment
The collar business died in 1964 but
was resurrected in the past two or
three years. Jack theorizes that people
are becoming more conscious of sav¬
ing the enrivonment. so they use more
horses for heavy work. "If you're
clearing land and you take a few draft
horses in to pull out the logs, you won’t
be able to tell that anything messed the
ground up after the first good rain. If
you bring in trucks and tractors the
ground will just wash awfay."
Most of the collars arc shipped out of
state. The Amish in Pennsylvania
order buggy collars by the dozens,
says Tom. while dozens of work col¬
lars arc sent to farmers in Ohio. Il¬
linois, Kentucky and Michigan. The
Kendalls have also sent their goods to
Canada and have recently received a
letter from France requesting infor¬
mation about their equipment.
Although Tom knows everything
about making a collar, the one thing he
can't tell you is how long it takes him.
"We have an assembly line process
going. We'll do all the cutting, then all
the sewing, then stuffing and so on
until we've finished them." (In two
hours, six already sewn collars were
stuffed, shaped, assembled and dyed
harness black, ready for sale.)
To Make A Collar
The Kendalls purchase leather from
tanneries in Georgia. Tennessee and
Kentucky, depending on what weight
is desired for a particular strength and
flexibility. The collar sections are cut
either by hand or machine from dry
leather, then they are soaked in water
and stretched. While wet. the pieces
are cut a second time, usually trimming
a quarter of an inch off all sides.
All collars are stitched with a tough
cotton or linen thread. The larger col¬
lars require some hand sewing with
leather cords.
The collars arc stuffed by machine
that forces wheat or rye straw through
a pipe that packs the straw into the
leather casing. The collars arc shaped
on a brass press, shiny and deeply
grooved from constant use. The press
is brass because other metals, espe¬
cially steel, turn the natural leather
black.
Tom pounds out the lumps with a
cast iron collar hammer which looks
like a lopsided softball with a handle.
He smoothes the curves with a wooden
rolling pin much as a baker would roll
THE STATE, SEPTEMBER 1978
24
