Hidebound Blog

This Father's Day, Gift Your Father a Hidebound Tankard
Father’s Day is fast approaching, and you may be wondering what to get your father this year. Many people choose to purchase gifts that are related to their fathers’ hobbies such as golf or darts.
Others prefer to buy them gifts that they can use in their day to day lives, such as a barbecue or a power drill set.
If you’re looking for an interesting looking gift that your father can enjoy using in their day to day[..]

Tankard vs Jack vs Goblet - What’s the Difference?
Drinking vessels of all shapes and sizes have existed throughout history. Many of the vessels used during the medieval and Tudor period were made from hand-stitched leather, similar to the leather drinking vessels offered by Hidebound Ltd today.
Leather drinking vessels gained popularity during the early medieval period and were available in a variety of styles. They were seen as practical and durable alternatives to vessels made of [..]

A Guide to Traditional Beer Tankards
People have taken great pride in their beer and wine drinking vessels since the dawn of humanity. Wherever there is thirst, there are drinking vessels; and history has shown itself to be quite thirsty.
Drinking vessels throughout history came in all shapes and sizes and were made from a variety of materials.
A subset of beer and ale vessels that were incredibly popular were jacks, tankards, and bombards. These cups were often made from leather, which[..]

During the last few months we have been quietly, industriously working on some major changes and improvements to our products. We now feel that our new lining is ready to be made available on our website. To say that we are happy with the changes to our drinking vessels would be an understatement, we are absolutely over the moon!
When we started searching we knew that not just any modern resin would do. It would have to be one that fits with the history and ethos of our products. Historicall[..]

We have some exciting news that we have been longing to pass on.
Almost a year ago we received a message out of the blue enquiring about our drinking vessels for use in a film. Anyway, long story short our drinking vessels were bought by the production team for use in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Phew! Said it! We’ve been eager to say something and now that the film has opened, we finally can.
We haven’t seen the film ourselves yet (too busy making tankards) but I saw a trailer and[..]

For many years, we have been using Brewers Pitch, one of the traditional a sealants for leather tankards. Unfortunately, the material has recently been withdrawn from the market due to low sales, there aren't as many leather tankard makers as there used to be.
We have considered using one of the other traditional sealants, beeswax, but that comes with it's own set of problems. Firstly, it's very expensive, and secondly, it doesn't last very long. Leather drinking vessels have to be re-beeswa[..]

Once again that time of year has rolled around. It’s Christmas time. Hidebound are already in our traditional spot at the wonderful Manchester Christmas Market which runs every day until 21st December. http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500241/christmas_markets
I'm here in Albert Square with all of my leather tankards, leather goblets (I'm still not sure why people call them chalices) and leather Jacks. Manchester Christmas Market runs until 21st December and is open every day from 10am[..]

With Father’s Day just around the corner our thoughts turn to the unusual gifts that our leather tankards seem to become.
We used to know that the ideal present for a woman was definitely a leather wine goblet. Nowadays, ladies appear happy to drink out of either a wine goblet or a leather tankard. Personal preference, of course but the trend is striking from our point of view. However, the ideal and unusual present for a man is still a large leather tankard or leather jack.
That [..]

Hidebound`s sale of leather tankards and leather leather jacks covers a very wide range of customers which inevitably includes historic re-enacters. We have had complaints that we mark all our vessels with a Hidebound stamp and that they would prefer no markings so as not to compromise their hobby. Our answer tends to surprise them.
William of Orange, being the William III we hand carve in to the body of some our tankards, was the first monarch to legalise the measured pint in England. Ho[..]

What is leather? It seems to be an easy question to answer but that has not always been the case. The Leather Sellers Guild was formed in 1215 to cover all aspects of leather products, producers and tanners. Early the following century, there were arguments between leather jack makers and glove and hat makers. It was argued that because gloves and hats were made from much finer leather than the leather used for jacks and leather tankards, it followed that glove and hat makers were of a much [..]