The Bucktown Collection – a Davenport, Iowa leather stamping study

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies.

An August study.

The Bucktown Collection – five designs drawn from downtown Davenport, Iowa, and pressed into leather. Bucktown was the riverfront district in Davenport's loudest years, and every stamp here comes from its world.

First, we dealt a hand. Five cities make up the Quad Cities, so the fan holds five aces while the banner keeps the official count – FOUR OF A KIND, the oldest cheat on the old gambling river.

The Four of a Kind stamp artwork for the Bucktown Collection, a Davenport, Iowa leather study.

Looks great when stamped onto the leather. The tags run black and deep wine, with a pale sea-blue third for the river. The black tag carries the stamp in gold.

Black, deep wine, and pale sea-blue leather luggage tags stamped with Four of a Kind from the Bucktown Collection in Davenport, Iowa.

Next, we corrected a compass. At Davenport the Mississippi bends and runs east to west, so the rose keeps its north and south while the current flows straight through where east and west used to be. We pressed it small into the corner of the black and dark espresso toiletry pair.

The Sideways River compass stamp artwork for the Bucktown Collection, a Davenport, Iowa leather study.

Black and dark espresso leather toiletry bags stamped with the Sideways River compass from the Bucktown Collection in Davenport, Iowa.

Then we struck the town a medal. Davenport was once crowned the worst town in America and has worn the line with a grin ever since, so the seal says it plainly while a rose grows straight out of the river. The black fob takes the seal in gold; its deep wine partner wears it blind.

The Worst Town civic medal stamp artwork for the Bucktown Collection, a Davenport, Iowa leather study.

Black and deep wine leather keychains stamped with the Worst Town rose seal from the Bucktown Collection in Davenport, Iowa.

After that, the catchall tray, which makes its single demand in Victorian wood type – EMPTY YOUR POCKETS, by order of the house. On the golden tan leather it reads like a notice from a friendly card room.

The Empty Your Pockets broadside stamp artwork for the Bucktown Collection, a Davenport, Iowa leather study.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with Empty Your Pockets from the Bucktown Collection in Davenport, Iowa.

And finally, the journals. A downtown brick storefront stands waist-deep in the 2019 river under the words COME HELL OR HIGH WATER, because down here the pages get written either way. One journal is dark espresso, the other pale greige. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The Come Hell or High Water storefront stamp artwork for the Bucktown Collection, a Davenport, Iowa leather study.

Dark espresso and pale greige leather journals stamped with Come Hell or High Water from the Bucktown Collection in Davenport, Iowa.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like anything here made real, or anything changed – say hello through our contact page.