Taken Literally – a leather collection from Franklin Square, Washington, DC

An August study.

For a month we kept company with Franklin Square, in downtown Washington, DC, and pressed five figures of speech into leather – luggage tags, journals and the rest of a traveling kit. Each phrase lands on the one object that makes it literal. We call the collection Taken Literally.

First, the story that gives this square to words. In 1880 a spoken sentence crossed Franklin Square on a beam of sunlight – the photophone's first wireless message, sent from the roof of the old Franklin School. The story goes it ended with an instruction: if you hear what I say, come to the window and wave your hat. We set the beam running the length of a luggage tag, hat raised at the far end, in golden tan and in navy. The black tag takes the beam in gold.

The WAVE YOUR HAT stamp design from the Taken Literally leather collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with the WAVE YOUR HAT photophone design from the Taken Literally collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Next, a standing order for the journals. STET is the proofreader's reprieve – four dots set under a crossed-out passage, meaning let it stand. On the cover of a blank book it turns into advice: whatever you write here, keep. Blind pressed into deep green and gray sand.

The STET proofreader stamp design from the Taken Literally leather collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Forest green and gray sand leather journals stamped STET and LET IT STAND, from the Taken Literally collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Then, the obvious spell for keys. OPEN SESAME is the oldest password in the storybooks, so we arched it around a keyhole and set a few sparks where the lock gives way. One fob in poppy red, one in black. The black fob carries the words in gold, as treasure demands.

The OPEN SESAME keyhole stamp design from the Taken Literally leather collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Black and poppy red leather keychains stamped OPEN SESAME, from the Taken Literally collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Then, one for the wash bag, which has waited its whole life for this word. A soapbox is a platform for speaking your mind; ours holds the actual soap. We stenciled SOAPBOX on a little crate, let a few bubbles loose above it, and pressed it blind into the corner of the bags – navy over chestnut. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

The SOAPBOX stamp design from the Taken Literally leather collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

Blueberry and chestnut leather toiletry bags stamped SOAPBOX, from the Taken Literally collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

And finally, the tray. For centuries printers set et cetera as &c, and et cetera is exactly what a catchall holds at the end of a day. We gave the old abbreviation a full swash and pressed it deep into the golden tan. It looks genuinely beautiful.

The ampersand and ET CETERA stamp design from the Taken Literally leather collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

A golden tan leather catchall tray stamped with an ampersand and ET CETERA, from the Taken Literally collection of Franklin Square, Washington, DC.

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 Taken Literally belongs on your corner of Franklin Square, or you'd like anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.