The Northport Almanac × Leatherius Woodman – a leather stamping study, Vol. II

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

An August study.

For Northport, New York – Volume II. Five new designs, one collection: THE NORTHPORT ALMANAC.

First, the trolley. It ran down Main Street from 1902 to 1924, and from 1913 it kept a special evening car so the village could see the pictures and still get home. We pressed that promise as a fare ticket: AFTER THE SHOW across the face, GOOD FOR ONE RIDE HOME beneath it, and a conductor's star punched near the end. On the luggage tags it rides lengthwise, on warm red and on navy. The black tag carries the gold – marquee light on a night street.

The black-and-white After the Show ticket stamp plate from The Northport Almanac leather collection of Northport, New York.

Three leather luggage tags stamped with After the Show, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

Next, the name beneath the village's name. The oldest recorded name for this place translates as wading place creek, and we kept only the physical truth of it – footfalls crossing shallow water, rings widening where each step came down. On the keychains: pale sea-blue for the water, caramel for the creek bank.

The black-and-white Wading Place ripple stamp plate from The Northport Almanac leather collection of Northport, New York.

Two leather keychains stamped with Wading Place ripples, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

Then the park. In 1932 the village bought its worn working waterfront and made it Memorial Park – ground that had earned its rest, opened to everyone. So a small bandstand stands under MEET AT THE PARK, stamped in the corner of the toiletry bags, harbor blue over chestnut.

The black-and-white Meet at the Park bandstand stamp plate from The Northport Almanac leather collection of Northport, New York.

Two leather toiletry bags stamped with Meet at the Park, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

Then The Pit, as the village still calls it. From 1923 the sand beside the harbor was cut and barged down the Sound to the city's cement yards, and the emptied ground later came back as playing fields. Our barge rides a single waterline with its cargo already standing: FROM HERE above, BUILT THERE below. It sits at generous size in the golden tan of the catchall tray – which is to say, in sand.

The black-and-white From Here Built There barge stamp plate from The Northport Almanac leather collection of Northport, New York.

A leather catchall tray stamped with From Here Built There, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

And finally, the one we liked the most. Northport's library keeps a famous neighbor's typescripts and corrected proofs; one manuscript reportedly spent years behind a radiator. So the journal takes the proofreader's grammar: THE CORRECTIONS set in type, a caret under the line, and KEEP written in by hand above it. The mark finishes the sentence.

It looks genuinely beautiful stamped into the corner – manuscript-pale greige and proofreader's red.

The black-and-white Keep the Corrections proof mark stamp plate from The Northport Almanac leather collection of Northport, New York.

Two leather journals stamped with Keep the Corrections, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

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 here changed – say hello through our contact page.

P.S.

A red leather luggage tag stamped with After the Show, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A navy leather luggage tag stamped with After the Show, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A black leather luggage tag gold stamped with After the Show, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A pale sea-blue leather keychain stamped with Wading Place, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A caramel leather keychain stamped with Wading Place, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A pale gray leather journal stamped with Keep the Corrections, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.

A red leather journal stamped with Keep the Corrections, from The Northport Almanac collection of Northport, New York.