57/48

This palm iron was used by the donor's father, who was a Saddler in the High Street, Ascot. Palm irons used like thimbles by saddlers when sewing leather, to push needles into leather and to draw the needle back out again. For the pushing process, the pear shaped section of the tool held in the hollow of the hand is used. After it has been pushed well into the leather the saddler places the tip of the needle into the needle hole on the long projection at the front of the tool and pulls the needle and thread through the leather.

1 palm iron: metal

MERL 'provisional group card' - '57/10-57/119 // All the tools in this collection belonged to the donor's father Mr A. Homer [sic - Henry William Horner] who for many years practised his craft in the High Street, Ascot, Berkshire. The craftsman was primarily a maker of harness, horse collars and saddles and was an example of the true country saddler who concentrated on the manufacture of these goods rather than in making a great variety of fancy leather goods. Saddlery has never been a true rural craft for more often than not saddlers' shops were located in country town and villages.', MERL miscellaneous note - An earlier note recorded here stated: 'In a letter relating to the donation of these tools, it is implied that the Saddler was the donor's uncle, not his father.' In actual fact, the donor—Reginald Henry William Horner—was indeed the son of the saddler and original owner of these tools—Henry William Horner. Subsequent to the point of donation, much of the documentation appears to have misattributed the tools to a Mr A. Homer, which is presumably a misreading of handwriting. The initial correspondence regarding the availability of this collection of tools came to the Museum after the death of Henry William Horner in 1956 via a Mr W. E. Mayes of Leicester Museum. Mayes was an uncle of the donor. This careful reassessment of the documentation was provided by the donor's daughter—Jackie Stanford (née Horner)—during a drop-in visit to see some of her grandfather's tools in September 2017 during which she spoke with Ollie Douglas. During this same visit she recalled how her grandfather made her handbags and also made a pouch that the family used to store their ration cards during the Second World War. Her grandfather used to sit her on his stool (MERL 57/16) and show her his work. His hand had a large indentation in the palm and a lump on the rear as a result of many years of applying pressure to leatherworking tools.

1880 - 1956