Peabody firefighter honors city’s leather industry

PEABODY – Peabody Fire Lt. Ted Quinn has put his writing skills to the test once again with his second book honoring Peabody’s past.Images of America: Peabody’s Leather Industry uses over 120 pages of photos and captions to tell the history behind “The Leather Capitol of the World.” The book’s six chapters cover every aspect of the city’s dominant role from highlighting some of the very first tanners to outlining the tanning process itself, to remembering the devastating fires that nearly ended it all.With thousands of employees and millions of dollars in net worth, Peabody’s leather industry was in its prime from the late 19th century until about the 1960s when cheap foreign labor and environmental safety standards began to push the factories out.”Unfortunately I cannot create the sounds and smells of the bustling leather industry in Peabody; however, my hope is that this book, with its photographic images and narratives, will help you understand the history, the process, and the rise and fall of the leather industry,” wrote Quinn in the book’s introduction. “It will also put faces behind the leather belts and shoes that some of you wear, and the purses and wallets you might own.”A native of Peabody, Quinn has long had a love for his city’s history. After completing his first book with Arcadia Publishing titled Peabody Firefighting just last summer, Quinn said he knew he had to do something to recognize the city’s loyal leatherworkers.”While researching that book and the pleasant experience I had doing it, I wanted to continue sharing Peabody’s history with others,” said Quinn. “Peabody’s Leather Industry was the next obvious project to work on.”Quinn spent countless hours researching inside the walls of the George Peabody House Museum, the Peabody Historical Society, the Peabody Institute Library, and the Salem Library. He also sifted through a myriad of city records and interviewed former industry employees.”I hope that the readers find everything interesting,” said Quinn.Quinn’s latest release comes just weeks after the groundbreaking ceremony of the highly anticipated Peabody Leatherworker’s Museum. Located behind the George Peabody House Museum, the new addition will display early tanning equipment and have a primary focus on the workers who used them.Peabody’s Leather Industry can be found on the shelves of local bookstores and independent retailers, as well as online.