Moshir Leather shop

[ Kif va Kafsh Tolou ]

As a child it seemed ridiculous to me in this store mother and cousins boasting. There was so much discussion about the materials and colors and shapes and styles… They talked about newest fashions and what they have bought for their children or themselves. During nowruz (very much about goods like christmas is america) the boasting was pronounced. It was a trial being exposed to the one-upmanship of comfortable Iranian women.

Many poor people wove the upper cloth part for shoe-shops to make extra money. My grandma had a servant, Hajar, who had trachoma (poor person eye disease). I felt sorry for her — doing everything for grandma: cooking, cleaning, shopping… Then in her free time she worked more by doing weaving. I asked her why she didn’t rest and she said to afford something for her niece! I was considered naughty because I wasn’t supposed to converse with the servants.

The most exciting days were when children got their new shoes. Often it was on the day of nowruz (spring) — the new year. Students returned from the new year vacation showing off their shoes. Each year kids got two pairs of shoes: at the start of spring and right before winter. But some students even had 3 pairs, with tennis shoes for exercise.

Leather fashion from Europe came to Iran around the time I became a teenager. At this time it was fashionable for rich men to permit their wives to go on trips to europe. They came back with leather overcoats or the newest purses and boots. Iran started importing furniture from Italy that was leather covered. We marveled at the strange jack boots that came from Germany.

Once my perception of leather was that it is only used for shoes and purses. Then it became a kind of material to be used as in place of a fabric. I learned that the best leather was made of lamb-skin from Iran. It was exported as raw material and came from Europe transformed.