Lacquer may also be applied to leather and the tanning industry was strongly
populated by Jewish manufacturers and tradesmen. When patent leather was
invented (probably in the United States) around the second decade of the
19th c., resinous material (varnish, lacquer) was used in the process. My
ggg-uncle's tannery in Prague (1833-1867) was called Pollak & Sohn Leder und
Lakirfabrik.

Paul King
Jerusalem

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