Ed Gallun was born into tanning—and even though the American tanning industry isn't what it once was for much of the life of the tannery his great-great-great grandfather started in 1858 in Milwaukee, he simply can't get away from it. That's a very good thing.

Ed relaunched Gallun Leathers in 2022, focusing on tanning incredibly interesting, dare we say gutsy calf leather, as well as more outside-the-box offerings like wild boar, deerskin, and more. In a lively chat with Ed for the final episode of Shoecast season 9, we get a fantastic look at Milwaukee's impressive tanning history and how the landscape shifted over the decades, how the original iteration of Gallun grew from a small shop to a 700,000 sqft titan, what Ed learned studying "space age" tanning technology in Europe, the wildest leather he's working on right now, and how science, selection, and a bit of magic births fantastic leather.


This episode was sponsored by Nicks Boots

Theme song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera