Chapter I: The Beginning
1 In the beginning, there was leather.
2 And the leather was in the hands of master artisans in La Antigua Guatemala, and it was good.
3 And the spirit of rustic taste moved over the cobblestone streets and volcanic mountain air, and the work of the hands gave birth to craft.
4 And lo, there came an American traveler, guitar upon his back, with coin enough to purchase a pair of leather boots.
5 And he beheld the land, its worn walls, its volcanic soil, its markets alive with color, and it stirred within him a vision.
6 And the vision was called Hide & Drink.
7 “Hide” for the full grain cowhide leather that would be the flesh of its creation; “Drink” for the first works, the vessels that would cradle the drink of man.
8 And thus were made the first of many: the Leather Beer Glove, the Leather Cowboy Buzy, the Leather Bike Cruzy to carry refreshment upon two wheels, and the Vintage Over Ale, a strap for the vessel of fellowship.
9 And in the year 2015, Hide & Drink began its labor with the leatherworking community of Pastores, Sacatepéquez, whose craft was older than memory.
10 Hand-cut, hand-sewn, fire-branded, each piece was wrought with care and hardened with the strength of the artisan’s touch.
11 And the work multiplied: panhandle holders for skillets, belts, wallets, coin pouches, bags, keychains, and many accessories, until there was no end to what could be imagined.
12 And other makers beheld the work and desired its style, the rustic look, the Bourbon Brown, and the patinas of the Crazy Horse finish.
13 And Crazy Horse was a leather whose waxed surface would bear the marks of life, telling its story through every scratch and crease, becoming more beautiful with the passage of time.
14 And the color was called Bourbon, for the drink that bound the first creations, and it became the banner of rustic goods far and wide.
15 And so Hide & Drink stood, not merely as a maker of goods, but as a voice calling against the age of the disposable, the synthetic, the lifeless.
16 And it was declared that these were to be timeless works, born of leather, born of hand, born to endure.
17 Thus was written the first chapter of the Good Book of Leather, the story of Hide & Drink, and it was good.
