Mountain Mama Products began in Idaho Springs,
Colorado in 1977. That was when Donna
Anderson noticed that welders used leather
gloves and bibs to protect themselves from the
heat of their profession. She thought that
having a potholder made out of leather made
perfect sense. So the idea was born.
At first Donna cut the leather by hand using
scissors, and then she used a hand shear.
Eventually she had metal dyes made that could
cut a pattern into the leather using a hydraulic
machine. She always hired the most
talented seamstress's to sew the products.
Her first "big" client was Safeway. She
use to hand deliver the products across the
country. Eventually she was asked to "mass
produce" the product. She felt that she
could not do this and keep the quality of the
product intact so she moved on to stock shows
and the kitchen shows. This is where she
gained a lot of her clientele. She was a
fixture at Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Denver
Stock Show every year.
Donna also ventured out and tried a variety of
different leather products. She use to
make Christmas stocking in the shapes of cowboy
boots, place mats, check book covers, cigarette
cases, chaps for children, business card holders
and various other items. She also tried
various colors for the potholders. You use
to see them in a beautiful black with a teal
center. She even had purple and light
blue.
After doing the "stock show circuit" for years
Donna decided to stay close to home and work out
of the office shipping her products around the
world. This is when she decided to stick
with the leather potholder, oven mitt and
panhandler, the best sellers. She decided
to stay with the colors that sold the most, the
earth tones.
I had the privilege of working for Ms. Anderson
and Mrs. Sue Mullen (her faithful right hand)
for the past 5-years. This is where I
began my "education" of the leather business.
I was known as the "cutter". I made sure
the leather looked beautiful for our clients.
I also helped with the branding and packaging of
the products.
Ms. Anderson always believed in the quality of
the workmanship of her products. She only
hired the most qualified and capable employee's.
And she bought only the best leather hides.
In July 2007 Donna decided to retire from the
leather business. A few months later I was
given the opportunity to start the company up
again. I luckily retained the seamstress's
and the same leather tannery.
And so Mountain Mama Leather Products Inc. was
re-born. I can only hope to run it as well
as Mrs. Anderson has for the past 31 years.
I hope I have as much fun at it as Donna did.
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