Thursday 11 October 2012

Edible Gloves


I've seen cakes in various shapes and sizes, and all kinds of gloves -  but the only place where you can buy  edible gloves, as far as I know, is Millau, in South-Central France.   That poster above is from Maison Bouard, one of several patisseries in the town which offers edible gloves.

These glove shaped cookies are a speciality in Millau and pay tribute to one of its main industries. For many years, Millau has been a centre of the glove making and leather working trade. There are still traditional hand-made glove tailors working away in their shops in side streets, here and there, and some of the shops specialise in leather items. 

The large and well organised local museum is well worth a visit.  I went years ago when it had a most amazing dwarfish figure on display which was made entirely of leather. It was horrifyingly creepy because it looked just like a real old man - human skin does look like leather when people get old -and it was almost but not quite life sized.    This time, I half sorry, half relieved to say,  it was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it had spooked out too many visitors or something. 

Anyway, to make leather traditionally must have been one of the most repulsive occupations imaginable, according to the information here. Not only was there a lot of sloshing 



around in water, heaving skinned sheep about and scraping of flesh off hides (hence these sabots and tools) but the leather was actually cured by using various substances that are hardly discussed in polite society.  Of course it is more salubrious these days than it was in the past.

It is a fine museum, in a handsome building, and its collection includes a display of different types of leather, with explanatory labels, which you can handle and examine for yourself ...


and cases and cases of interesting and evocative items. This travelling salesman's sample box is from a hundred years ago. I specially admired the gloves with the zig zag and the white one with the gold decorations.


And there is ephemera of all kinds, such as this charming and convincing advertisement for waterproof gloves. I do wonder why the girl is wearing such a shapeless garment - perhaps that was the way in the 1920s - and why she would want her gloves to be washable in the first place.


There are also wonderful displays of finished gloves, old and new, ranging from fairly functional to really bizarre - though even the bizarre ones are beautiful, like these stunning feathery gloves by Chantal Thomass.  I'm really sorry for all the reflections in these photos by the way.. One of these days I'll get a proper camera with a polarizing filter.


Many of the gloves on display are by fashion's top names.  How about this Hermes example, trimmed with what looks like raffia? If it is raffia, then it is very different from that stuff we used to weave with at school :)


There were many gorgeous vintage gloves. I can imagine these the arms of rich ladies in the 1920s.
.


I wish I had been able to take better photos to show the refinement and delicacy of the stitching and styling of some of these gloves. I really do believe only the French can do couture as it should be done. When I browse through other countries' fashion labels, I think I must be wrong, but then I see the French stuff and it always looks better to me.

(In fact, I even try only to visit Paris when the Paris Fashion Museum has an exhibition, because their exhibitions are so worth seeing (which means I won't be going for a while because the museum is closed till Autumn 2013.).  They only run special exhibitions and don't have a permanent collection. and what they gather together makes most fashion collections in top stores look like - oh, Wal-Mart.

I suppose I'm exaggerating, really.)

Anyway, to get back to the edible gloves.   Perhaps some French person can let me know if these gloves are  made of sable biscuits (recipe here)  Crisp and crunchy, literally "sand biscuits,".   I would have bought some to find out what they were like myself, but by the time I found this shop, it was closed for the weekend.  Ah well. Another day.



45 comments:

  1. Fascinating information and photos. I had never previously thought of France as a country that would produce leather (or edible gloves!).

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  2. Such beautiful gloves! I so enjoyed seeing all of these. And edible gloves? How interesting!

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  3. How interesting that the study of just about anything ( such as gloves) can provide such history and beauty.

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  4. Lovely gloves...I think I'll pass on the tanning part of the production though..and the biscuits sound rather more inviting than those sold in Saumur as 'crottes de cheval'.

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  5. this was fascinating--it makes you stop and think of how hard people used to have it when working!

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  6. Is this the Millau with the viaduct? South-central, I think you mean to say...

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  7. Wonderful post Jenny, indeed leather making isn't pretty, perhaps many times the end result is exquisite though.
    Oh, you didn't get to try the cake glove!
    It's totally amazing that you happened to be posting about gloves, as only 2 days ago I was reorganising some drawers and found 2 pairs of very old leather gloves and nourished them with leather dressing and packed them away once again.

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  8. I have a soft spot for gloves. So, I enjoyed your post tremendously.
    This year, I'm going to buy myself new gloves, the colour of old-fashioned powder :)

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  9. Your comment about making leather reminded me of a series of books I read last year, the story of a Cro-Magnon girl who was raised by Neanderthals about 30,000 years ago. According to the story, hides were made soft and pliable by using stale urine (I guess it's the ammonia in the urine that makes a stiff hide into soft leather).

    Wonderful pictures of all the beautiful leather products!

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  10. Ah whenever I see gloves it makes me think of my 'proper' grandmother who NEVER left the house without her gloves on and an extra pair in her purse. When she died, we found some really old gloves in one of her drawers. I'm kicking myself for not keeping them.

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  11. The edible gloves sound yummy!

    Pity the museum no longer houses the crinkled little leather people - I would have loved to have seen them.

    Anna :o]

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  12. Wow, that is an amazing place, and their collection is on the wildly cool side of life, that's for sure. Nice photos you shared, and it does make me curious to see more!

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  13. Very interesting and beautiful post! The lady on the advertising poster is wearing something that was very modern at the time, loose-fitting ladies' gowns and dresses were considered the ultimate progressive outfit as opposed to the restricting hourglass silhouette women had been pressed into for far too long. As for her gloves being washable - well, I have vintage leather gloves from my grandma, and wish they were washable, too. Over the years and with frequent use, of course they do accumulate some grit and grime, and it is so easy to accidentally get a speck of something greasy on them. Just think of dirty door handles in public areas such as the train station.

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  14. Living as I do in a town famed for its glove making and leather production and having lived in a gloving town in France I found this post interesting. Beautifully made gloves are a real work of art. Have never thought of eating them though!

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  15. Edible gloves? Non! Have never heard of those before. Would love to know who wore those vintage ones though. I fancy some really nice gloves for this winter.

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  16. I like the idea of eating some gloves. :D When I was a biker, I used to wear a pair of studded leather gloves. I felt like a real rock star.

    Interesting post. :)

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  17. The tanning of leather does indeed involve many smelly substances! Another good tour Jenny.

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  18. How fascinating, I never knew gloves could be so interesting. Not sure about the edible variety though but it sheds new light on the old warning 'don't lick your fingers'.

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  19. Yum, Crottes de cheval... Sounds mouth watering.! I am surprised they didn't have crates de doggy cookies as local specialities really, since dog poo as well as stale urine was one of the magic ingredients in leather curing.
    Thank you Anonymous for correcting my geography and yea Millau has that fab viaduct. I might write a bit about it later as I thought it could make a fun post.
    Where do you live, Marigold Jam? (sorry would normally check on your blog but I am doing this on the phone- also please forgive spelling mistakes or predictive text madness. Blogger does not support the browser on my phone and I can't scroll. I have a tablet and must get into the habit of carrying it soon).
    Oh Meike I was pretty stupid not thinking of why one would wish to wash gloves, it was the sight of her pouring kettles of water down herself that threw me.

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  20. How wonderful - glove cake!

    Have you been to Melaka, in Malaysia? Some of the most extraordinary museums I've ever been in - including one by the docks which shows material confiscated by the customs officers. There's the guns and drugs, or course, but this is a Muslim country so there are various sex aids behind a cloth (for adults only, the light going on for 20 seconds at a time, lest you get too excited) and a rubber vagina on full display - - I can only think they didn't know what it was!

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  21. A very interesting blog Jenny. Thanks for the lesson on leather and gloves. And specially on edible gloves.... - Dave

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  22. To be honest I'm more interested in Millau than in fashion. It's many years since I first went there and the last time I stayed there was just before the new viaduct was opened 11 years ago. Tempus fugit. However at the times I was there Millau was far more famous for José Bové, the local Larzac anti-globalisation activist who destroyed the McDonalds restaurant as a protest. For me Millau represents the Larzac blue cheese in those little pots - food heaven.

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  23. I actually found the glove cake kind of creepy. I loved looking at the handmade gloves tho. They are really art and must take highly skilled and experienced people to make them.

    Darla

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  24. How wonderful to have washable leather gloves, especially for the lighter shades which would show every bit of dirt. Mind you I'm not so sure about pouring boiling water from the kettle on my hands, I don't think the leather would protect them. Clean gloves but second degree burns.

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  25. It figures, since bakers now make cakes in all kinds of interesting shapes, that people so steeped in glove making would come up with these.

    Beautiful gloves.

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  26. I've never thought of eating gloves, but I'm sure they taste good:) I love those beautiful hand-crafted gloves - they are like works of art! I wouldn't mind if we wore gloves more in our modern age, something quite elegant about them. Another lovely tour!

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  27. loved your photos again..and again makes me realize how little I know. thanks for the interesting post!

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  28. Living from hand to mouth, so to speak.
    Nice post Jenny

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  29. Fascinating post! I looked at the glove slideshow on the museum & it is really cool. I think I like those feathery ones best!

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  30. Gloves used to be a staple of your wardrobe...as were hats. Styles have changed so much, but I am just fascinated by hats and gloves...and old parasols and buttoned shoes. I found this whole post so interesting. I do imagine the Paris fashion museum would have the best displays!! :)

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  31. Hi Jenny!

    These edible gloves sort of remind me of ghoulish Halloween crafts like edible dismembered fingers. Perhaps it's just that it's October and I am surrounded by Halloween decorations as I drive around.

    The leather work shop is quite interesting. I always wondered about the stench surrounding the production of these fine accessories, particularly back in the old days. But seeing the final products, like the Hermés gloves and others you've shown, make me think it might be worth it! (Still not volunteering for the leather trade though ;) )

    -- Jenny

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  32. i had a pair of dogs once that thought all gloves were edible!

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  33. Jenny,
    The gloves are beautiful and gorgeous. But behind them, there must have been the indescribable hardship of craftsmen. Yes, in Japan too, to make leather traditionally was one of the most repulsive jobs. So, some low class people would be engaged in making leather.
    I am interested in the travelling salesman's sample box. I imagine women were coshing the gloves with a pleasant thrill of excitement.
    I want to try edible gloves!!
    keiko

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  34. Linking through from Legend's blog. I want edible gloves that I can actually wear, and eat as I walk along.

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  35. Some beautiful gloves there. Though personally I prefer woollen gloves, I find them warmer than leather.

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  36. Edible gloves?! Saves one from having to eat one's hat, I suppose, in cases of extreme surprise.

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  37. The process of tanning - visually or olfactorily... interesting as they may be; I'll make pass at them too! ;p But like you, I wouldn't say no to edible gloves.

    Those are sure some interesting gloves on display.

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  38. Wonderful post, very interesting.
    How is your book on the Victorians coming along?
    Have you seen the little film that BIBIK AND RORO did on her blog? It is about Lord Leighton and is so very good!

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  39. That was quite a tour of gloves! I'd like to try the edible ones too...my sweet tooth might enjoy that. I'm going not to visit your link for the Sable biscuit recipe.

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  40. Such an interesting posting, am your newest follower now and looking forward to seeing and reading more. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
    Greetings, Heidi

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  41. Thanks for the further comments, everyone. Yes, the whole thing about edible gloves reminds me of when one of my kids was little. I jokingly told her her fingers were made of pink chocolate. To my horror, she confidently took a bite. Ouch!

    :)

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  42. All these gloves look very romantic and what a great idea to make the gloves-cookies. Love this tour! Thank you, sweet Jenny )))
    Love
    Natasha

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  43. those are some pretty exotic gloves...especially with the feathered cuff...might not mind a glove cookie...ouch on her biting her hand....

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  44. Fascinating. I had no idea about gloves coming from here. How very clever for them to make the cookies as edible gloves! I shouldn't be surprised if every tourist bought at least one!

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  45. Oh gloves are so grand. and so last century...hahhahaa...the pretty ones. I remember my mom's and grandma's gloves. So sweet.

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