Laura in San Antonio, Texas, says her handsome father describes himself as a fine piece of leather, well put together. This phrase is probably a reference to a fine leather shoe and the artistry it takes to put it together. For years, shoe companies advertised their wares with lines like, Good leather, well put together. Donnie Elbert’s song “Little Piece of Leather,” which includes the line She’s a little piece of leather and she’s well put together, helped popularize this saying. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Good Leather, Well Put Together”
Hi, you have A Way with Words.
Yes, my name is Laura and I am calling from San Antonio, Texas.
Welcome to the show. What can we do for you?
Yeah, so I was calling in regards to a saying that my dad uses a lot.
He is 88 years young and he is a veteran.
And we usually go to, when we do the appointments, the doctor’s appointments, you know, we look at the labs and stuff.
And, you know, most of the time it’s good.
You know, there could be a level or two off.
But anyhow, I get pretty surprised with his results.
And the saying that he usually uses is, well, it’s because, you know, why, right?
And I say, why?
His saying is, well, because I am a fine piece of leather, well put together.
And what do you take that to mean?
He means, well, you know, he could be a little, you know, a little stuck up, you know, so maybe that or.
You calling your father stuck up?
Well, I have to say he was a good looking guy.
You know, when he was young, I have to admit.
A handsome devil, huh?
Like a Richard Gere type of look.
Oh, okay.
Nice.
But I’m not going to tell him that now because I’ll forget about it.
I won’t hear the end of it.
Never give a parent an advantage.
So, no, I think it pretty much is him telling me, you know, he has pretty good family genes.
Okay, gotcha.
Yeah, and you’re just wondering, like, where did this handsome devil get this saying from?
Correct, correct.
All right.
So the saying again is?
I am a fine piece of leather, well put together.
All right.
Yeah, that’s what I thought it was.
A fine piece of leather, well put together.
There are some variations on this.
Sometimes a tough piece of leather, well put together, or just like leather and well put together.
There was a song in 1969.
I don’t know how popular it was.
It’s kind of this real fast and loud gospel soul song.
It’s fantastic.
You can find it on YouTube by Donnie Elbert, E-L-B-E-R-T.
It’s called A Little Piece of Leather, but the line in the song is, a little piece of leather and she’s well put together, which may have helped popularize the term.
But the expression goes back at least to the 1930s.
I found it in a high school yearbook as a student quote.
But what’s more important is where it came from before that.
And I can’t prove this, but lots and lots and lots of shoe companies over many, many years, we’re talking probably more than 100 years, have advertised their shoes, and this is well before the modern day, with variations on, and I quote the line, good leather, well put together, because it rhymes.
And I’m talking tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of advertisements in newspapers for many, many decades across the United States.
And my suspicion is that put some form of this phrase into people’s minds.
And so they joked that they’re like a fine pair of shoes.
Which if you’ve ever seen, like, say, a finely crafted set of, you know, Italian dress shoes, the very expensive kind, they’re gorgeous.
Yeah, that buttery leather.
Oh, buttery.
They’re just, before they’re worn anyway, they smell good, they feel good.
It’s clear that somebody with years of experience has been at work here with the best tools and the best intentions and made something that is almost art.
So my suspicion is that his expression, a fine piece of leather well put together, is a variation on this line that shoe companies have used to advertise their well-made leather shoes.
Love it.
Yes, he has a lot of things, but that’s the one that he’s always using.
So he wanted to be on the radio with me as a matter of fact.
He’s like, I got a lot more.
I’m like, well, Dad, your type of sayings are from the military, and this has to be a…
Family show, yeah.
Exactly, exactly.
Laura, it’s been a delight, but share that song with him, the 1969 Donnie Elbert song, A Little Piece of Leather.
He might really enjoy that.
I will do that.
Thank you so much.
I appreciate y’all’s time, and I enjoy your show.
Thank you so much.
Give your dad our best, will you?
I will.
Thank you.
All right.
Take care of yourself.
Take care, Laura.
You too.
Bye-bye.
