And so the story goes…
once upon a time there was a grumpy old pirate living deep down in the Florida Keys, on a little island at the end of the road called “Key West”. I’m sure you never heard about it. The good old times of galleons loaded with treasures of the Old World passing by was long gone and instead new ships with course to the island came just to drop off herds of screaming and loud
primitives for a few hours a day.

Capt. Itch had to make a living, and he did what he knew best – fishing. Soon some of those primitives asked him if they could join him, and after a short time he had made himself a reputation as “Capt. Itch aka Capt. Larry Cohen, the flats fishing guide”.

He did that for many many years, living on his houseboat and going fishing, when one day a maiden from the Old World, Germania, ended up stranded on the shores of the island. They soon fell madly in love with each other, and Capt. Itch decided not to let her go anymore, and he went to his treasure box and gave her the most beautiful ring he had.

They lived together happily on the island until the primitives took over. There were no more deserted beaches where the Captain and his maiden could go to and enjoy the wind in the palm trees. They decided to wrap everything up, and went on the road north bound. After days of travelling they ended up in a land called Tennessee, where people talked different, but were nice, and everywhere there was a familiar smell in the air. It reminded the Captain of the old pirate days, but is wasn’t the salt water, is was….Whiskey!

He knew he was at the end of his journey. So he and his maiden, Isabel, built a home and settled down. Over time they took in critters that would have died if not taken in, and the family grew in form of 4-legged members.

But Capt. Itch got restless, and Isabel became inpatient with him always being around, and she sent him out to find something to do with himself. Since he always enjoyed his guns that haven’t been used since the Old Days, he started taking care of them. He didn’t like the holsters that were available 100%, so he made his own. People liked what he did, and soon the holster making became a business.

At the same time he started missing his life as a pirate. He was stuck with his nose in the leather shop instead of the wind. That’s when the steel horse fairy came to see him and said “Capt. Itch, you have been a good fellow for a long time now, you deserve to have a wish.” He wished to have a steel horse, and BAM! there it was, a beautiful white Police Bike that could make a noise so loud like the cannons on his old schooner year earlier.

He was so happy to put his nose in the wind, that he asked his Isabel to join him and get herself one too so they could ride together.

With the word getting out more and more about Captain Itch, the business grew and help was needed. First Cheryl helped us out with sewing and now knows everything there is to know in our leather shop. Then my next door neighbor friend Maire helped me filling orders during the busy times. And since then we added Carol and Morgan to our small team who not only sew, glue, cut and emboss, but also brought with them some fresh air by teaching us old folks how to use a smart phone and social media.

And here is where we are now: We still keep Captain Itch around for his pretty face and he makes some darn good holsters and belts. But all the motorcycle items are made by the women. So here goes another cliche…:) And they do it with pride, even thou that means not to have beautiful manicured and painted fingernail. This is a leather shop with glue, dye, sharp knives and machinery and we can turn a cow hide into some beautiful things. Almost like magic…