chewing the fat....Takeourword.com Issue 112 p.2 says phrase began as chew the rag, then chew the rug, finally chew the fat about 1885.
I remembered having read about Inuit women having to chew remnants of fat of skins before tanning them.
Instead of the boat trip, some of the Inuit women set up a large tent, and we all gathered inside for a demonstration of how to prepare a sealskin for drying and then for use. First she used an ulu, a crescent-shaped knife, all purpose tool, to shave off all the remaining fat and flesh from the back of the skin. Then she washed it and began the softening process, which ultimately includes long and careful chewing of the skin. All of this she demonstrated. The skin was then stretched on a frame for drying.
After several days of drying and more washing, the softening by chewing process is one of the final steps before the skin is used for boots, mittens, or whatever. She also showed us the strip of sinew that the threads were pulled from. Very fine, strong threads can be separated from it to be used for sewing the fur

Umm, did you see this yourself Dr. Bill, or have you omitted the source?

Bingley

have you omitted the source?

ewww, now you want gravy too?

Dear Bingley: I didn't post the source as it was a long article about the Inuit, and it would have been hard to find where I took the few sentences. I was just looking for description of the women preparing the pelts for tanning. The Inuit used to use urine to tan leather. I have never found details. A friend of mine had a very expensive Inuit made parka, with wolverine fur about face, which has unusual property of not icing up from breath. His wife threw it away because of the odor. Some women don't appreciate the finer things of life.

I remember my nana (grandmother) taken the urine from the chamber pots, and simmering it, in a pail on the stove.

it was then used to wash woolens..

the heat turned the urine into a mild ammonia, and ammonia naturally cleans, and softens the wool. After, the woolens were rinsed in clear cool water, and i don't remember any smell.

Now days, when Ammonia is just an other bottle on the store shelf, we don't think about it.. but in times past, natural products were utilized in other/different ways.

as Simon Winchester pointed out in Professor and Madman, there was in the 1800's, an industry in collecting dog feces, -- Called at the time pure as a source of nitrogen and coloring-- they were used for tanning leather

now that nitrogen can be cheaply extrated from atmosphere, there is no value in pure.

I don't know enough about tanning hides to know why urine was used, but i suspect it was really ammonia that was used. Ammonia made from urine.

Some women don't appreciate the finer things of life.

EXCUUUUUUUUUUSE ME! Do you see what you wrote before that sentence?

...use urine to tan leather...wolverine fur about face...threw it away because of the odor...

Dr, Bill, I don't normally disagree with you dear, but that was a wise woman, in my book!

Dear Angel: Wouldn't you agree that getting it out of the house was all that was called fo?. It had cost a couple hundred bucks, and was almost irreplaceable. It could have been put in a plastic bag and into storage locker. There no need to start a marital squabble. One partner has no right to destroy the other partner's belongings without a sensible discussion.

I don't know much about the chemistry of tanning leather, but obviously the proteins in the leather have to be changed into something not readily attacked by bacteria or fungi. Some kinds of tree bark used to be the mainstay. The family name Thayer meant leather tanner, because the bark in water solution was a "tay" long before the beverage reached Europe I believe.

The name "ammonia" derives from its preparation in deep pits of manure by priests of Egyptian temple of god Ammon .

Well, this is just so dadburned interesting, I can't wait for the next chapter, "Old Blood 'n' Guts"!

We've got Helen in one corner telling us that her grandma boiled urine to make ammonia, and there's Bill in the other telling us that Egyptian priests (or something) were down in manure pits making the same.

OK, so, iff'n you want ammonia, you can use urine or manure, right? Helen's grandma's way seems easier than going down into a manure pit.

Bottom regards,
WordWoozey

A friend of mine had a very expensive Inuit made parka, with wolverine fur about face, which has unusual property of not icing up from breath. His wife threw it away because of the odor. Some women don't appreciate the finer things of life
Wouldn't you agree that getting it out of the house was all that was called fo?. It had cost a couple hundred bucks, and was almost irreplaceable. It could have been put in a plastic bag and into storage locker. There no need to start a marital squabble. One partner has no right to destroy the other partner's belongings without a sensible discussion.

I do apologize in part, I misread the first portion and thought it to be her coat, not his. And I took it to mean that she did not care for the smell around her face. Chalk it up to being in a hurry!

And yes, I do believe it should have been discussed, but if the smell bothered her, it should have been immediately removed from their home. I would not want something in my home that I found to have an unpleasant odor..except perhaps my husband, just before a shower.