WB  Leather Specialties

John W. Shorthill

804 Chestnut St.

Everson, WA  98247

360-220-7224

email: john@wbleather.com

My Dad, Warren Boyd Shorthill, aka Pop Rivit, was born in 1922.  Known by everyone as "Warnie."  After graduation from High School he was hired by the Northern Pacific Railroad in Livingston, Montana.  Then WW II broke out. He was a steam locomotive Fireman so the Navy made him an engine man - a Machinist Mate - on a destroyer escort somewhere in the South Pacific.  At war's end, he returned home and took up with the NPRR again.  The railroad required only initials and last name for their reports, so Dad signed everything "WB Shorthill."  Quickly promoted to Engineer, which railroaders call a "Hog Head," Dad retired in 1983, and said often that he couldn't imagine having done anything else for a living.  He could feel what was happening in the caboose 85 cars to the rear, and I was the only 12 year old in my town that could move a train - I loved going with him, and it was against ALL the rules.

Before pagers or cell phones, train crews had to remain near a phone.  If they went anywhere, to keep from missing a call to work, they had to constantly check in with the Yard Office, letting them know where they could be reached.  Crews phoned in to obtain updates on the "Call Board" - where your crew was stacked in the line-up, inquiring as to when they thought your next train would be ready to go.

In 1962, I went to Scout Camp and then we took a trip to the Seattle World's Fair, the long way, without the Interstate Highways we have today.  I had a couple of wallet kits from Tandy to stitch up and pass the time, and I showed Dad how to do the fancy stitching.  Fast forward to 1968.  To pass the time waiting to go to work, Dad had taken up leather crafting and tooling, starting out with personalized checkbook covers, wallets, belts, purses and the like.  He went to local classes and got really good.  I spent as much time with him as I could, and since he was always working with leather, I took advantage of his equipment, supplies, tools and most important, his instructions. 

In 1972, while I was away to college, Dad made his first Fez Case (not the one at the top of the page).  As a Shrine Clown he never missed nearby conventions and PNSAs, so right away people noticed his very distinct Fez Case.  Immediately Shriners from all over the US and Canada were asking him to make one for them.  His techniques and procedures improved with each new innovation.  Every Fez Case was a unique work or art, a labor of love and completely one of a kind - as they remain today.

After heart surgery in 1989 Dad passed away, I was married and gone, and because my Mom had been his helper for years, she felt an obligation to finish the last two Fez Cases he had on order...  But she liked making them, and continued until  2000.  I had been making a variety of other leather goods, displayed in the Photo Gallery, Mom asked me if I wanted to take over making the Fez Cases, and I was delighted!  To honor my Dad, I've begun using "WB Leather Specialties," as a name for my hobby, still a labor of love.  I use the photo of WB at the top of the page as I like to remember him best - on a powerful General Motors EMD SD-45 diesel locomotive, with his left hand on the throttle moving it on down the line.