Words the Society used
← The Society · 24 terms
The Society had its own vocabulary, and its papers use it without stopping to explain. Here is what each word meant, in the Society’s own terms, with the paper that says so and a link to the page that tells more.
A.C.S.C.L. / F.C.S.C.L.
The letters a member became entitled to put after their name on qualifying: A.C.S.C.L. for "Associate Canadian Society for Creative Leathercraft" and F.C.S.C.L. for "Fellow Canadian Society for Creative Leathercraft", each held "for as long as good standing is maintained" and each carrying a diploma and the use of a professional stamp issued by the Society. The Society printed them both pointed, as here, and unpointed — ACSCL, FCSCL — in the later newsletters. More →
the Society's Constitution and By-Laws, revised May 2016 — By-Laws, Article II, Sec. 1(e), page 9
Article
A finished piece of leatherwork entered for judging — a handbag, a belt, a tray, a box; the Society's own requirements use "article" and "piece" for the same thing. The newsletter calls a written contribution an article too, and a candidate for Fellow had to submit one of each. More →
Associate (A.C.S.C.L.)
Associate was the first of the Society's two professional standings, for a member who met "certain standards of excellence, especially in workmanship". It asked not less than three years' satisfactory practice of leathercraft and two years' service to the Society, and the approval by the Board of Selection of four submitted pieces — a handbag or other large article, a belt and two optional — for which originality of design was not essential. More →
Summer 1990, page 2, with the requirements as printed in Summer 1954, page 4
Biennial (the Biennial Exhibition)
The Biennial was the Society's own exhibition of juried leatherwork, held every two years in a gallery or civic centre in Southern Ontario and known by its year — Leather '74, Leather '84, Leather 2010 — with prizes and ribbons of its own. In a Biennial year some of the Society's special awards were paid at the Biennial rather than at the Annual, and at twice the amount: $100.00 at the Biennial against $50.00 at the Annual. More →
the Society's Membership Application, 2023, with the award amounts as printed in Fall 2016, page 5
Board of Selection
The Council of Fellows' judging panel — "the working body of the Council of Fellows", at least three qualified judges each working independently — which approved the work members submitted for Associate and Fellow standing, judged the branch competition for the Weston Trophy, and reviewed the pieces offered for the Society's exhibitions and sales. The Fellows formed the first Board of Selection at the Fourth Annual Meeting in 1953, and from 1956 it was the Council of Fellows that appointed it. More →
Winter 1961, page 7, with the Council of Fellows' own history in Spring 1975, page 12 and the sale notice of Summer 1955, page 11
Branch / guild
A Branch was a local guild of the Society: any five or more people anywhere in Canada could apply to the Executive Council for admission, and all of a new Branch's members had to be, or be about to become, members of the Society. The papers use branch and guild for the same body — Branch Guilds of C.S.C.L. — so the Hamilton Branch and the Hamilton Leather Guild are one thing; each Branch elected its own President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer, planned and funded its own programme, and could enter the inter-branch competition for the Weston Trophy. More →
Autumn 1961, page 1, with the Branch by-laws as printed in the Constitution and By-Laws, revised May 2016 — By-Laws, Article VII, page 13
Canadian Leathercraft (the bulletin, the newsletter)
The Society's own periodical, begun in September 1951 as "a quarterly educational bulletin published in the interests of fine leathercraftsmanship by the Canadian Society of Creative Leathercraft". The Constitution made it the Society's official publication, and the members called it the bulletin or the newsletter without distinction; the last issue, Volume LXXVI, No. Final, came out in the autumn of 2026. More →
September 1951, page 1; and the Constitution and By-Laws, revised May 2016, Article XI
Caretakers
The officers left to wind the Society up after the vote of 10 May 2025, in place of a full slate of Executive officers: the Continuation Report provided for "at least two - Chairperson & Treasurer", with one in each remaining guild if that could be managed. They were to meet monthly from October 2026, and to oversee the sharing out of the Society's funds among four member guilds and a bursary at Craft Ontario. More →
the Continuation Report, printed with the Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting, 10 May 2025; and Fall 2026, page 6
Continuation Committee
The committee of members, open to any member who wished to attend, that was asked "to investigate the possibility of Dissolving the Society and to prepare the ground for a Vote to decide the matter". It met on the fourth Tuesday of the month before the Executive meetings, and brought its final report to the 75th Annual General Meeting of 10 May 2025, where the members voted to dissolve the Society. More →
the Continuation Committee's final report, printed with the Minutes of the 75th Annual General Meeting, 10 May 2025
Council of Fellows
The body of all the Society's Fellows, which held the standards of the craft. A meeting in 1956 set out its duties — to establish and maintain those standards; to appoint, annually, a Chairman to represent it on the Executive Council and award professional Diplomas at the Annual Meeting; to appoint a Secretary; and to appoint a Board of Selection — and ruled that it "shall be independent of the Executive Council and serve as final authority in all matters pertaining to the standards of the craft". More →
Craftsman Ribbon (also printed Craftsman Award)
A ribbon given at the Annual for outstanding craftsmanship in a piece on display; no money came with it, and a piece had to have been made in the last year and not have been shown at any other Annual. The same honour was printed as the Craftsman Award in the Society's own reports for many years, and each page here keeps the name its paper used. More →
Fall 2016, page 5; printed as Craftsman Awards in Summer 1993, page 3
Fellow (F.C.S.C.L.)
Fellow was the Society's higher professional standing, for a member who met "still higher standards with the emphasis on creative design". It asked at least one year as an Associate, three years' service, wide experience and meritorious achievement in the craft, and four articles — two large and two small, all original in design, and none of them a piece already submitted for Associate. More →
Summer 1990, page 2, with the requirements as printed in Summer 1954, page 4 and Summer 1971, pages 8-9
International Assembly of Leathercraftsmen (IALC)
The International Assembly of Leathercraftsmen was a weekend gathering of Canadian and American leathercraft guilds — displays of members' work, continuous demonstrations, a jury and Salon ribbons — hosted in turn by one of the guilds. The first was a Leathercraft Weekend at the Hotel Statler in Buffalo, October 30 and 31, 1954, which more than 150 leathercrafters attended; the later newsletters shorten the name to IALC. More →
Autumn 1954, page 3; the shorthand IALC as printed in Summer 1965, page 3
Larmour Library
The Society's lending library, set up in May 1971 when the books and tools of Ralph and Reta Larmour, founding members of the Society, were given to it; the tools and leather were auctioned to Fellows and Associates, and the proceeds together with the books founded "The Larmour Memorial Library". Each book was stamped "property of C.S.C.L." and "Larmour Memorial Library", and the collection travelled to the branches a case at a time, each branch keeping its case for a set period before passing it on. More →
the Library Committee's report in the programme of the 1975 Annual Meeting; and Winter 1987, pages 6 and 7
Life Member / Honorary Life Member
The Society's one membership for life, voted on by the Executive Council and bestowed on a member who had served the Society for many years "in an exemplary manner, over and above the call of duty". A member elected for life kept all the rights and privileges of membership and paid no further fees; the Society's membership reports call such a member a Life Member as readily as an Honorary Life Member. More →
Winter 1987, page 6; and the Constitution and By-Laws, revised May 2016, By-Laws Article II
Members-at-Large (M.A.L.)
A Member-at-Large belonged to no branch and joined the Society directly, sending dues to the Society's Treasurer instead of to a Branch Treasurer; the Society's own shorthand for them is M.A.L. or MAL. They were counted from coast to coast in Canada and in the United States, the Larmour Memorial Library was open to them as it was to the Branches, and a Member-at-Large Representative wrote their report for each Annual. More →
the Society's Membership Application, 2023, with the Members-at-Large report in the 70th and 71st Annual Meeting reports, 2021
MSCL (the Mississauga branch)
MSCL is the Mississauga Society for Creative Leathercraft, the Society's Mississauga branch, welcomed at the 34th Annual Meeting on 14 April 1984 — "making our Society now 7 Branches strong". It was one of the three Guild Branches still the Society's at the end, with Hamilton and Norland. More →
Summer 1984, page 1; the initials spelled out in the 68th Annual Convention Weekend invitation, 2018, and the three remaining branches in Fall 2026, page 2
Point System
The Society's way of scoring craft work: each article was marked Excellent down to Poor — 5 points to 1 — on design, on workmanship, and on general appearance and suitability of materials, and the three marks were then multiplied by weighting factors that brought the top score to 100. Design and workmanship weighed nine each against two for suitability in the branch competition and general judging; for Associate standing the weights became six and twelve, because "the workmanship is far more important than design", and for Fellowship twelve and six, because "the design is more important than the workmanship". More →
Salon (of Leathercraft)
A Salon was an exhibit made up only of selected work — "pieces chosen from the best examples submitted" — judged on art standards rather than on workmanship alone. On the Society's proposal the International Assembly of Leathercraftsmen agreed at Detroit in 1956 to hold one at future Assemblies, and the first chose its pieces "first of originality and creativeness, second of execution of design and technique and suitability for leather". More →
Salon Ribbon
A ribbon given at the Annual for a unique, original or outstanding idea or piece of work on display; as with the Craftsman Ribbon no money came with it, and the piece had to have been made in the last year and not have been shown at any other Annual. The International Assembly of Leathercraftsmen awarded a Salon Ribbon of its own, and the two are kept here as separate honours. More →
Sustaining Member
A supporting membership taken out by a firm rather than by a craftsman — "generally a commercial membership which could be a company, an organization or an individual wishing to aid the Society". A Sustaining Member paid more than an ordinary member and had one vote; the later newsletters printed the fee as "$100.00 or material equivalent to $100.00". More →
Winter 1987, page 6; and the membership table in the newsletters, as at Fall 2017, page 2
The Annual (the Annual Meeting, the Annual General Meeting or AGM, the Annual Convention)
The gathering the Society held once a year, hosted by a branch in turn — a single day in the early years, later a Friday-to-Sunday weekend: the members' work set up and judged, then the business meeting, the election of officers and the presentation of awards on the Saturday morning, demonstrations and workshops through the afternoon, and a banquet with the ribbons in the evening. Its own papers call the same gathering the Annual, the Annual Meeting, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the Annual Convention, and each page here keeps the name its paper printed. More →
Winter 1987-1988, page 5; the four names together on Fall 2016, page 5
Virtual Competition
The Virtual Competition was the Society's judged leatherwork competition run from photographs instead of from the pieces themselves: a member sent in at least four photographs of each article, and the Council of Fellows scored them without being told the maker. It was first held in 2021, when the Annual General Meeting and its judging had been on hold since May 2020, and afterwards ran beside the competition at the Annual — a member could enter one or the other, not both. More →
January–April 2021, page 3, with the one-competition rule as printed in the Virtual Leatherwork Annual Competition notice, 2023
Weston Trophy
The Society's branch competition, decided each year at the Annual: a branch entered a set of articles, one from each of several of its members, and they were judged on the point system some weeks beforehand so that the trophy could be prepared. The first was presented to the London Branch in 1957; the number of articles a branch had to enter changed over the years. More →
40th Annual Meeting 1990 — programme, Elmhurst Inn, Ingersoll, page 7; Winter 1987-1988, page 5