Dallas Hinton to Alexander Koryagin:

DH> Excellent question - turns out that the process was sort
DH> of patented!
DH>
DH>   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_leather
DH>
DH> ..patent leather is a fine grain leather that is treated
DH> to  give  it  a glossy appearance. An early reference to
DH> patent leather is in the  1793  British  periodical  The
DH> Bee,  or  Literary Weekly Intelligencer, which notes, in
DH> an article entitled "Hand's  patent  leather",  that  "a
DH> gentleman  of  the name of Hand" in Birmingham, England,
DH> obtained a patent for preparing flexible leather  having
DH> a  glaze  and polish that renders it impervious to water
DH> and need only be wiped with a sponge to  restore  it  to
DH> its original luster.

By  the  way,  when  I  treated  one pair of my shoes with a
solution  of  beeswax  and  propolis  in  turpentine,   they
acquired  the  properties  patent leather.  This solution is
made in Crimea as a universal  protective  impregnation  and
coating  for metal, wood, and leather.  The turpentine draws
the components deep (0.5-1.0 mm) into the  material  through
its pores, leaving a matte-glossy coat on the surface.

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