What is Brain Tan?

These people use brains to tan leather.

“What is Braintan? Braintan is an ancient method of tanning hides that involves dressing a raw hide with brains, (or other natural emulsified oils) softening it with manual labor to produce soft buckskin and smoking it to preserve the softness.”

So says the web site of Circle S Leather, which also says: “We are a family run business. We work out of our home and a small shop. Because God has blessed our business, over the last 15 years our braintan has sold in 46 states and 13 countries.”