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Rawhide




Rawhide is a Hide or animal Skin that has not been exposed to Tanning and thus is much lighter in color than treated animal hides ( Leather ).

The skin from Buffalo , Deer , Elk or Cattle from which most rawhide originates is devoid of all Fur , Meat and Fat . The resulting material is often only semi-pliable and permeable to light.


USES

As such, it is considered suitable for use in objects ranging from Drumhead s to Lampshade s, and is often used to make Chew Toy s for dogs. Rawhide is also used to cover saddle trees, which make up the form or foundation of a western Saddle , while wet: it strengthens the wooden tree by drawing up very tight as it dries.

Wet rawhide has been used by some earlier cultures as a means of Torture , gradually biting into flesh it's bound around, or Execution of enemies. A strip of wet rawhide would be stretched tightly around the forehead of a bound victim and when exposed to sunlight the material would shrink; as the material dried and if left unattended, the victim's skull slowly cracks as a result of the pressure.


REFERENCES IN POP CULTURE

In the movie Man Of The House (1995 Film) , as the hitmen try to figure out a way to kill Jack Sturgess ( Chevy Chase ) and Ben Archer ( Jonathan Taylor Thomas ), Ben says: "If you really wanted to kill us, you'd wrap us in wet rawhide and leave us in the sun and all of our organs would ooze out of our orifices like a tube of toothpaste."


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