I can appreciate your efforts to detail the proper care of vintage holsters. I'm afraid that at least part of the reason this has continued to be a "topic" was my recommendation to use shoe polish to touch up a few scratches on a holster. Most here seem vehemently opposed to this approach, but I would like to let everyone know that I don't give my advice off the cuff. I also have devoted years experimentation to various types of preservation and conservation techniques. My background: 25 years spent in the area of collecting, and studying antique edged weapons and pole arms (the past 15 years spent in conservation), Vice President of Sword Forum International, Executive Editor of Sword Forum International's online presence and Director of SFI's Antique & Military Sword Division. In addition, I'm a member of the American Institute for the Preservation of Historic and Artistic Works. By the way, SFI is the world's largest web presence dedicated to swords. We have over 20 active discussion forums dedicated to germane topics. We are active in retailing, publishing, seminar production, museum consultation, etc. For the month of June, we enjoyed 5.8 million hits. Why am I saying all this? I just wanted to let everyone be aware that what I said didn't come from out of left field. I'm done, thanks for listening...
Mark McMorrow
Sword Forum International