Benton "Ben" K. Wetzel , October 21, 2013

Benton “Ben” Wetzel was born August 22, 1939, he is the son of Wilma Dorsey and Kenneth “Bud” Wetzel. He lived with his mother on 27th and Idaho until age 10 when he moved into his father’s home on South Phillippi. He discusses what Phillippi looked like in the late 1940s and 1950s, the businesses that were present, and his life there. He attended Park School at 16th and Main, Whittier Elementary, attended his first year of junior high at old Franklin School before moving to West Junior High in the first class after its construction, then graduated from Boise High. He recounts his memories of visiting his stepfather, a Boise police officer, in the basement of the old city hall building. Ben tells a story of visiting Zims Plunge, a natural hot springs resort, outside of New Meadows as a child, and attending church camp at Pilgrim Cove in McCall. He recounts his father’s partnership with Royal Eubanks and his purchase of the leather works business after Royal’s passing in 1955. Ben began working in the shop in junior high doing hand tooling on holsters and Western belts. He purchased the business from his father in 1969. The interview was conducted inside the Idaho Leather Company building located at 18 S. Orchard Street.