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I was given permission from a moderator to recreate the thread concerning the Colonial Williamsburg 1858 Bootee Run. The previous thread having been closed due to gripes about cost, speculation,etc. Lets keep this clean so we can benefit from the amount of time, research and skill. I've attached three photos with more forthcoming. This is my official AAR lets say, plus I've added some photos which previous folks wanted.
The original post said the following:
Research: The shoe is copied off of a sealed sample in the Smithsonian institute. A ‘sealed sample’ is the prototype that the US Quartermaster used in the 19th century to base all government produced and government contract items from. This sealed sample was meant to be the ideal that the shoe contracts were to achieve when assembling the shoes for the government. They have examined this shoe in detail as well as having it x-rayed to see internal construction techniques. They also have access to ½ dozen CW id’d shoes that have exposed parts to determine how the shoe was produced.
Development: The shoemakers own one of the only known extant lasts that can be id’d to a government shoemaking facility. This last is a rare artifact as you might imagine so they will not be making shoes off of it. Instead, they have had the last digitally scanned and will create an exact copy off this last. A computer grading program will then be used to size this last to create enough lasts to make shoes in every size.
Materials: The leather is properly tanned. The flax is hand spun and twisted to make the cord. The pegs are cedar and the hobnails are hardened steel.
Production: The process to assemble this shoe will be the exact same as in the 1860s. The shoemakers will hand cut, hand dye and hand assemble the shoes. They will make them with reproductions of 1860s tools and not modern leatherworking tools. They will sit a bench and make this as if they were in ‘first person’. They are even using hog bristles for needles.
All of these notes laid out in the original post are very much the truth having seen in person the "building up" of the shoes throughout. They were a labor of love and made by a real honest to goodness Journeyman Cordwainer. Someone who practices this trade for a living. Having watched the shoes being built around the original last, literally pointing out phrases in the official US specifications as they were cut and sewn accordingly. They are awe inspiring and having only just started breaking them in, I know the money was spent on a product which will last me many years and is as correct and as close to the 1858 bootee as I will ever get unless I can stick my foot in the one at the Smithsonian.
Best part about them, while I don't understand shoe making terminology apparently with a heal stacked as such there is a natural arch in these shoes making them honestly the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned in my life, ever. These are truly not just a reproduction but a work of art which are right as rain, will wear tough and can be resoled as opposed to thrown away like reproduction contact bootees. Plus at the end of an event my feet wont throb, and ill know theirs might have not hurt as bad as we imagine they did.
Enjoy the photos.
The original post said the following:
Research: The shoe is copied off of a sealed sample in the Smithsonian institute. A ‘sealed sample’ is the prototype that the US Quartermaster used in the 19th century to base all government produced and government contract items from. This sealed sample was meant to be the ideal that the shoe contracts were to achieve when assembling the shoes for the government. They have examined this shoe in detail as well as having it x-rayed to see internal construction techniques. They also have access to ½ dozen CW id’d shoes that have exposed parts to determine how the shoe was produced.
Development: The shoemakers own one of the only known extant lasts that can be id’d to a government shoemaking facility. This last is a rare artifact as you might imagine so they will not be making shoes off of it. Instead, they have had the last digitally scanned and will create an exact copy off this last. A computer grading program will then be used to size this last to create enough lasts to make shoes in every size.
Materials: The leather is properly tanned. The flax is hand spun and twisted to make the cord. The pegs are cedar and the hobnails are hardened steel.
Production: The process to assemble this shoe will be the exact same as in the 1860s. The shoemakers will hand cut, hand dye and hand assemble the shoes. They will make them with reproductions of 1860s tools and not modern leatherworking tools. They will sit a bench and make this as if they were in ‘first person’. They are even using hog bristles for needles.
All of these notes laid out in the original post are very much the truth having seen in person the "building up" of the shoes throughout. They were a labor of love and made by a real honest to goodness Journeyman Cordwainer. Someone who practices this trade for a living. Having watched the shoes being built around the original last, literally pointing out phrases in the official US specifications as they were cut and sewn accordingly. They are awe inspiring and having only just started breaking them in, I know the money was spent on a product which will last me many years and is as correct and as close to the 1858 bootee as I will ever get unless I can stick my foot in the one at the Smithsonian.
Best part about them, while I don't understand shoe making terminology apparently with a heal stacked as such there is a natural arch in these shoes making them honestly the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned in my life, ever. These are truly not just a reproduction but a work of art which are right as rain, will wear tough and can be resoled as opposed to thrown away like reproduction contact bootees. Plus at the end of an event my feet wont throb, and ill know theirs might have not hurt as bad as we imagine they did.
Enjoy the photos.
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