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  • Shoe idea

    I found this article in a link I followed from another post and thought it sounded pretty neat, I just wonder if the shoe would stay pliable if not worn daily.

    A Substitute for Shoes.

    An old and experienced citizen has called our attention to the subject of the use of cowhide moccasins as a substitute for shoes. He states that when he moved to the Mississippi, fifty-two years ago, no shoes were to be had for the negroes, and they made their own out of this material, which answered the purpose as well as the more elaborately made article, and in some respects better. The process is simple: take a green cowhide, or one well soaked, with the hair on--which is to go next to the foot--"put the foot down firmly" upon it, and cut out the pattern desired, make the necessary holes along the edges, and lace it with a thong of the same material at the heel and up the instep. Let it dry upon the foot, and it accommodates itself perfectly to the shape of the latter, while it is sufficiently substantial for all kinds of traveling, and its elasticity is preserved by use. Socks should be put on when it is made, though it can be worn without, and such allowance be made for shrinking so as to avoid too tight a fit. The moccasin, it is scarcely necessary to observe, adapts itself to the shape of the foot, and the fit is perfect. It outwears, breathes, and is not hard, as some might suppose, but quite the reverse. If desired, it can be half soled with the same material. The hair lining gives the advantage of warmth, so that socks, when not to be had, can be better dispensed with when moccasins are used than if shoes were worn.
    The gentleman to whom we are indebted for the suggestion says that he has mentioned the subject to soldiers, who are very much pleased with it, and say there is no reason why soldiers should go barefoot while so many hides are thrown away in camps.
    We think the idea a valuable one, and would be glad that every newspaper in the Confederacy would lend its aid in giving it circulation.--Mobile Register.

    SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], November 5, 1862, p. 3, c. 1

    Roy N. Maddox
    [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Roy N. Maddox[/FONT]

  • #2
    Re: Shoe idea

    Very informative becky thank you. This crude form of cow hide cow hide mocassin the old gentalman described may be worth persuing. I think it is realy interesting that it is dated 1862. While the QM's definatly supplied a great deal of shoes, uniforms, etc. reading the articles in this link are realy enlightening to how things were. http://www.uttyler.edu/vbetts/southern_banner.htm

    Roy N. Maddox
    [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Roy N. Maddox[/FONT]

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    • #3
      Re: Shoe idea

      I missed the map.
      Warren Dickinson


      Currently a History Hippy at South Union Shaker Village
      Member of the original Pickett's Mill Interpretive Volunteer Staff & Co. D, 17th Ky Vol. Inf
      Former Mudsill
      Co-Creator of the States Rights Guard in '92

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      • #4
        Re: Shoe idea

        One does have to deal with a certain amount of speculation when looking to wartime useage of what had long been clothing of exigency among the more prosperous classes

        Still, as far as 'east of the Mississippi', we can document the useage of the simple pucker toe moc in lower Alabama in the French/Creek familes even into the 1830's,both separately and along with that other highly practical item, the wooden sabot.

        By the war, we see wooden shoes mentioned in various southern accounts, along with complaints about what they do to
        the feet. All certainly borne out by my own experience in tramping about while wearing thin mocs inside sabots.

        We often loose sight of life before the war. The same old woman who learned to hand spin as a child, but had not used the skill in 30 years, turns her hand quickly to wartime production when Jeff Davis calls. That story is seen repeatedly. One wonders if the grizzled NCO remembers his old uncle slicing out a pair of mocs on some hunting trip, and later putting that knowledge to good use.

        On a practical note, if I wanted these for repeated but infrequent use, I'd go through the brain tan process-another speculatively plausible thing, as there as always enough brain with each hide to tan it.

        Unless the Officers had brains and eggs for breakfast that morning. Yum.
        Terre Hood Biederman
        Yassir, I used to be Mrs. Lawson. I still run period dyepots, knit stuff, and cause trouble.

        sigpic
        Wearing Grossly Out of Fashion Clothing Since 1958.

        ADVENTURE CALLS. Can you hear it? Come ON.

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        • #5
          Re: Shoe idea

          There are many examples of what you speak of in the news paper clipings of the Southern Banner (Athens GA) as well as recipies for making all sorts of war time fare. The number of requests also for items of clothing for the soldiers especially as winter nears I think is enlightening. I grew up in Conyers Ga. So the aticles I have been reading are giving me a snap shot of what life was like in my then very small train depot of a town. I intend on trying out some of the recipes provided to make provisions and such for living history events, it is truly a wealth of knowledge.

          Roy N. Maddox
          [FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Roy N. Maddox[/FONT]

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          • #6
            Re: Shoe idea

            I have read a number of accounts about the poor condition of the uniforms and shoes of the soldiers in the 4th Corps, Army of the Cumberland, during the Knoxville Campaign in the winter of 1863-1864. Several of these 1st hand accounts mention that cowhides were gathered and moccasins made for the men without shoes. Not just a Southern thing.
            Scott Cross
            "Old and in the Way"

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