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It has been a long held belief that wooden soled shoes were a Confederate expedient for shortages of sole leather however, this is not always true. There are many myths when it comes to Confederate shoes and this is one of the most persistent but, it is rather easy to understand the real reason if not origins for wooden soles. True, their use may have at times been a cheap shoe for slaves but more often this style of shoe was used in manufacturing environments where a leather soled shoe would have been uncomfortable, slippery and simply would not have held up.
There are several published period descriptions found for these shoes both North and South.
One of the best on their use comes from that of Philadelphia Pa. blacksmith shops 1857.
Blacksmith shops, which used to be low, rough one story sheds, here and there in various parts of the city,…… "The workmen stood on ground floors in clogs or wooden-soled shoes, to avoid the damp of the ground."
One of the earliest writings for their use was in 1820 in Arlington, VA, where the laborers of a plantation wear wooden soled shoes. "Those by whom they are worn declare them to be much warmer in winter, and more comfortable, than shoes with leather soles. They apparently kept the feet perfectly dry. These shoes are described as the following: the upper leather of the shoe is sewed together in the usual manner. The wood soles are made in the usual shape of shoe soles, with the heel about three-fourths of an inch thick, and a slight groove is cut into the upper parts of the edges, sufficiently wide and deep, to nail on the leather, which is done with little tacks driven so closely together as to exclude the entrance of any moisture. During the winter it was advisable to fasten little plates of iron around the heel to prevent slipping."
The Southern Cultivator from Augusta, GA in July-August 1862 lists the following information about the manufacturing of wooden soled shoes:
"The manufacture of wooden shoes is now carried on quite extensively in Raleigh, N.C., by Messrs. Theim & Fraps. The enterprising manufacturers have in their employment some thirty hands, and are turning out about one hundred pair of shoes per day. The shape and size of the shoe are first marked and sawed out, and them it is bored and scooped out, and fashioned at the bottom and sand-papered, and lined, and painted, and topped with leather, and thus finished.
Shoes with wooden soles are being made in Mobile. They are said to be fully as light as those entirely of leather, and made with a neatness equal to that of the ordinary fabric. They can be furnished for about one-third the cost of a similar grade of all leather shoes." This information is found in the same magazine but published in November-December 1863.
Ken Knopp reminded me that Theim & Fraps (also known as the "North Carolina Saddle Tree and Brush Factory") were the Confederacy’s largest single manufacturer of saddle trees. They made the first and second model Jenifer trees and McClellan saddle trees under at least two contracts (probably more) to the Richmond Arsenal. One subcontracted to them by A.A. Pitman & Co. for 15,000 Jenifer saddles in Sept 1862 and another for one thousand McClellan saddles in June 1863. All were manufactured and shipped to the Ordnance Harness Shops at Clarksville Va. for finishing or to Richmond for sending to other finishing sub-contractors. They also supplied an unknown number of horse brushes as well as lead pencils, glue, ambulances and bass and kettledrums.
The picture below is of a tannery in the 1860’s. It can be seen that the workers are wearing wooden soled shoes. A tannery would have been such a place these shoes would have been highly desired due to the natural dampness and slick floors of the tanning process.
Clogs are listed in the late 1700’s in England as shoes worn by common people. Wooden shoes are still listed as being used in Europe in the 1860’s are these clogs or wooden soled shoes it is unknown.
I am getting ready to write an article on Confederate shoes and this is one of the loose ends I did not want to put in the article.
David Jarnagin
There are several published period descriptions found for these shoes both North and South.
One of the best on their use comes from that of Philadelphia Pa. blacksmith shops 1857.
Blacksmith shops, which used to be low, rough one story sheds, here and there in various parts of the city,…… "The workmen stood on ground floors in clogs or wooden-soled shoes, to avoid the damp of the ground."
One of the earliest writings for their use was in 1820 in Arlington, VA, where the laborers of a plantation wear wooden soled shoes. "Those by whom they are worn declare them to be much warmer in winter, and more comfortable, than shoes with leather soles. They apparently kept the feet perfectly dry. These shoes are described as the following: the upper leather of the shoe is sewed together in the usual manner. The wood soles are made in the usual shape of shoe soles, with the heel about three-fourths of an inch thick, and a slight groove is cut into the upper parts of the edges, sufficiently wide and deep, to nail on the leather, which is done with little tacks driven so closely together as to exclude the entrance of any moisture. During the winter it was advisable to fasten little plates of iron around the heel to prevent slipping."
The Southern Cultivator from Augusta, GA in July-August 1862 lists the following information about the manufacturing of wooden soled shoes:
"The manufacture of wooden shoes is now carried on quite extensively in Raleigh, N.C., by Messrs. Theim & Fraps. The enterprising manufacturers have in their employment some thirty hands, and are turning out about one hundred pair of shoes per day. The shape and size of the shoe are first marked and sawed out, and them it is bored and scooped out, and fashioned at the bottom and sand-papered, and lined, and painted, and topped with leather, and thus finished.
Shoes with wooden soles are being made in Mobile. They are said to be fully as light as those entirely of leather, and made with a neatness equal to that of the ordinary fabric. They can be furnished for about one-third the cost of a similar grade of all leather shoes." This information is found in the same magazine but published in November-December 1863.
Ken Knopp reminded me that Theim & Fraps (also known as the "North Carolina Saddle Tree and Brush Factory") were the Confederacy’s largest single manufacturer of saddle trees. They made the first and second model Jenifer trees and McClellan saddle trees under at least two contracts (probably more) to the Richmond Arsenal. One subcontracted to them by A.A. Pitman & Co. for 15,000 Jenifer saddles in Sept 1862 and another for one thousand McClellan saddles in June 1863. All were manufactured and shipped to the Ordnance Harness Shops at Clarksville Va. for finishing or to Richmond for sending to other finishing sub-contractors. They also supplied an unknown number of horse brushes as well as lead pencils, glue, ambulances and bass and kettledrums.
The picture below is of a tannery in the 1860’s. It can be seen that the workers are wearing wooden soled shoes. A tannery would have been such a place these shoes would have been highly desired due to the natural dampness and slick floors of the tanning process.
Clogs are listed in the late 1700’s in England as shoes worn by common people. Wooden shoes are still listed as being used in Europe in the 1860’s are these clogs or wooden soled shoes it is unknown.
I am getting ready to write an article on Confederate shoes and this is one of the loose ends I did not want to put in the article.
David Jarnagin
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