Hobnails

[reb1912]

Greetings,

Since I was planning to add some hobnails to my brogans to preserve them a bit from the ususal tear, I was just wondering if anybody knows, how widespread the use of hobnails actually was in the WBTS. Since I'm doing a confederate impression at the moment, I looked trough EOG, an It appears that som imported british made shoes had hobnails, but domestic made ussually didn't. This makes me believe that hobnails wasn't that used.

Is this a fair observation? And would it then be authentic to use hobnails?

[Milliron]

Re: Hobnails

Generally speaking, hobnails, while used during the WBTS, were not usually found on issue shoes. If you wear civilian shoes, they would likely be more common, and it's always possible a soldier could have had them put on his issue shoes, though it's pretty unlikely. I am aware of only one pair of existing shoes of WBTS provenance that have hobnails.

Of course, you might have other reasons to want them. I have hobnails on my Federal brogans, but that is because I have had four knee surgeries, and I don't want a fifth. But even I will admit they are somewhat overrepresented in the hobby. My next pair will be sans hobnails, and I will hope for the best. They are also brutal on any kind of hard pavement (but sheer joy on those rocky Georgia slopes).

Good luck.

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Hobnails

Bob Serio of Mo. boot & Shoe has done extensive research on the use of hobnails during the WBTS. They were used for some time in Europe. I believe that they were used on imported english shoes found in a number of places.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Hobnails

Shoe nails have been around since Roman times, and have been a common feature on workingmans/outdoorsmans/military shoes well into the 20th century. However US military shoes were not issued with them and would have had to have been added by the soldiers themselves. Although this is not out of the realm of possibility, the practice (IMO) is much higher in our ranks than in theirs.

(Doesnt Stillwell, Bellard or another well know CW writer write about having shoe nails sent from home?)

[Milliron]

Re: Hobnails

The other problem as I see it is that the hobnails one finds available are not really correct for the period. The hobnails I have seen on original shoes are different from those generally available. They tend to be scarily sharp and not as rounded like standard modern hobnails. However, Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Hobnails

Bob Muehleisen,

Are you the hobnail expert all of a sudden? :D

[billwatson]

Re: Hobnails

I'm of the general opinion that hobnails aren't likely on issue shoes, simply because it probably would have been a waste of time to go to the trouble and expense to put hobnails on something that would be falling apart and due for replacement every*three months.

On the other hand, exactly like Bob, I've got hobnails and know from bitter experience that without them I'm risking another surgery for my knees. I've had two so far.

[Milliron]

Re: Hobnails

Bob Muehleisen,

Are you the hobnail expert all of a sudden? :D

Actually, once I realized they were so overrepresented I was always looking for a way to smooth out the whole impression by at least finding originals or more correct ones. Correct ones are hard to find. Usually they are so sharp that I don't think I'd put them on anyway. I'd be too afraid to step on someone or walk on any kind of wood flooring. But it hardly makes me an expert, smarta-s.

[Fod]

Re: Hobnails

Wood flooring....next time you're in Macon, GA, take a look at the floors in the Hay house. They're original and show good evidence of what happens when you wear hobnails inside. (Don't miss the UDC-run "cannonball house" there either - some interesting artifacts and local lore.)

Even if you're not interested in hobnails, the Hay House is an architectural treasure.

[tmattimore]

Re: Hobnails

A shoe nail is a square nail measured in 1/8's thus a 3/4" is a 6/8 nail. with a dull point. A lasting tack was a very sharp pointed nail with either a leather or metal washer measured in so many onces to the hundred the washer allowed the tack to be removed easily after the shoe dried. Soling nails were sharp round head nails desgined to be clinched over on a metal jack thus securing a repair, these were the most common of hobnails seen on original shoes. Soling nails were also measured in 1/8's. All these nails are still available except the washers for the lasting tacks.

[Amtmann]

Re: Hobnails

Double Posted somehow...

[Amtmann]

Re: Hobnails

Erwin & Russel Hardware Catalogue 1865... Round head Hobnails (of different sizes) just like the ones that Serio puts on the English Brogans.

[Enfilade]

Re: Hobnails

Hobnails were in existence on military shoes and not just English made ones. The pair worn home from Appomattox by John Phifer are on display at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh. I believe he was in the 20th NCT. The hobnails are just on the heels and none on the soles.

I've got the exact measurements of the hobnails somewhere in my "archives" and I'll see if I can locate.


Mark Berrier
North State Rifles
combinations@northstate.net