Hole in my Brogans

[Charlie]

There has appeared, a small hole in front of my big toe on my left Brogan. I noticed it while walking through a hay field and a piece of hay jabbed my toe (it was sticking straight out of my foot). The leather on my brogans is not terribly worn and solid everyhwere else (I checked). Does anyone know of a way to close this hole? I can certainly live with it and it would be an "authentic problem", however, I would like to keep my feet as dry as an "un-perferrated" pair of brogans can keep me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[markj]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

Hi,

Well, if you were a actual soldier you would have had two options immediately available to you:

1. Draw another pair from the quartermaster

OR

2. Simply give them to your "friendly neighborhood" shoe cobbler--there were invariably one or more of them within regiments.

Soldier accounts report with some regularity that they even performed field repairs on their own footwear up to, and including, putting on half-soles. Depending on the location, even penitentiary inmates or locally-jailed prisoners performed shoe repairs for troops to obtain spending money. This was mentioned in an unpublished letter I've seen that was written by a man in the 72nd Indiana (Wilder's Lightning Brigade).

Unless you want to do the work yourself, you can just take your shoe to any decent local shoe repair establishment and they can put on an external leather patch over the offending hole. I had this done a few years back with my old Jarnigans and it worked fine.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Charlie]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

Thanks Mark,
Sometimes the most obvious answers are right in front of our noses. I have a cobbler on my block, I walk past him everyday. It never even occured to me to look for a mundane solution...
Off to the cobbler....

[rgrgon]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

This might go without saying, but make sure when you take them to your shoe repair guy you are adamant about what you want, and that the repair you want is not necessarily the best available, but one representative of 1860's technology. I had a nice new pair of brogans. I paid a bit extra for them because they were very correct yet well made. I simply asked that a "horseshoe tap" be placed on the heel, and maybe some hobnails on the front. This was because the buff colored leather sole showed a fair amount of wear as I was breaking them in. The fellow I took them to - well, we had a bit of a communication barrier. His comprehension of English was not as good as he let on. Upon pickup my brogans had a wonderfully bonded "vibram" sole. The soles were blacked and a nylon tap in place. The rough side out leather which was taking on a nice patina was brushed and buffed up to look like suede. All in all now a decent set of dress shoes if woefully out of style.
rgrgon

Hi,

Well, if you were a actual soldier you would have had two options immediately available to you:

1. Draw another pair from the quartermaster

OR

2. Simply give them to your "friendly neighborhood" shoe cobbler--there were invariably one or more of them within regiments.

Soldier accounts report with some regularity that they even performed field repairs on their own footwear up to, and including, putting on half-soles. Depending on the location, even penitentiary inmates or locally-jailed prisoners performed shoe repairs for troops to obtain spending money. This was mentioned in an unpublished letter I've seen that was written by a man in the 72nd Indiana (Wilder's Lightning Brigade).

Unless you want to do the work yourself, you can just take your shoe to any decent local shoe repair establishment and they can put on an external leather patch over the offending hole. I had this done a few years back with my old Jarnigans and it worked fine.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Charlie]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

That sounds like a horror show. I will definitely make sure the guy understands. However, this shop may very well have been here since 1890. As far as I can tell every thing in the shop that does not directly relate to hand work is a machine dating back to the turn of the century. That aside, I will be very specific when I go in. Probably next week. I'll post any intertesting results.

[tomarch]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

Good Luck! You never know what may happen. I took my pair o' gunboats to a local shoe repair store. The gent in charge was in his '70s and was thrilled to re-sole my brogans as he hadn't had to do that kind of handwork in many years. Needless to say they wore well for many years :)

[fahtz]

Re: Hole in my Brogans

So since we are now 2 years in the future...what happened??? I am wanting to know!