Search
- Shoemaking Vise, 1880-1920 - Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century shoemakers turned pieces of leather into footwear. These craftspeople used a wide range of specialized tools to measure, cut, shape, stitch, trim, finish, and decorate their handiwork. Their tools included a variety of knives, hammers, punches, clamps, awls, and polishers and burnishers. Though these tools seem highly specialized, shoemakers were always adapting, using whatever tools were at hand to make shoes.
- 1880-1920
- Collections - Artifact
Shoemaking Vise, 1880-1920
Late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century shoemakers turned pieces of leather into footwear. These craftspeople used a wide range of specialized tools to measure, cut, shape, stitch, trim, finish, and decorate their handiwork. Their tools included a variety of knives, hammers, punches, clamps, awls, and polishers and burnishers. Though these tools seem highly specialized, shoemakers were always adapting, using whatever tools were at hand to make shoes.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Shoe Last - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Last
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out. Some had both.
- Jacquot & Co. French Blacking Box with Shoemaker's Tools, 1875-1900 -
- 1875-1900
- Collections - Artifact
Jacquot & Co. French Blacking Box with Shoemaker's Tools, 1875-1900
- Shoe Factory, Boston, Massachusetts. circa 1903 - In 1800, shoemaking was a craft known to few. Throughout the century, inventors patented industrial machines to perform much of that manual labor. By 1900, large shops of laborers produced more shoes faster and cheaper than ever before. The factory pictured here was one of many that profited from American shoemaking innovations at the turn of the twentieth century.
- circa 1903
- Collections - Artifact
Shoe Factory, Boston, Massachusetts. circa 1903
In 1800, shoemaking was a craft known to few. Throughout the century, inventors patented industrial machines to perform much of that manual labor. By 1900, large shops of laborers produced more shoes faster and cheaper than ever before. The factory pictured here was one of many that profited from American shoemaking innovations at the turn of the twentieth century.
- Reynolds Brothers Shoe Last, 1870-1900 - Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others, like this one, had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out.
- 1870-1900
- Collections - Artifact
Reynolds Brothers Shoe Last, 1870-1900
Shoemakers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries molded pieces of leather around a wooden foot-like form, known as a last, to create a shoe. Some lasts had a removeable block, which made it easy to extract the wood form from the shoe. Others, like this one, had a hole in the end where a hook could be inserted to pull the last out.