Figure 1.-- This unidentified American boy, probably in the 1900s wears ankle strap shoes. He looks to be about 3-years old. The ankle bands are wider than we usually see on these shoes. Notice the little, bows, a common feature on pumps.

The basic strap shoe is the style most commonly worn by boys. Generally boys wore the style with a fairly wide bar strap. We see bows on some shoes, but that was commonly the only decoration. The shoes the little boy here is an example (figure 1). Unlike closd-toe sanals we do not commonly see perforations fir ventalions. Although girls' shoes might have oerforatins for decoration. The shoes with particulatly narrow side bars were normally for girls. Boys shoes were usually very plain. Girls strap shoes, especially modern ones, might have embelishments like little bows or patterns cut out of the shoe. There were two basic styles. One had the primary or first two straps set at the instep. There were many variatiins of the instep strap shoe. This included both the number of straps or bars as well as a center post. And the width of the straps also varied. The one- and two-bar straps were the most common, but we have seen strap shoes with multiple straps. A good example is Carl Kellison who wore double staps shoes with out a center strap or post. These multiple straps seem the most common in the early-20th century, but we see them into the 1930s. Sears offered a five strap shoe. avaialble in black and white. Another style of strap shoe had the strap high on the ankle rather than across the inseam. This was commonly worn by both boys before World War I. Unlike the instep strap shoes, there were far fewer variations with the ankle strap shoes.

Decoration

The basic strap shoe is the style most commonly worn by boys. Generally boys wore the style with a fairly wide bar strap. We see bows on some shoes, but that was commonly the only decoration. The shoes the little boy here is an example (figure 1). Unlike closd-toe sanals we do not commonly see perforations fir ventalions. Although girls' shoes might have oerforatins for decoration. The shoes with particulatly narrow side bars were normally for girls. Boys shoes were usually very plain. Girls strap shoes, especially modern ones, might have embelishments like little bows or patterns cut out of the shoe.

Types

There were two basic styles. The first typev had the primary or first two straps set at the instep. There were many variations of the instep strap shoe. This included both the number of straps or bars as well as the addition on some of a center post. And the width of the straps also varied. The one- and two-bar straps were the most common. A good example is Carl Kellison who wore double stap or bar shoes without a center strap or post. While the single or double bar shoes were by far the most common, we have also seen strap shoes with multiple straps and som times quite a few straps. These multiple straps seem the most common in the early-20th century, but we occasionally see them into the 1930s. Sears offered a five strap shoe, avaialble in black or white. The multiple strap sgoes were normallybworn by girls although a few younger boys may have worn them. We notice various colors of instep strap shoes. The dress shoes were normally done in black or white, but we also see colors like brown, blue, and red. The second basic type of strap shoe had the strap high on the ankle rather than across the inseam. This was commonly worn by both boys before World War I. For a short time, this type was a very popular shoe style. We see large numbers in the 1900s and 10s. There were also some examples from the early-20s, but not many. Unlike the instep strap shoes, there were far fewer variations with the ankle strap shoes. We do not see any multiple strap examples or center posts. They often ha little ribbons. They were done mostly in black, but we see a few in white.

Created: 11:44 PM 12/2/2013
Last updated: 6:29 AM 3/21/2015