Figure 1.-- Here are several styles of shoes and pair of sandals offered by Sears in their Spring-Summer 1952 catalog. The facing pages had girls' shoes.
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Figure 1.-- Here are several styles of shoes and pair of sandals offered by Sears in their Spring-Summer 1952 catalog. The facing pages had girls' shoes. |
Sears offered a range of childrens shoes in their Spring-Summer catalog. On facing pages there were both girls and boys styles. These were shoes for younger boys, sizes 12½ through 3. There were two categories. The heading "child stormwelting" was captioned, "between upper ??? sole seals out mud, dirt; helps hold shoes in ??? .. Made over small boys' lasts for ??? fit." Some of the shoes featured a double-thick tractor tread while others had plain rubber soles. The other heading was for "small boys' Biltwels". I believe that Biltwel was a Sears store brand. The caption read, "stamina-packed champions at a low, low Sears price .. made ove comfort-giving lasts .. sturdy leathers .. flexible soles."
The shoes here were from p. 97 of the Spring-Summer catalog. The Sears, Roebuck and Co., huge merchandising firm centered in Chicago was founded by Richard W. Sears (1863-1914) and A.C. Roebuck (1864-1948). Sears had begun a career in mail-order business in Minnesota 1886. In Chicago he and Roebuck joined resources and formed a corporation in 1893 as a mail-order business under title Sears, Roebuck and Company. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) bought Roebuck's interest in firm and became president on Sears's retirement 1908. A retail-store system was added 1925. The first foreign store added in Havana, Cuba during 1945 and becane te first expropriated store in 1960. The Sears-Roebuck brought the production of industry to the fartherest corner of rural America, opening the cornucopia of the consumer age to rural America. All the new things that were changing American life danced across their pages. Through it, a huge Chicago warehouse offers to modernize the farms and small towns of the Midwest.
Sears offered a range of childrens shoes in their Spring-Summer catalog. On facing pages there were both girls and boys styles.
Note all the shoes here are brown are browing tones like burgundy. Their are no brown/white combinations. Nor or there any black shoes. I'm not sure why that was. I think all my shoes at the time (I was 9 years old) were brown. I don't recall any black shoes. A few years late in high school, I do remember black shoes.
These were shoes for younger boys, sizes 12½ through 3. It is a little difficult to assess the age equivalents of these shoe sizes. These shoes were offered in sizes 8½, 9, 9½, 10. 10½, 11, 11½, 12, 12½, 13, 13½, 1, 1½, 2, 2½, 3. According to one estimate, that would mean essentially primary-age boys from about 6-13 years of age. Sears in its 1950 catalog provided a little lower estimate, 3-10 years. As the Sears estimate pertains specifically to these shoes,this should be considered am accurate age assessment. One factor here is that boys through about 6 were just beginning to lear to tie their shoes--at least I didn't have it down when I entered first gtrade.
I notice several of these embossed vamp shoes offered by Sears in the early 1950s. I don't recall at the time boys wearing them. I'm not sure if h9is Western styling was popular with boys. I could have been as cowboys were all the rage at the time.
Sears doesn't really describe the styke of this shoes, but stresses its masuline look. The Sears ad copy read, "He-man through and through; from the massive rubber soles to the storm-welting, to the embossed 'ridge' trim. Made over full wide last. Flexible sewed construction. Husky leather upper .. soft padded tongue. Rubber heel." Done in brown.
The tractor sole was the destinctive feature of this shoe. I'm not sure just how the vamp was done. The Sears ad copy read, "Lower price for spring! Deep-cleated red rubber tractor-tread sole, heel; super quality because tread comes clear out to sole edge. Strong leather. Adjustable strap. Smooth leather insole, heel lining. Sewed construction." It was done in brown.
I don't recall wearing wing tips at this age, but a lot of Sears shoes had wing-tip styling. This shoe had single rather than double "U" styling. The Sears ad copy read, "Husky as they come ... U wing tip style ??? and Dad, toogo for. Built in stormwelt for ??? good looks; seals out mud, dirt; helps keep ??? shape. Leather insole. Sewed construction, ??? leather. Searsole and rubber heel." Doine in ???-burgundy (wine tone).
Moc-style seems to be when the vamp and side of the shoe are different pieces sewed together. The Sears ad copg reads, "Just look at these burly, masuline lines; think of the long wear this moc-style gives your energu-packed whirlwind. Zig-zag trim on embossed ridge detailing .. lustrous leather. Double thock rubber sole, heel. Leather insole and heel lining." This shoe was done in burgundy (wine tone)
The other heading was for "small boys' Biltwels". I believe that Biltwel was a Sears store brand. The caption read, "stamina-packed champions at a low, low Sears price .. made ove comfort-giving lasts .. sturdy leathers .. flexible soles."
This is a pair of double wing tips, the more common style. I associate this style more with adulkts. My dad had wing tips. I remember because I used to polish them for him. I can't quite make out the left margin of the ad copy.
We are not precisely sure what about these shoes that made them "scruff resistant". The Sears ad copy read, "New! Scruff resistant toe ... oxford keeps "new" look longer, wears better. Handsome brown leater ... roomy last. Somooth leather insole. Flexible sewed construction. Duravle Searosole and rubber heel."
Here is a double t-strap sandal. The ad copy reads, "New! Dad's "Taken to" sandals for summer-cool-time, so has son .. especially when they're ruggedly man-styled as this one. Sturdy leather...adjustable straps. Sewed construction. Searosole, rubber heel. Sizes: D (medium wide) wide in 12 1/2, 13, 13 1/2, 1,1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2,and 3. Please state size. Shipping weight 1 pound 8 ounces. 15H1048-Brown....Pair $2.98" I'm sure that boys who liked wearing these shoes would have continued to wear them when they were older if larger sizes were available, and they specifically said boys or men in the ads as well as "rugged man-styled" as in this ad. A reader writes, "I have noted that HBC has archived ads for this style in men's sizes in the l920s. I saw ads in the Newark Evening News for this style in men's sizes between 1900 and 1905, but I have never seen actual photographs of men wearing them during this period. If they were marketed for men for 25 years or so, then men must have worn them-- perhaps, we just haven't come across any images yet, or men wore them only in the house and didn't have pictures taken of them wearing them. Interesting topic!" As a boy growing up in the 1950s, I never noted boys wearing sandals like these. There were, however, regional and class differences in Ameica. As our readers notes, for these sandals to persist in catalogs over decades, there must have bee sales.
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