Figure 1.-- Here are several styles of shoes and pair of sandals offered by Sears in their Spring-Summer 1952 catalog. Here we see doublr-strap sandals. I do not recall seeing boys wearing these sandals in the 1950s. We note, however, Sears and wards offering these sandals oiver an extended period. |
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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