I have shoes from Samsons and the wife has shoes from Boone. Both have served us well. You are absolutely correct about walking on hard surfaces. Concrete and even compact gravel will tear your feet up quickly. I attempt to always walk on grass or softer surfaces whenever possible. Also, after some wear, nails may stand proud of the heel and may be prone to scratching soft surfaces (such as wood floors). We tend to change into and out of our period correct footwear once we are at the site. Hope to see you at an event.
Ethan. In Daniel Trabues journal West Westward into Kentucky he mentions running from Shawnees down a hill when he slipped out of his shoes. He he says quote"I went back for my shoes as I remembered I had my silver buckles on them that I paid $8 for" a hefty sum in those days I would think. I would say he was carrying his wealth on his shoes. I had one of my re-enactor shoes set with hob-nails but definitely don't want to walk on modern floors with those. I am not a fan of distressing equipment or accouterments. I prefer to give them honest where. Cheers Ron
Leather soled shoes, as they all were in the day, are slick on wooden floors as well, depends on the finish. My GGGrandfather was a shoemaker from 1840s-1870s and I have his ledgers. A fine pair of boots was $5. He often traded for oats, firewood, hay and leather so bartering was in full swing in those days. My Mentor was a cabinetmaker, shoemaker, blacksmith and rug weaver. He was born in 1889 and died 1981. He guaranteed the sole of the shoe for the life of the shoe, as he tempered the sole leather. He had a special machine where he’d run the leather through rollers controlling the pressure with a foot peddle. When leather sole were a bit more common I sometimes brushed contact cement on the soles. It would wear off of course but in a situation where I’d be on polished or slick floors I’d do the old contact cement treatment. The Indigenous People’s would insulate their shoes with deer hair, hollow and warm. Thanks So Much Ethan! Much Appreciated! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
British soldiers were issued two pairs of interchangeable shoes. They would switch pairs and also shoes from one foot to the other. I’m not sure when hobnails came in, but they were an early form of tread. Thanks for another interesting video.
I'd be very interested to see your documentation for the British soldiers switching their shoes. I've heard that nugget for 30 years but never have found a reference. Thanks in advance!
Thank you for the in-depth review and explanation. I spent a career in the Infantry and if your feet didn't hold up - you wouldn't make it to the objective area. Thank you again for going through clothing items, it makes it easier to understand the hardships and accomplishments of our ancestors.
My straight last colonial shoes are Fugawees. My first time wearing them my feet went out going down an embankment. Added some "patina" to my outfit. Second time out I found an old roofing nail. The hard way!
I have a pair from townsends that are awesome and I've already worn them in pretty good I will say though I went deer hunting in them last winter and I am a stalker when it comes to deer hunting so lots of quiet movement through the trees. and the thing that I noticed is that they are loud. I put about 8 mi on them in a single day and then ended up taking them off and going barefoot and had much greater success and an extremely reasonable range shot on a doe with my Charleville musket
Ethan, good vedio. As you get older or if you want to go farmer a pair of hi lows would fit the bill as well . They are great for winter outtings as well as hunting. Like they say take care of your feet, and they will take care of you. Keep up the good work.
The shoes during that area were also made using measurements from your feet directly by a legit cobbler. Also the socks that were worn were generally knit and often thicker.
Yea, no mass production back then, and I can easily see the cost for these types of shoes to easily be in the $500 USD and up price range if going the custom route. This is also out of scope for many modern cobblers(shoe repair), so you may have to find a cordwainer(shoemaker) that has had some experience with reproduction historical footwear. I used to buy repro ww2 hobnailed boots from Jan Berger in Germany, found them to be very hard wearing/durable, and I noticed he also made American civil war boots. He could probably make a good rendition of the colonial shoe as well. Unfortunately I have no idea if he is still in business(can’t find his lederarsenal site online anymore), nor know who can make these shoes with a precise attention to details(cut, materials, etc) South union mills may be a good starting point. For 167 on their site, they still look pretty decent once they are worn/lived in instead of the costume-quality stuff that I see online. Edit: I have been juggling with them(SUM), and Townsends. I wear shoes normally in 11d brannock sizing, but sometimes go down for modern footwear, normally to 10.5d, and occasionally to 10d. I believe it is suggested on SUM’s website to go down to a 9 since they run large. I still have no idea about townsend’s sizing.
Two weeks ago I (17th c. Reenactor) was an event at a small regional museum, the floor of which, were polished marble flagstones. On one of the small trips inside, to fetch something, I apparently decided that I wanted to observe said stones up close. As I made my way around the counter inside, the single foot that was flat on the floor slipped, and I went face-first against the stones. I didn't suffer anything worse than a minor bruise on my index finger of all places, but nonetheless- I cannot recommend sudden, unplanned observations of floors. The reason for my slipping was that the first layer of leather on my boots' heels is about as worn as I should really allow them to get (before bringing them to a cobbler, so I can learn to fix them myself), as a result, the small nails holding the whole together, were exposed, ans basically what carried most of my weight. Now add a swerving motion to the equation and you'll understand that slipping is really rather easy on period footwear. Nonetheless, I had a marvellous time, as always.
At the end of turkey season I could feel the burn in my calves, but other than that just fine. I don't have super high arches though and I'm on my feet a lot at work.
Hows the width on the shoes? Ive have very wide feet(4e), i like my moccasins for that reason. But they dont really match up with my clothes too much. Ive been thinking about getting a pair of shoes later on maybe.
A solution for slipping and falling would be to take them to a shoe repair and have some vibram toppy put on the soles. It’s a thin rubber abt 1/16 thick so it wouldn’t be noticeable. Not period correct, but it would solve the falling problem
Love ur videos. Keep up the hard work making them .that being said I find it funny almost regardless of the time period all the tents u see are white...from Kate 1700s into the civil war ...and either they weren't waterproof and they were white or the were waterproof but would of been shades of yellows brick red, rust orange ,or various shades of brown ..someone can correct me if I'm wrong .but nothing they had to waterproof fabric with was clear ...boiled linseed oil leaves white canvas yellowish tan ...I get a kick out of ( hard core ) historicaly accurate reeinactors with there bright white machine sewn ..brass gromit tents 😂 just saying...
I have to say folks back then wore those shoes all their lives, we put them on for a trek or event. There is no doubt a lifetime of balance associated with them. I have cheater soles added to mine Keeps bruises off the butt
I have shoes from Samsons and the wife has shoes from Boone. Both have served us well. You are absolutely correct about walking on hard surfaces. Concrete and even compact gravel will tear your feet up quickly. I attempt to always walk on grass or softer surfaces whenever possible. Also, after some wear, nails may stand proud of the heel and may be prone to scratching soft surfaces (such as wood floors). We tend to change into and out of our period correct footwear once we are at the site. Hope to see you at an event.
Ethan. In Daniel Trabues journal West Westward into Kentucky he mentions running from Shawnees down a hill when he slipped out of his shoes. He he says quote"I went back for my shoes as I remembered I had my silver buckles on them that I paid $8 for" a hefty sum in those days I would think. I would say he was carrying his wealth on his shoes. I had one of my re-enactor shoes set with hob-nails but definitely don't want to walk on modern floors with those. I am not a fan of distressing equipment or accouterments. I prefer to give them honest where. Cheers Ron
I love that story. Someday I'll save up for some nicer buckles to fit in.
Leather soled shoes, as they all were in the day, are slick on wooden floors as well, depends on the finish. My GGGrandfather was a shoemaker from 1840s-1870s and I have his ledgers. A fine pair of boots was $5. He often traded for oats, firewood, hay and leather so bartering was in full swing in those days. My Mentor was a cabinetmaker, shoemaker, blacksmith and rug weaver. He was born in 1889 and died 1981. He guaranteed the sole of the shoe for the life of the shoe, as he tempered the sole leather. He had a special machine where he’d run the leather through rollers controlling the pressure with a foot peddle. When leather sole were a bit more common I sometimes brushed contact cement on the soles. It would wear off of course but in a situation where I’d be on polished or slick floors I’d do the old contact cement treatment. The Indigenous People’s would insulate their shoes with deer hair, hollow and warm. Thanks So Much Ethan! Much Appreciated! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
British soldiers were issued two pairs of interchangeable shoes. They would switch pairs and also shoes from one foot to the other. I’m not sure when hobnails came in, but they were an early form of tread. Thanks for another interesting video.
I'd be very interested to see your documentation for the British soldiers switching their shoes. I've heard that nugget for 30 years but never have found a reference. Thanks in advance!
Thank you for the in-depth review and explanation. I spent a career in the Infantry and if your feet didn't hold up - you wouldn't make it to the objective area. Thank you again for going through clothing items, it makes it easier to understand the hardships and accomplishments of our ancestors.
Glad it was helpful!
My straight last colonial shoes are Fugawees. My first time wearing them my feet went out going down an embankment. Added some "patina" to my outfit. Second time out I found an old roofing nail. The hard way!
Thanks for this video, I’m shopping for some new footwear myself.
Again great job!
I think you'd like these!
I have a pair from townsends that are awesome and I've already worn them in pretty good I will say though I went deer hunting in them last winter and I am a stalker when it comes to deer hunting so lots of quiet movement through the trees. and the thing that I noticed is that they are loud. I put about 8 mi on them in a single day and then ended up taking them off and going barefoot and had much greater success and an extremely reasonable range shot on a doe with my Charleville musket
Ethan, good vedio. As you get older or if you want to go farmer a pair of hi lows would fit the bill as well . They are great for winter outtings as well as hunting. Like they say take care of your feet, and they will take care of you. Keep up the good work.
The shoes during that area were also made using measurements from your feet directly by a legit cobbler. Also the socks that were worn were generally knit and often thicker.
Yea, no mass production back then, and I can easily see the cost for these types of shoes to easily be in the $500 USD and up price range if going the custom route.
This is also out of scope for many modern cobblers(shoe repair), so you may have to find a cordwainer(shoemaker) that has had some experience with reproduction historical footwear.
I used to buy repro ww2 hobnailed boots from Jan Berger in Germany, found them to be very hard wearing/durable, and I noticed he also made American civil war boots. He could probably make a good rendition of the colonial shoe as well. Unfortunately I have no idea if he is still in business(can’t find his lederarsenal site online anymore), nor know who can make these shoes with a precise attention to details(cut, materials, etc)
South union mills may be a good starting point. For 167 on their site, they still look pretty decent once they are worn/lived in instead of the costume-quality stuff that I see online.
Edit: I have been juggling with them(SUM), and Townsends. I wear shoes normally in 11d brannock sizing, but sometimes go down for modern footwear, normally to 10.5d, and occasionally to 10d. I believe it is suggested on SUM’s website to go down to a 9 since they run large. I still have no idea about townsend’s sizing.
Another danger to look out for is carpeted stairs.
Ethan, would you be willing to share any information specific to your leggings. Thanks for the input on the shoes. Looks like they are rather durable.
What would you like to know?
Two weeks ago I (17th c. Reenactor) was an event at a small regional museum, the floor of which, were polished marble flagstones. On one of the small trips inside, to fetch something, I apparently decided that I wanted to observe said stones up close.
As I made my way around the counter inside, the single foot that was flat on the floor slipped, and I went face-first against the stones. I didn't suffer anything worse than a minor bruise on my index finger of all places, but nonetheless- I cannot recommend sudden, unplanned observations of floors.
The reason for my slipping was that the first layer of leather on my boots' heels is about as worn as I should really allow them to get (before bringing them to a cobbler, so I can learn to fix them myself), as a result, the small nails holding the whole together, were exposed, ans basically what carried most of my weight. Now add a swerving motion to the equation and you'll understand that slipping is really rather easy on period footwear.
Nonetheless, I had a marvellous time, as always.
Great review.
Thank you Allen. I enjoy them a lot.
Ethan, No carpets or slick tile and linoleum back then? Imagine that! 😆 BTW I love your coat. Where did you get it?
Ethan, how did your muscles hold up with those shoes?
At the end of turkey season I could feel the burn in my calves, but other than that just fine. I don't have super high arches though and I'm on my feet a lot at work.
Very helpful!!!!!
Much obliged!!!
Keep your flints sharp and your powder dry!!!!!
Hows the width on the shoes? Ive have very wide feet(4e), i like my moccasins for that reason. But they dont really match up with my clothes too much. Ive been thinking about getting a pair of shoes later on maybe.
What our great grandfathers wore ,awesome, thanks
Did find any fit issue once you put the buckles on.
A solution for slipping and falling would be to take them to a shoe repair and have some vibram toppy put on the soles.
It’s a thin rubber abt 1/16 thick so it wouldn’t be noticeable. Not period correct, but it would solve the falling problem
Absolutely!
Watch out on wet wood I wear hibnail boots back packing and have almost slipped into many mud puddles here in Michigan
Very cool
Awesome!
I have a pair from Sampson. Pretty high quality but they do need to be broken in.
Love ur videos. Keep up the hard work making them .that being said I find it funny almost regardless of the time period all the tents u see are white...from Kate 1700s into the civil war ...and either they weren't waterproof and they were white or the were waterproof but would of been shades of yellows brick red, rust orange ,or various shades of brown ..someone can correct me if I'm wrong .but nothing they had to waterproof fabric with was clear ...boiled linseed oil leaves white canvas yellowish tan ...I get a kick out of ( hard core ) historicaly accurate reeinactors with there bright white machine sewn ..brass gromit tents 😂 just saying...
I have to say folks back then wore those shoes all their lives, we put them on for a trek or event.
There is no doubt a lifetime of balance associated with them.
I have cheater soles added to mine
Keeps bruises off the butt
Silicone insoles, brother!