Thrifted these McHale Dress Shoes: Experts are these RARE?!

Canadian-made I think. My father wore McHales circa 1950's. think they were bought up by Florsheim. Well made and well regarded. That is all I can recall.

The quality of the leather appears pretty good, but the shoes look like they've seen better days.

Picture of the sock liner? There is a pair listed on Kijiji in Ontario.

I seem to recall these shoes were more readily available in the Canadian market and certainly not out of reach for the common man, of which my father certainly was.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=698&dat=19531209&id=8twJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2UIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2939,4532056

http://vintagehaberdashers.com/2012/05/24/john-mchale-custom-captoes/
Edited by gsugsu - 1/22/13 at 5:28pm

McHale shoes are indeed a Canadian manufacturer (long ago gone).

I also had family members who were proud owners of said shoes. Regrettably, they are no longer alive to confirm for me, however, if memory serves, McHale made shoes into the 1970's before going under.

I also did a cursory search and came up with at least one hard piece of evidence of their existence in the 1960's,

as seen here : http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19621011&id=wJMuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zJ0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6618,2323559

 

I have pieced together the image from that link and provide it here for posterity.

Right-click on image, select 'Open in New Window' to see the image in all of its full-sized glory.

 

From the Montreal Gazette October, 1962

 

 

By this ad, we hope that this was not old or dead stock being sold, but brand new product at that time.

Also, have a look at those prices!

One thing is for certain, that McHale shoes, contrary to the claims of many other websites and discussion fora,

did indeed make it into the 1960's (1962 specifically as this ad states) and I am certain that a 1970's ad will crop up sometime in the future.

I will do my utmost to find such an ad and summarily post it henceforth.

 

As to the specific details of the demise of McHale shoes, it would be prudent to find evidence.

With respect, to speculate that Florsheim bought them is a dubious claim.

True, there are similarities in construction between McHale and Florsheim of that era, but this is inconclusive.

Many shoe manufacturers empoyed near identical features and construction to one another, as they still do today.

At least now by this ad, we have a point of reference for the future that now debunks the 'went under in the 1950's' rumour.