Dacks and other Canadian shoe brands

[suitforcourt]

Canadian made Florsheim by John McHale. These are PTBs in antelope.

 

[Jiqea]

I took my Dack's lizard loafers out today. Not many more chances to wear them this year.

 

[Jiqea]

I have a nice pair of Dacks wholecuts on the way from Poland. I got them this morning on UK eBay for 21 GBP. It will likely take 5-6 weeks for them to get here. They are the 2330 model with the hand sewn decorative band. I have this style as S.E Dacks (when they were just 330's), and with the Bespoke sock-liner, and now with the 70's "Shoes for Men" sock-liner. The same shoe made for at least 25 years, and never once advertized by Dacks. I wish I knew what they called it. The later antelope whole cuts without the decorative stitching were the 2331 or 3331 depending on if they were brown or black respectively. .

These should clean up nicely.

 

[Jiqea]

I picked up a cool and useful piece of shoe ephemera, a Hartt shoe shine kit, which based on the logo dates between 1958 and 1968. It makes me wonder if there might be Dack's labelled kits out there to be found. I needed more supply storage so I am pretty happy about this find.

 

[Jiqea]

I was in Letallier Shoes yesterday in Ottawa to buy a pair of La Canadienne boots for my daughter (made in Montreal). Lettallier opened in 1897 and was family owned until 4 years ago. I was speaking to a sales man who has been employed there since March of 1995. He recalled that for the first six months of his employment Letallier was still selling McHale and Florshiem shoes. Perhaps they were moving the last of their stock, but even so this suggests that the end date for production in London must have been 1993 or 1994, which is about 3-4 years later than I had thought.

 

[lbgradwell]

Isn't it odd that no newspaper reference to the plant closure has been found? I've tried a number of times and I'm sure at least Jim has also attempted this. It's just weird.

 

[suitforcourt]

Isn't it odd that no newspaper reference to the plant closure has been found? I've tried a number of times and I'm sure at least Jim has also attempted this. It's just weird.

I also found it very weird. Maybe something in the London Free Press, or other local London area paper?

 

[Jiqea]

I have found no reference as well. Next time I am in London I will pop into the regional room at the library and see if I can get some assistance in pinning it down.

 

[Jiqea]

I had a nice pair of NOS Hartts era RCMP Strathconas, 9.5E land on the doorstep today. They were missing laces, however I had spares on hand and I just set them up. Such wonderful boots. I love just having them around the house. I think this is the eighth pair I have handled this year. The are popular with the horsey set, vintage motorcycle enthusiasts, RCMP collectors and regular old shoe enthusiasts.

 

[gorebug]

So I posted this 'mystery' pair in the vintage shoe thread yesterday and then subsequently read through the majority of this one.

I had found these longwings on my first thrift store trip and picked them up along with a pair of what has turned out to be McHale florsheim imperials. The sock liner is worn nearly smooth but after peeling back a sticker was able to make out that they were 'Made Exclusively for the British Boot Shop' and therefore i assumed they were English made.

The only other clue I had for them was a partial embossed name on the sole... starting with a J in a stylized font. For a while I thought maybe they were Johnston and Murphy soles but checking their website i could never find a similarly styled letter J. The trail was cold until perusing this thread yesterday and I recognized a sole with 10 nails the same J...

What do you think, did I happen to find two vintage McHale made shoes on my first trip (i was in the store to buy a black shirt for a johnny Cash costume and thought why don't i check the shoe aisle)? Even if not, they are a lovely shoe that I'm happy to have.

 

[mariusscott]

Me thinks those are John Mchale as well...congrats

 

[suitforcourt]

So I posted this 'mystery' pair in the vintage shoe thread yesterday and then subsequently read through the majority of this one.

I had found these longwings on my first thrift store trip and picked them up along with a pair of what has turned out to be McHale florsheim imperials. The sock liner is worn nearly smooth but after peeling back a sticker was able to make out that they were 'Made Exclusively for the British Boot Shop' and therefore i assumed they were English made.

The only other clue I had for them was a partial embossed name on the sole... starting with a J in a stylized font. For a while I thought maybe they were Johnston and Murphy soles but checking their website i could never find a similarly styled letter J. The trail was cold until perusing this thread yesterday and I recognized a sole with 10 nails the same J...

What do you think, did I happen to find two vintage McHale made shoes on my first trip (i was in the store to buy a black shirt for a johnny Cash costume and thought why don't i check the shoe aisle)? Even if not, they are a lovely shoe that I'm happy to have. View attachment 1286773 View attachment 1286774 View attachment 1286776 View attachment 1286777

I say John McHale based on the lettering style, sole design, and for sure - the broguing is a dead giveaway.

 

[lbgradwell]

I'm also very confident they're made by McHale. But in the Florsheim era...

Score!

 

[Jiqea]

It has been awhile since I have found anything other than H H Brown military footwear while thrifting. I didn't have great expectations today but I made a Dickens of a find with these 1970's 9E Dacks apron-toe camel derbys. I was just leaving empty handed as the restock cart tuned the corner into the shoe isle. These were poking their nose out from the very bottom of the cart. The staff member very graciously allowed me to dig them out.

 

[Jiqea]

I had a good day out thrifting today; picking up a pair of RCMP cap-toe Oxfords and a pair of RCMP Chelsea boots, both manufactured by Hartt. The are each size 7 (E and EE), but were found in different stores. The Hartt made RCMP footwear is a noticeable step up in quality from the Sisman and Boulet RCMP products. I would love to own the cap-toes in my size. The Chelsea boots (Quarter Wellington Officers Mess Dress Boots), have the insertion point for the spurs in the back of their stacked heels.