London bespoke shoe and bookmakers -- list of historical makers

[shoefan]

Several years ago a longstanding member of the London shoemaking trade wrote out a list of the firms that were in business when he started in the trade in the 50's. Amazing to see how many firms were in the business back then. Also, I was told that on trips to the US, Peal would take 800 to 1000 orders and would visit something like 12 to 15 cities.

Here is the list as given to me, with the firms that were subsumed into other firms listed in the bullets. Firms still making bespoke shoes/boots are Bold and Underlined. Thought this would be of interest to some here. Additions, amendments, or additional information would be welcomed.

John Lobb

• Thomas (London & Paris)
• Thom. Hill
• Codner Coombes & Doby
• Tuczek

Peal & Company

• Bartley & Son
• Flack & Smith
• Smith Hook & Knowles

Foster & Son

• Henry Maxwell
• Chester & Son

Geo. Bell

George Cleverley

Trickers

New & Lingwood

• Poulsen & Scone

Hardy

Taylor & Son

Dowie & Marshall

Helsterns (London & Paris)

Jacksons

Harrords (Harrods?)

Fortnum & Mason

McLaren (Piccadilly & City)

 

[poorsod]

Fortnum & Mason made shoes?! I only know them for tea. Is it a different F&M?

 

[shoefan]



Fortnum & Mason made shoes?! I only know them for tea. Is it a different F&M?

I assume the same. They still sell all sorts of things, like leather goods, upstairs in the store (or they did last time I visited).

 

[asturiano]

last year I saw a pair of Fortnum & Mason loafers on sale in Camden Town. Nice pair of loafers. Made in Italy, blake stitched. RTW.

 

[bengal-stripe]

I remember reading somewhere, before WW1 there were more than 1000 bespoke shoemakers in London. Of course, only a minority would have been based in the West-end (the prime shopping district), other firms would have been scattered all over Greater London. Those outside of the West-end wouldn’t have had the fancy premises, nor the prizes of the top West-end firms. Others might have been mainly shoe repairers who ventured occasionally into bespoke shoes.

Presumably it was up to the mid-late-sixties that the trade was quite healthy (although not anymore on the level of fifty years earlier). Employed and piece-working shoemakers were plentiful. There was even a set-up in Wardour Street, Soho were jobbing shoemakers without a workshop (or those in employment who didn’t want their boss to know that they did “private work”) could hire a workbench and a stool for the day. That place (which was in the same house, or next door, than the famous “Marquee” club where the ‘Rolling Stones’ had their first public performance in 1963), survived into the 70s and was in its later years owned by John Lobb. By all accounts, it must have been a quite Dickensian set-up with curtains between the individual workbenches, that the shoemakers (traditionally a very secretive lot) would not have to share their trade-secrets with their colleagues (or could hide their identity, in case of moonlighting).

That “incorporating” numerous firms who have fallen by the wayside, does happen equally in the tailoring trade. Go through Savile Row and you’ll find all the bespoke firms incorporating all kinds of long forgotten firms. Sometimes they get resurrected for commercial reasons, like Patrick Grant (Norton) did with the names of Tautz and Hammond, long gone bespoke firms which now lend their names to high-fashion and high-prized ready-to-wear and and cheap-and-nasty (made in China) department store rubbish.

 

[shoefan]

Yes, scores of shoe and bookmakers worked in the trade in the first half of the 20th century.

If you have time on your hands, maybe you'll check this out:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/abcccbd8-9eb3-435d-b1c2-45bfde20ec01

I had heard of the leather order books; Mr. Peal (the final proprietor, 6th generation of Peal) had a wall full of the leather bound order books. I was under the impression that they had been 'pulped' when the firm shut down, but apparently many survived. Amazing volume of business -- if Steve McQueen ordered in 1960 (when he first became famous and could afford bespoke shoes), then it seems between then and when the company closed in January, 1965 the company took orders for about 19,000 pairs of custom shoes/boots, i.e. about 4,000 pair per year, at a minimum. Amazing that they shut the business down. Also, from the 1870's through 1964 the firm took orders for 147,000 pairs!

Also pretty amazing is that, until 1958, the company occupied an entire 6 story building at 487 Oxford Street. The basement where the lasts were stored contained 50,000 pairs of lasts. They also had a factory/factories where most of the production was performed in Acton Vale and/or Shepard's Bush.

 

[jerrybrowne]



Yes, scores of shoe and bookmakers worked in the trade in the first half of the 20th century.

If you have time on your hands, maybe you'll check this out:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/abcccbd8-9eb3-435d-b1c2-45bfde20ec01

I had heard of the leather order books; Mr. Peal (the final proprietor, 6th generation of Peal) had a wall full of the leather bound order books. I was under the impression that they had been 'pulped' when the firm shut down, but apparently many survived. Amazing volume of business -- if Steve McQueen ordered in 1960 (when he first became famous and could afford bespoke shoes), then it seems between then and when the company closed in January, 1965 the company took orders for about 19,000 pairs of custom shoes/boots, i.e. about 4,000 pair per year, at a minimum. Amazing that they shut the business down. Also, from the 1870's through 1964 the firm took orders for 147,000 pairs!

Also pretty amazing is that, until 1958, the company occupied an entire 6 story building at 487 Oxford Street. The basement where the lasts were stored contained 50,000 pairs of lasts. They also had a factory/factories where most of the production was performed in Acton Vale and/or Shepard's Bush.

Any idea what a pair of bespoke Peals (or from other well established makers) cost back in the 50s or 60s, adjusted for inflation?

 

[bengal-stripe]



Any idea what a pair of bespoke Peals (or from other well established makers) cost back in the 50s or 60s, adjusted for inflation?

There was a newsreel on youtube (maybe it's still there, but I can't find it) where Pathé news visited John Lobb in 1948 or 49. At the end of the short feature, the speaker said in the plummiest voice he could muster:

"You can have a pair made for yourself, for around ten Guineas!"

Presumably at this moment the whole cinema audience would have oooo-ed and aaaa-ed: "Ten guineas, that's ridiculous!!!"

A guinea in old currency equals 1£-1sh-0d, or £1.05 in today's money. Putting it through an inflation calculator: £10.50 back in 1948 would be about £350 today. Today's price adjusted for inflation and VAT included, is about multiplied by ten that amount..

I would say, Peal might have been cheaper, Terry Moore said that all the outsoles (even bespoke) at Peal would have been stitched by machine (not by hand).

 

[jerrybrowne]



There was a newsreel on youtube (maybe it's still there, but I can't find it) where Pathé news visited John Lobb in 1948 or 49. At the end of the short feature, the speaker said in the plummiest voice he could muster:

"You can have a pair made for yourself, for around ten Guineas!"

Presumably at this moment the whole cinema audience would have oooo-ed and aaaa-ed: "Ten guineas, that's ridiculous!!!"

A guinea in old currency equals 1£-1sh-0d, or £1.05 in today's money. Putting it through an inflation calculator: £10.50 back in 1948 would be about £350 today. Today's price adjusted for inflation and VAT included, is about multiplied by ten that amount..

I would say, Peal might have been cheaper, Terry Moore said that all the outsoles (even bespoke) at Peal would have been stitched by machine (not by hand).

Surprised by the machine stitched outsoles on the Peal bespoke, although at 10X cheaper I could live with that!
I wonder how many pair Foster, Lobb and Cleverley make a year now. Luxury item economics.

 

[shoefan]



Surprised by the machine stitched outsoles on the Peal bespoke, although at 10X cheaper I could live with that!
I wonder how many pair Foster, Lobb and Cleverley make a year now. Luxury item economics.

Peal had a sort of mixed factory and handmade approach. I found somewhere a quote that Peal was the first UK customer for a welt-sewing machine by US Shoe Machinery in the late 1800's, as well as utilizing other factory-oriented machines. I don't know whether the Peal shoes/boots were GY welted or hand welted, or perhaps both were offered.

I think that Foster and Cleverley would likely each be making a couple hundred pair a year; Lobb maybe has a volume comparable to the two of them combined.

Certainly the UK in the post-war years had a lot of shoemakers, many of whom had come from Eastern Europe during/after the war, which supply likely drove down the prevailing wages in the trade.

The challenge for handmade items, be they shoes, clothing, or other items, is Baumol's Effect, which basically says that items whose production can't be made more efficient will experience a continued real price increase. Look at our economy since 1950 -- things like food, transport, most mass manufactured goods, electronics, etc -- have been produced in increasingly efficient ways. However, handmade items take just as many hours to make now as they did in 1950, or even more if quality standards have increased and skills have eroded. Thus, the relative price for these handmade goods must outpace inflation, as the latter reflects the increased efficiency of production of most goods/services. Increases in production efficiency across the economy is why real incomes have risen by a factor of 4 since 1950.

In essence, today the basic cost structure for handmade goods necessitates that they are luxury products, because of the cost of production (at least in the developed markets, such as the UK, USA, France, etc). Of course, with the increased income inequality we are experiencing, there remains a small percentage of people who can still afford and are willing to pay the going rate. However, in 1950 and earlier, there were many more people who could afford the relatively more reasonably priced handmade shoes and clothing. They weren't really a luxury product at that time.

Here's a quick set of numbers. In 1950, the average nominal income in the UK was 302 GBP; if the average 'maker' made 2 pair per week (say 100 pair/year), that means he was paid 3 GBP/pair, assuming he earned the average UK income ( which is probably too high, perhaps they were only paid half this much due to the excess supply of shoemaking labor).

In 2014, the average nominal UK income was about 25,000 GBP, equaling 250 GBP/pair of maker cost (pretty close to the real number). So, the nominal cost of the 'making' has gone up by a factor of between 80 and 160 (ratio of the 2014 cost/pair of 250GBP to the 1950 cost of between 1.50GBP and 3GBP); 80 x 10GBP (price in 1950) would imply a current equivalent price of 800 GBP; 160 x 10GBP would imply an equivalent price of 1600GBP. Of course, things like rent have likely increased at a much more dramatic rate, and the loss of scale economy due to lower volumes has no doubt driven up overhead costs/pair. And, they are now selling a luxury product, with limited competition and a different customer base than the old days. Certainly a lot of the price increase has been in the past couple of decades, even when inflation and nominal income growth have been very low; this implies that recent price increases have likely been due to some other factors, such as increased gross margins.

 

[shoefan]

Found the video:

From 1945.

Inflation in the UK from 1945 to 2014 would lead to prices about 40X; so, equivalent price in 2015 pounds would be about 420 GBP. A bit less than the current 3,470GBP at Lobb St James.

Average wages in the UK have increased by about 138x from 1945 to today, so 1945 nominal average income would have been around 180GBP. At 2 pair/week, a maker would have made 1.80 per pair if earning average wages; I'd bet they made more like 1 pound. So, the nominal cost of the 'making' has gone up between 138x and 250x. Nominal bespoke prices have gone up by 330x.

Another way of looking at the increase is how many weeks of average wages it would take to pay for a pair of bespoke.

In 1945, it would take about 3 weeks of average income to pay for a pair of Lobb bespoke (10.5 GBP / 3.46). In 2015, it would take 7 1/4 weeks of average income (3,470 GBP/481), even before the VAT of 20%; add that, and it would take 8 1/4 weeks' income. It is easy to see how bespoke shoes have increasingly become a luxury.

 

[jerrybrowne]

^^^^^ These two posts above are fantastic. Thanks for the information!

 

[bengal-stripe]



Found the video:

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

Thanks a lot, shoefan!

Interesting titbit: In the video at 0:50, the lastmaker uses a 'stock knife' (clogger's knife) to shape the last.

Until recently it was only Terry Moore (and his trainee Jon Spencer) who are still working with a stock knife. I have heard from an authoritative source, that at John Lobb (London) none of the current crop of lastmakers has experience in the use the stock knife, although the firm has a knife or two standing around to decorate the place. Judging by the videos I have seen, it appears that all the important French bespoke firms haven't allowed that skill to die away.

Now shoemaker (and forum member) Nicholas Templeman has taken up the stock knife to work his lasts (I presume, he is self-trained in that skill).




Hopefully he will pass that skill on to all the trainees who will pass through his workshop in the next 50 years,

 

[shoefan]

Here is a video which is a compilation of some old Peal family movies. Some interesting bits -- a young Terry Moore (somewhere in the 18 - 20 minute mark), a view of the leather bound order books (23:15), some lovely Peal boots at the 25 minute mark.

I think BengalStripe originally put me on to this video.

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[VegTan]



John Lobb

• Thomas (London & Paris)
• Thom. Hill
• Codner Coombes & Doby
• Tuczek

Peal & Company

• Bartley & Son
• Flack & Smith
• Smith Hook & Knowles

Foster & Son

• Henry Maxwell
• Chester & Son

The older wrapping paper without Prince Charles' warrant (before 70s?) says:

"Chas. Moykopf Ltd., F. G. Buhl Ltd., Craig & Davies, and Joseph Box.
Nikolaus Tuczek, Codner, Coombs & Dobbie, Smith & Hook, Knowles."

http://forthediscerningfew.com/2011/11/21/john-lobb-bootmaker-part-i/

Henry Maxwell absorbed Faulkner & Son and Thomas.

John Lobb Price

LIFE 1944 9 guineas ($38.17)

LIFE 1945 9 guineas ($38)

LIFE 1946 ￡11 15s ($47)

LIFE 1947 ￡11 11s ($46.6)