Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[suitforcourt]

View attachment 1324424

But this doesn't show the width differences.

 

[CWOyaji]

I put this in my listings for Church's shoes, and it seems to do the job. It's from their website.

 

[Nealjpage]

Hi Neal

Thx for the interest. If you ever see anything you like please reach out to me for the Forum member discount. If you save the site as a favourite you will get regular updates when i make a new listing.

Jim

CanadianVintageShoes - Etsy Canada

Shop items by CanadianVintageShoes.

www.etsy.com

Thanks, Jim. Nice shoes you've got there. I'm still new to this hobby, so I'm slowly building my collection through thrift finds and inexpensive (ok, cheap) eBay buys. Perhaps I'll move on up to curated buys one of these days.

Also, I stole some of your shoe photograph techniques.

 

[Nealjpage]

I picked up a pair of Florsheim 93602 the other day. Date code is **; I suspect that these are from 1989. As I was cleaning them, I noticed that the stitching on the welt is much wider than another pair I have from 1965. Take a look for yourself. The older shoe is the one with the laces.

What's up with the heel? Why is it so incised?

 

[mormonopoly]

I have the same shoe in black, and I thought they were some type of embossed calf, but I could be wrong on that. My pair were made in Canada at the McHale factory in the mid 70's. The McHale factory was the only one in Canada to ever make Florsheim, and this medallion pattern shows up on quite a few of their shoes. I am reasonably certain this is what you have,

View attachment 1324481 View attachment 1324482 View attachment 1324483

This makes much more sense. It looked like a lovely shoe, but it didn’t look like it was from the 50s or the American Florsheim factory to me.

 

[mormonopoly]

I picked up a pair of Florsheim 93602 the other day. Date code is **; I suspect that these are from 1989. As I was cleaning them, I noticed that the stitching on the welt is much wider than another pair I have from 1965. Take a look for yourself. The older shoe is the one with the laces.

View attachment 1324505

View attachment 1324506

View attachment 1324507

What's up with the heel? Why is it so incised?

View attachment 1324508

Very good comparison. Though Florsheim made the same model for a long time, we can see that the quality has been decreasing over time.

 

[Nealjpage]

Is this shell?

VTG LEATHER CLASSICS by MASON Burgundy Leather Full Wing-Tip Oxfords 8.5 D NICE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for VTG LEATHER CLASSICS by MASON Burgundy Leather Full Wing-Tip Oxfords 8.5 D NICE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

rover.ebay.com

 

[CWOyaji]

No.

 

[Nealjpage]

Shoot.

 

[CWOyaji]

These are the shell Mason. @smfdoc and I have the 301s but I sold mine because they were small on me. It pained me to do it.
Mason

300 - Brown - Executive Imperials Plain Toe Blucher
301 - Brown - Executive Imperials Long Wing Blucher

 

[Paul902]

I have the same shoe in black, and I thought they were some type of embossed calf, but I could be wrong on that. My pair were made in Canada at the McHale factory in the mid 70's. The McHale factory was the only one in Canada to ever make Florsheim, and this medallion pattern shows up on quite a few of their shoes. I am reasonably certain this is what you have,

View attachment 1324481 View attachment 1324482 View attachment 1324483

@Nobleprofessor, great shoes! I think they are exotic leather, but not camel. I just sold a pair of Dack's camel (marked as such) today and the grain is deeper, with fewer fine lines, as seen below.

I've previously sold Canadian Florshiems like you've found, and I have a similar pair for myself by McHale.
Florsheim:

McHale:

@Jiqea, having seen these in the flesh, as it were, I disagree that that are embossed calf. I think the brown shows this easier than the black, so we'll let you off the hook this time.

 

[suitforcourt]

Wolverine 1000 miles on a Costco run.

 

[smfdoc]

Is this shell?

VTG LEATHER CLASSICS by MASON Burgundy Leather Full Wing-Tip Oxfords 8.5 D NICE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for VTG LEATHER CLASSICS by MASON Burgundy Leather Full Wing-Tip Oxfords 8.5 D NICE at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

rover.ebay.com

As already noted, they are not shell. There are several things you can check to answer the question on other pairs. The first is to look closely at the folds on the vamp to see if there are tiny cracks or fold lines. Shell will not do this, but calf nd CXL will do this on nearly every pair. The second clue is that the uppers are leather and the remainder of the shoe is man made parts. The shell shoes are higher quality and the vintage makers would usually use leather for the soles. There are exceptions to that for sure. Current makes, such as Crockett and Jones will use dainite rubber soles on shell. Finally, check out the model number if it is available with the shell lists that are online Good hunting.

 

[happypebble]

You know , I used to wear tennis shoes to church (remember Simple shoes in the 90s? I wore out many a pair). Or Birkenstocks (wife managed a Birkenstock store). I think I even wore flip flops to church once. No more. The chocolaty goodness of 1990s Florsheim Imperials with brand new toe and heel plates is much better. *update: pastor is wearing Air Jordans and says he's "rocking his shoe game." Uhh...no.*

 

[Jiqea]

@Nobleprofessor, great shoes! I think they are exotic leather, but not camel. I just sold a pair of Dack's camel (marked as such) today and the grain is deeper, with fewer fine lines, as seen below.

View attachment 1324584 View attachment 1324585

I've previously sold Canadian Florshiems like you've found, and I have a similar pair for myself by McHale.
Florsheim:
View attachment 1324586
McHale:
View attachment 1324587


@Jiqea, having seen these in the flesh, as it were, I disagree that that are embossed calf. I think the brown shows this easier than the black, so we'll let you off the hook this time.

I gather that you are not impressed with my embossed hypotheses You might be right on that one, but I remember doing some research on them last year and determining that they were impressively embossed. Attached are two adverts from 1976 and I believe they show the same shoe, with one referring to them as Coventry grain and the second calling it Antelope grain. I should also note that the Tuscany was the only full brogue long wing that Florsheim advertised in Canada in the 1970's. However in absence of a less grainy image I cede the field to you. Of course this means I get first pick of the shoes the next time we are out thrifting!!!