Who made the USA-made Polo-RL shoes way back when?

[gza]

I've got an older pair of Polo penny loafers that say "Made in the USA." My understanding is that currently Polo blue label shoes are made in 1 of 3 places: the 3rd world by sweatshop labor, Italy by some mysterious and perhaps changing maker, and England by Crockett & Jones. Anyone have some idea who produced the old American-made Polo shoes?

 

[bengal-stripe]

If they are hand stitched casual loafers, they probably came from the Ansewn shoe company in Bangor, Maine who folded in the late 90s.

I believe half of all the All-American loafers came from Ansewn.

 

[JBZ]

I'm not sure of the answer, but it probably depends on the age of the shoes, as well as their original retail price. Currently, of the high end American shoe companies (other than a couple of niche brands), only Alden and Allen Edmonds continue to manufacture in the U.S. However, several American shoe companies used to manufacture within the United States, including Sebago, Bass, Johnston & Murphy, Cole Haan, Sperry, and Florsheim. Of these, Sebago and Bass seem to be likely candidates (In addition to selling shoes under its own label, Sebago still does the basic, non-Alden penny loafer for Brooks Brothers, and Bass does the Weejun penny loafer (a Trad standard)). I suppose Alden is a possibility, but I've never heard of them being linked to Polo (which doesn't necessarily mean anything).

It's also possible that Polo used more than one American maker depending on the styles and price points of the shoes they were selling at the time.

 

[JBZ]

Originally Posted by bengal-stripe

If they are hand stitched casual loafers, they probably came from the Ansewn shoe company in Bangor, Maine who folded in the late 90s.

I believe half of all the All-American loafers came from Ansewn.

Bengal - do you know if Ansewn was historically linked to any of Bass, Sebago, or Cole-Haan (all of which were located or at least did some of their manufacture in Maine)?

 

[NoVaguy]

Originally Posted by bengal-stripe

If they are hand stitched casual loafers, they probably came from the Ansewn shoe company in Bangor, Maine who folded in the late 90s.

I believe half of all the All-American loafers came from Ansewn.

Wasn't Ansewn's factory the Maine factory that AE bought in the late 90's? I'm not sure if they bought the company, but I think AE might have just bought the factory and kept some of the employees.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by NoVaguy

Wasn't Ansewn's factory the Maine factory that AE bought in the late 90's? I'm not sure if they bought the company, but I think AE might have just bought the factory and kept some of the employees.

I was just thinking exactly that. I'm 99.9 percent you're right, but wouldn't swear to it in court.