TheHistorialist: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

THE SHOE FACTORY ELIO | LUINO | VARESE | PART 1

The shoe factory ELIO was founded in Luino (Lake Maggiore) by Mario Ambrosetti in 1919. Ambrosetti, a former bank accountant born in 1896 in Capolago, was sent to Luino to recover after being wounded at the end of WWI. Not far away - 30 kilometers southbound - the Calzaturificio di Varese opened its doors back in 1899.

L’idea di fondare un calzaturificio a Luino, sul Lago Maggiore, era venuta nel 1919 ad un ex impiegato di banca, il ragionier Mario Ambrosetti, nato nel 1896 a Capolago, sul Lago di Varese. Era stato mandato in quella zona in convalescenza dopo una ferita che si era procurato in trincea, nel corso della prima guerra mondiale, insieme ad un paio di medaglie al valore. A poca distanza operava già da anni anche un'altra importante industria, il Calzaturificio di Varese.

1930's | Calzaturificio Elio

Luino, Varese

Named after a mountain basin north of Luino, the shoe factory Elio opened its plant on the site of a former textile mill and managed - in less than a decade - to employ about two hundred workers. They produced for civilians, but their main account was Empire-dreaming's Mussolini.

Partito con un piccolo laboratorio in una ex filanda, al quale aveva dato il nome di un lago (Elio, un bacino montano a nord di Luino) già dopo una decina d’anni il calzaturificio impiegava circa duecento operai e produceva calzature per civili ma soprattutto per l’Esercito Italiano che ubbidiva a Mussolini e ai sui sogni di impero.

Elio

The logo patented in 1946

The military job allowed the shoe factory to maintain in wartime the production flowing:

« with the orders from the regime, the shoe factory managed to avoid that many workers were sent to forced labor in Germany's prison camps (or worse); Ambrosetti's bold behavior land him two arrests by the SS and the absence of his son sent abroad to spare him the hard times.»

[Per l’ "Elio", Mario e Carlo Ambrosetti in Biografie Verbanensi]

La commessa militare contribuì a mantenere attiva la produzione negli anni di guerra e sotto l’occupazione tedesca:

“proprio grazie alle commesse per il regime ottenute al Calzaturificio, al suo proprietario riuscì di evitare che molte maestranze venissero avviate al lavoro coatto nei campi di prigionia (o peggio) in Germania; Ambrosetti pagò l’aver giocato sul filo del rasoio con due arresti da parte delle SS e la lontananza del figlio, inviato in terra straniera per porlo a riparo dalle traversie di quel periodo.”

(Per l’ ”Elio”, Mario e Carlo Ambrosetti in Biografie Verbanensi)

1955 | Calzaturificio Elio

Source: Emci Catalogue

1955 | Calzaturificio Elio

Source: Emci Catalogue

1955 | Calzaturificio Elio

Source: Emci Catalogue

After the Liberation and until 1952, the year of the sudden death of Mario Ambrosetti, the shoe factory thrived, expanding its market quota toward Europe, North Africa and Indonesia. The production was diversified and new brands created for different men’s lines: "Strong Shoe", "Wellington Shoe", "Owerall Shoe" (sic) and "Forward" .

Dopo la Liberazione e fino al 1952, anno della morte improvvisa di Mario Ambrosetti per un incidente, il calzaturificio visse una fase espansiva, sia come struttura che come mercati, iniziando ad esportare in altri Paesi europei, nord Africa e l’attuale Indonesia. Si differenziò la produzione e nuovi marchi caratterizzarono diverse linee di calzature da uomo: furono così depositati i brevetti per la “Strong Shoe”, la “Wellington Shoe”, la “Owerall Shoe” e la “Forward”

1959 | The shoe box of Calzaturificio Elio

Source: Emci Catalogue

1959 | Calzaturificio Elio

Source: Emci Catalogue

THE SHOE FACTORY ELIO | LUINO, VARESE

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

1959 | Mario Ambrosetti

Portrait by Angelo Frattini (1910-1975)

At Civico Museo d'Arte Moderna

e Contemporanea Castello di Masnago

Source: Lombardia Beni Culturali

Sunday, February 28, 2016

1977 | WILLIAM SAROYAN | THE SHOEMAKER AND THE OWL

Up at number 4 bis Rue Chateaudun four blocks from my four-room flat on Rue Taitbout, is a small square room on the street, which is a shoemaker’s shop, not far from the entrance to a hotel with a name like Baltic …

CA. 1925 | Francis Spear | Discarded Shoes

Source: Liss Llevellyn Fine Art

Well, now, this man, Hovaness Shoghikian by name, is perhaps an inch or two under five feet in height, but powerfully built. As a matter of fact he was once a champion weight lifter and wrestler, and has many old photographs to prove it. In short, he is not simply a shoemaker, although he actually makes shoes, entire shoes, and for forty years has never worn a pair of shoes he hasn’t made.

1932 | Francis Spear | The Artist's Boots

Source: Liss Llevellyn Fine Art

First, it is his trade, and he likes to work at his trade, but nowadays almost nobody wants a pair of shoes made to order, to fit the feet, to fit a cast of the foot’s precise shape. Second, his own feet are small and broad, and the best he has ever been able to do in finding a ready-made pair of shoes (before he began to make his own shoes) was not very good. Ready-made shoes were always something his feet could barely tolerate.

William Saroyan
[From: Chance Meetings. A Memoir | W.W. Norton & Company, 1980]

So, what about the owl, then? Well, you have to read Chapter 25 of Saroyan's memoir. It's sweet and charming. The whole books is.

SHOES & BOOKS

[FEAT. HEMINGWAY, SHAKESPEARE, SARAMAGO, RANKIN, GALEANO ...]

Thursday, February 25, 2016

2016 | ALDO SACCHETTI | EXHIBITION AT THE FOOTWEAR MUSEUM OF VIGEVANO

1950s| Aldo Sacchetti

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

The ongoing Wunderkammer exhibition at the Footwear Museum of Vigevano is dedicated to Aldo Sacchetti.

The Museum houses the richest collection of models by the Turinese artisan, donated by Sacchetti himself back in 2005. On displays about twenty models from early Fifties to late Eighties along with pieces from the permanent collection.

Until March 31, 2016 at the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Info: direzione_musei@comune.vigevano.pv.it

Phone: 0381 691 928/693 952

Open:

Tuesday – Friday: 2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m

Nella Wunderkammer del Museo della Calzatura di Vigevano é in corso un'esposizione dedicata ad Aldo Sacchetti.

Il Museo ospita la più ricca collezione di calzature dell'artigiano torinese, donate nel 2005 da Sacchetti stesso. In mostra oltre venti modelli che coprono la produzione dai primi anni 50 alla fine degli 80, unitamente a quelli della collezione permanente.

Fino al 31 marzo 2016

Museo Internazionale della Calzatura di Vigevano

Info: direzione_musei@comune.vigevano.pv.it

Telefono: 0381 691 928/693 952

Orari:

Martedì - Venerdì: 14,00 - 17,30

Sabato e Domenica: 10,00 - 18,00

1950s| Aldo Sacchetti

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

1950s| Aldo Sacchetti

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

1980s| Aldo Sacchetti

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

1950s| Aldo Sacchetti | The Vanity Affair sandal

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

1950s| Aldo Sacchetti

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

ALDO SACCHETTI | TURIN
I N D E X

1965| Aldo Sacchetti sole-only shoe

At the Footwear Museum of Vigevano

Photograph: Irma Vivaldi

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

1998 | ROBERT CLERGERIE | HEELSTORY

1998 | Robert Clergerie

Photograph: © Christophe Villard

Source: Musée international de la Chaussure | Romans

1998 | Robert Clergerie

Photograph: © Christophe Villard

Source: Musée international de la Chaussure | Romans

1998 | Robert Clergerie

Photograph: © Christophe Villard

Source: Musée international de la Chaussure | Romans

HEELSTORY
HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES

1998 | Robert Clergerie

Photograph: © Christophe Villard

Source: Musée international de la Chaussure | Romans

Sunday, February 21, 2016

1932 - 2016 | UMBERTO ECO

It is always possible to isolate a cultural framework in which some contextual and circumstantial selections are coded, as in the example of alligator shoes in a Western culture.

Obviously in a savage culture where shoes are scarcely known) and where the idea that the skin of an alligator serves to make shoes is absolutely unknown), the sentence quoted above could also be interpreted as referring to shoes for alligators, thereby appearing somewhat whimsical but at least less unacceptable than the idea of killing alligators in order to make Cinderella a present.

Umberto Eco
[From: A Theory of Semiotics, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1976]

Grant Hart's red alligator shoes

Photograph: Paul Hilcoff

Friday, February 19, 2016

1957 | JOSEPHI OF DELMAN | THE ROSE PETAL SANDAL

1957 | Flower Petal Heel by Delman

Source: The Province (Vancouver, BC) - January 9, 1957

Colored patents in flower garden yellows, pinks and blues were the newsiest entries, while at Delman's pre-luncheon shoe, the flower petal heel were the conversation piece.

I told you about these in my first article home. I discovered them on my window shopping survey the day I arrived and suspected they'd be the trend setters at Delman's party. These shoes also boast "the slimmest heels in the world made of the strongest metal in the world". Sounds more like Texas, doesn't it?

Winnifred Mather

The Province (Vancouver, BC) - January 9, 1957

1957 | Josephi/Delman | The Rose Petal Sandal

Source: Shoes Of Tomorrow | British Pathé

Several designers feature flowers appliqued on leather. Josephi of Delman, a milliner turned shoe designer, builds one shoe from a fabric rose, with petals forming the bulk of the design, the stem shaping the narrow heel. Only the sole is leather.

Gay Pauley

United Press, New York | March 21, 1957

1957 | Josephi of Delmam

Photograph: Karen Radkai

Source: Vogue

A similar model - apparently not by Josephi - is kept at the Goldstein Museum Of Design (University of Minnesota).

1955 - 1960 (Museum date) Black Spingolator with rose heel
Source: Goldstein Museum Of Design
University Of Minnesota (Twin Cities)

A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE

While the same concept (stem as heel) was later adopted by designers such as Pfister and Blahnik, the Frenchman Marc Rakotozanany went even further in 2003 patenting a Josephi replica.

Furthermore, the Josephi stem - a steel cylinder heel - went places, only longer.

HEELSTORY

HEEL HISTORY IN PICTURES

2003 | Marc Rakotozanany | Talon en forme de fleur

Source: INPI (Institute National de la Propriété Industrielle - France)

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

1922 - 1925 | PERUGIA COPIES BY JOHN WANAMAKER

The deal with New York's department store John Wanamaker is an early sign of the huge success enjoyed by André Perugia in the Twenties.

1922 | André Perugia's debut in New York?

Source: New York Tribune | August 30, 1922

Presenting to New York
The Wanamaker Copy Of A Perugia Shoe

Perugia - the coming bootmaker of Paris - made the original, a charming new interpretation, in patent leather, of the close-fitting ankle-length slipper, with an entirely new idea for the piece over the instep.

We copied it exact in every subtlety of line, but using, in place of the original parallel lines of gray across the front, slender insets of buckskin in a soft shade of one of the modish tones between gray and brown. A few pairs are in stock now for showing and for ordering. The full line will be here early next week.

Source: New York Tribune
August 30, 1922

A few weeks after the first advertisement, a follow up informed the customers that a Wanamaker representative, who just got back from France, has been informed that Madame Perugia selected this very model as her favorite, here below from the collection of the Musée International de la Chaussure de Romans.

André Perugia models at the Musée de la Chaussure, Romans sur Isère

1923 | Perugia Copies at John Wanamaker

Source: Brooklyn Daily Eagle | March 30, 1923

The shoes, faithfully copied after Perugia in the finest brown kidskin, have smartly rounded toes, light turned soles and demi-French heels.
The dark polished buckles of finest Italian and American walnut are beautifully carved and shaped to fit the instep. These may be purchased separately at $ 2,50 a pair.

Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
March 20, 1923

1924 | Perugia Copies at John Wanamaker

Source: The Sun | April 29, 1924

1925 | Perugia Copies at John Wanamaker

Source: The Sun | September 1, 1925

The Perugia-Wanamaker deal came to an end in 1925 as the 40-plus-year-long business relationship with I. Miller was about to start (1926 - The Euclid Pump). Still, legit (?) Perugia copies appeared every once in while like the one at Brooklyn's Loeser's (March 1929).

1929 | Perugia Copies at Brooklyn's Loeser's

Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle | March 5, 1929

Fashion-wise, the copies-phenomenon as a whole lasted until the Fifties when the New World stopped looking at the Old World with reverence. Or better, legit copies stopped, but knockoffs still existed, only they did't pay royalties anymore. Nowadays the situation is no different and copies even got praised by costume and fashion journalists alike: brands - being advertisers - help enormously erasing the memory cells.

ANDRE PERUGIA

D O S S I E R

John Wanamaker

Source: ALL THINGS RUFFNERIAN

Monday, February 15, 2016

1973 | TOMORROW'S FASHION IS ALREADY AT CASTEA | PART 2

1973 | CASTEA | Detail

San Lorenzo di Parabiago, Milan

Source: Ars Sutoria

1973 | CASTEA

San Lorenzo di Parabiago, Milan

Source: Ars Sutoria

CASTEA
SAN LORENZO DI PARABIAGO, MILAN
I N D E X

1973 | CASTEA
ZEPPE/PLATFORMS | PART 1

1973 | ZEPPE (A.K.A. PLATFORMS)

I WISH THEY WOULD GO AWAY [PART 1]

1973 | CASTEA

San Lorenzo di Parabiago, Milan

Saturday, February 13, 2016

2001 | WOODY ALLEN | THE CURSE OF THE FLORSHEIM SHOE [FEAT. ELVIS PRESLEY AND NOFX'S EL HEFE]

Milton Florsheim was a cobbler’s son who started the company in Chicago in 1892, hoping to produce high-quality men’s dress shoes at moderate prices. Early on, he proved to be a visionary entrepreneur: instead of selling his shoes wholesale and allowing stores to put their own labels on his products, he decided that his company’s livelihood should be in establishing direct ties to customers. As a result — and to the chagrin of retailers — he put the Florsheim name directly on the shoe’s pull-strap and sole, a move that in the coming years would become standard at other shoe companies.

Ron Stodghill

The New York Times

1923 | The Florsheim Shoe

The Exception Proves The Rule

Written, lead and directed by Woody Allen, The Curse of The Jade Scorpion is set in 40s New York. Woody's character, C.W. Briggs, a North Coast Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Company veteran investigator is being accused …

Detective:
After a careful search using some of the most up to date technics, we have found some interesting clues.

C. W. Briggs, veteran insurance investigator (Woody Allen)
Yeah? Leading to who? Eleanor Roosevelt?

Detective:
We got a shoe print off the parapet at the Kensington place.

C. W. Briggs (Woody Allen)
So?

Detective:
An 8 1/2 C Florsheim cordovan.

C. W. Briggs (Woody Allen)
Only worn by more than twenty million Americans. I wear an 8 1/2 C cordovan shoes. And let me tell you: for the money you cannot get a better shoe.

One of the twenty millions

Elvis Presley stage-worn Florsheim shoes | Sold for $ 46,875

Source: Julien's Auctions

A pair of Elvis Presley stage-worn Florsheim shoes in white and black leather. The shoes were gifted to fan club president Gary Pepper and inscribed on the sole of the left shoe “To Gary Thanks for everything your friend Elvis Presley.” Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Charlie Hodge, who was present when Presley inscribed and gave the shoes to Pepper.

Source: Julien's Auctions 2013

Early to mid Fifties | Elvis Presley shoed in Florsheim

Source: Julien's Auctions

… at the last minute Mike decided we’d open the set [at Gilman Street - Berkeley] with “Together on the Sand,” which I sing and play without any backing from the rest of the band. I walked out on stage wearing Florsheim dress shoes, a long chain wallet, and a fedora, looking as out of place as I felt. Mike introduced me as the new guitarist and, mercifully, the crowd cheered.