17th Century Shoe From Mount Misery

[Matty Bottles]

I searched for this, but did not find any results, so if this has been posted before, I apologize. Has anyone seen, purchased, or otherwise reviewed the '17th century shoes' available from the Sutler of Mount Misery, G. Gedney Godwin?

Scroll the the bottom of the page.

The picture if pretty awful, so I can't tell if they resemble the shoes that Greg, aka GoF, so helpfully posts on his site. It does seem as though the tongues are short. The hessian shoes, with their crazy-ass tongues, seems to suggest that era, but from what I can tell about that awful picture, the buckles are much to big.

Anyone know? If they are a good match, than that mean the Golden Age of Golden Age of Piracy Reenacting must be nigh!

[Barmy John]

Back in May I inquired about these shoes at G. Gedney Godwin. The photos were so bad online that I sent the following e-mail:

"Dear G. Gedney Godwin Sutlers,

I am interested in finding shoes which are correct for a late 17th/

early 18th century impression. These shoes look promising, but I have a few questions.

Are these straight lasted?

Will the latchets fit a 3/4" (19mm) buckle?

What colors are available?

Do you have mens size 12 (US)

Do you have a larger picture that you could send?

Thank you very much for any and all info!"

A few days later, I received this response:

"Sir,

VERY hard to get for us right now. I can order a pair for you..But they may be several months to get. They are straight last come in brown, or black. 1" latchet, but can

be cut down. Sorry, haven't any in stock to get you a pic."

So, I am led to believe that they are not terribly interested in selling these shoes to anyone, since they:

A. Don't have any.

B. Can't get any.

C. Can't provide better photos before ordering... and that alone will likely take months...

I think I may have to order some shoes from England. They may take months an cost an arm and a leg, but at least they'll be correct!

If anyone has actually managed to see, let alone BUY a pair of these shoes, I'd be just as interested to hear a review...

[Cap'n Sage]

Hey Brother,

Have yeh tried Jas. Townsend and Sons? http://jas-townsend.com

These ain't latchet shoes but I bought a pair. Straight lasted. Not sure about buckle accommodation as me measurin stick idn't handy, though I would venture to say at the the latchets are about and inch, which mean yeh can cut em down if need be.

Hope this was helpful, friend.

Now, me shoes feel just fine. Mine are size 13 and they are plenty comfortable, which yeh might think odd for a straight last, but I enjoy em. And the buckles make me look purty.

I will keep a weather eye out for ya.

[Matty Bottles]

I've looked at Townsend, Fugawee, and C & D Jarnagin. All of those shoes need some work. I've been bitten by the bug GoF planmted in my ear - a period correct shoe that you can get off the shelf.

That being said, has anyone had a chance to look at the 1727 civilian lace-up shoe that G. G. Godwin sells? How do they stack up historically? 1727, after all, is a little late.

[Patrick Hand]

Last year I bought a pair of shoes from Fugawee, (unfortunatly, I got crooked lasted ones.....) SO I'm going to be buying another pair from C & D Jarnagin (my Civil War Brogans were from Jarnagin, and the lasted over 10 years.....)

I figure I will have to cut down the latchest myself, so they fit the period shoe buckles that I got from GoF...... (I'm too lazy to look up the thread right now....)

[Matty Bottles]

That's what I think I might have to do. But I would like some info on the earliest design shoes offered by G. G. Godwin. The 1727 isn't too far out - if they are indeed based on a 1727 design, and not just labeled as such.

[Matty Bottles]

I wrote the Sutler of Mount Misery today to see what the response would be:

*********

Dear Master Godwin,

I am interested in purchasing shoes appropriate to the Golden Age of Piracy, 1680-1720, and noticed the 17th century shoe you have available for purchase. Unfortunately, the picture quality makes it hard to see details of the shoe in question. I am looking for a shoe that is large tongued, butt-stitched, and accommodating a ¾ inch buckle and a stacked leather heel, as per the Admiralty Slops Contract. How does your 17th century shoe measure against these metrics? If it is at all possible, another picture would be most helpful.

Let me say that I believe if you were to offer a shoe based on the 1706 ASC, you would find that market perhaps larger than you realized.

I await your response.

*********

This is the reply I received:

*****************************

Sir,

I think perhaps the hessian shoe would do better for pirate..

Drew

****************************

Well, what do you think of that? Unfortunately, the Hessain shoe has an equally awful picture, but the tongue does look large, and the lachets are farther back. Of course, the buckles are bloody huge.

EDIT: wrote back and requested another picture of the Hessian Show, and they said they would send me one next week. So, until next week!

[Matty Bottles]

In my searches for a pair of shoes, I did come across a UK manufacturer who offers some interesting ECW shoes... (scroll about halfway down the page)

Has anyone had any experience with these shoes? They are machine made, but appear to be in stock, for the most part (except, I guess, for the rough our, darn it.) I thought that this might be an alternative to waiting months for a Jarnigan's shoe, although I don't know what shipping would cost. I suspect it would be an arm and a leg...

Has anyone in the US here done this? Ordered shoes from overseas? Can you give us some of your impressions of the experience?

[Jack Roberts]

This is the reply I received:

*****************************

Sir,

I think perhaps the hessian shoe would do better for pirate..

Drew

I half expected him to say, "silly man, boots are for pirates!"

Sorry for the thread high jack, I'm personally looking into Fugawee's Concords. Close but they are the right price for me and my wife.

[Matty Bottles]

For sure, the price is right. Do you know if there is a wait?

[Jack Roberts]

Not sure about the wait. Although a phone would probably clear that up. I've heard good things about them here in the pub.

Fugawee's Website

[Capt. Sterling]

Quoting from Godwin's site:

Hessian Shoe: The original plans for these interesting shoes were given to me by Lt. Col. Peter Boehm of the West German Army. Note the higher counter, the "wings" on the long tongues; the unique flattening of the toe fronts. The latchets were placed farther toward the back than in most other shoes of the period.

Price: $140.00

hesshoe.jpg (7412 bytes)

I would almost kill to see this in person and be able to compare....unfortunately the picture is only fair at best

[Matty Bottles]

I sent Godwin another inquiry about a fresher picture. I also asked about the shoe dated 1727; a clear picture will let us compare against the shoes recovered from La Belle.

[michaelsbagley]

I called Godwin on Saturday in my attempt to find out about the 17th century shoes listed on their web site...

I got a call back today stating that those shoes would not be available at least for another month or two (although there was a distinct lack of certainty in this statement) but they would get back in touch with me once any updated information became available.

I don't know if this pertained only to the shoes I was enquiring about, or all of their shoes.

[Matty Bottles]

I haven't had an exchange beyond two emails with them, no matter how many I send. I hope they do contact you.

[michaelsbagley]

Okay....

I called Mount Misery/Godwin again today... And this time got a real live person. He was incredibly helpful, forthcoming, direct and honest about the shoes, and their supply thereof.

As for the 17th centruy shoe. The manufacturer is mandating a limited quantity, and the demand that Mount Misery/Godwin has received, has not yet fulfilled the mandatory quantity needed for them to order. Bottom line is, if you are seriously interested in these shoes, send them an email, or give them a call. Let them know that if the vendor spends the money ordeing these shoes, they will not be shooting themselves in the foot business wise, and they will sell the shoes to make their return.

The 1727 Civilian Shoe is in the same boat as the above 17th century shoe.

The Hessian Shoe, they currentlt have a limited availability (a few sizes), and when those sell out, this style will liekly go into the category of the 17th century shoe as well.

The gentleman I spoke to (I'm sorry I didn't catch his name) also said that " Syke's Sutler" may be a good source for 17th century shoes, but I cheked the Syke's web site, and saw nothing. I did also place a call to Syke's and left a message just in case. I'll post again if I receive good news from Syke's (meaning if you hear nothing further, assume Syke's are not carrying the shoes, or just never called me back).

Hope this has been helpful.

[Matty Bottles]

Sykes doesn't look good. I emailed him yesterday, and got a reply this morning:

Dear Matt,

We used to carry hand stitched 17th century latchet shoes.  However, the bulk of the market wasn't interested in paying $150 for hand stitched shoes.  I got tired of sitting on them and decided to stop carrying them.  You could try Fugawee or do a search on the web, but I have no plans to start carrying the shoes again unless the market changes.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

R. Marr

Sykes Sutlering

Nice to hear about the 17th century shoes from Godwin, though. I like the sound of that...

[Capt. Sterling]

Thanks for following up on the shoes with Godwin... it may take them a few days to reply. They may be at an event... at least they used to attend when we were in Rev. war...

[michaelsbagley]

Thanks for following up on the shoes with Godwin... it may take them a few days to reply.  They may be at an event... at least they used to attend when we were in Rev. war...

Yep, the exceptionally friendly and helpful gentleman tried to tell me what sizes they had in stock for the Hessian Shoe, but was unable to as the shoes had been packed up for an event they were heading out for. He asked that I get back to him next Monday if i was still interested.

So for those thinking of contacting Godwin/Mount Misery to express interest in their footwear, email and patience may be the best route for now, as I imagine they will be on the road for events most of the summer, being the busy re-enactment seaon and all.

I'm thinking between Sterling's recomendation on the style, and just how overall pleased I have been by the amount of candour the gent used when speaking to me, I will probably be buying myself the Hessian shoes come Monday (assuming they have my size). And if not those, they have tons of their F&IW/American Rev-War shoes in stock as a subsitiute to last me until I can get me some really good period shoes.

[Matty Bottles]

I am really pleased to hear that you had such a good experience. I have only dealt through email, and since they do travel a bit from what I understand, perhaps a phone call is the best course of action. Thanks for collecting that information.

Out of curiosity, if they don't have a hessian shoe in your size, why not ask about one of the 17th century shoes? They will get them when they have enough orders, right? Or have I misunderstood the situation?

[michaelsbagley]

It's not so much of them taking "pre-orders" for the 17th century shoes until a big enough order exists, as it is a case of when they feel there will be enough interest to warrant them making the investment to make an order (which needs to be sizable) of the 17th century shoes. Or in other words, they aren't looking to fill an order, but looking to make a decision to carry a product line on their belief they can sell said product line.

As I would like a shoe sooner rather than later, I am going with something "in stock". If the 17th century shoe does eventually become a stock item for them (they feel they have gotten enough interest to warrant their investing n the inventory), I may and likely will buy a pair of the 17th century shoes as well.

I hope this has ade the situation more clear.

[Capt. Sterling]

Oi, off topic here, any chance of you showing at the Indiana event in August?

[Matty Bottles]

Yes, that is much more clear. And I understand the 'wanting the shoes sooner rather than later' feeling.