If you examine a Goodyear welt shoe, you will notice no stitches in sight, the seam being fastened to an under portion of the insole. The durability of the shoe relies, to a great extent, on the quality and strength of the insole.

The smooth-appearing insole of a welt shoe must be either pasted in or fastened underneath in some manner. This fastening is accomplished by passing the insole through a very small machine called a Goodyear channeler, which makes two incisions at one operation. It cuts a little slit along the edge of the insole, extending about one-half inch toward its center.

The upper part of insole made by the slit on the edge is turned up on a lip turning machine so that it extends out at right angles from the insole. In other words, the channel is opened up and laid back, forming a ridge around the outer edge of the sole. This forms a lip or shoulder, against which the welt is sewed. In this way the thread used in sewing cannot be seen in the finished shoe. The cut made on the surface serves as guide for the operator of the welt sewing machine when the shoe reaches him.

The inner and outer soles as well as the uppers are now brought into the lasting or gang room. The first part of lasting is called “assembling,” which means that many parts are brought together, such as upper, counter, insole, box toe, and last. The counter is placed in the upper, between lining and vamp, while the box toe is shellacked and put in the toe of the upper (provided it has not been stitched in the stitching room). The operator first tacks the inner sole on to a wooden last.

There are very many different styles of lasts, and in cutting uppers a different pattern must be used for each style. Then the upper is placed in position on the last, and it is ready to be pulled and stretched to the wood and take its required shape. This is accomplished by placing the shoes on the “pulling over machine,” where the shoe uppers are correctly placed on the last by the pincers of a machine holding the leather at different points securely against the wood of the last. By the movements of levers the shoe uppers are adjusted correctly. Then the pincers draw the leather securely around the last and at the same time two tacks on each side and at the toe are driven in part way, to hold the uppers securely.

It is now placed on the “hand method lasting machine,” where the leather is drawn tightly around the last. Before this operation, it is dipped in water to preserve its shape when formed and that it may be more easily formed by the machine. At each pull of the pincers a small tack, driven automatically part way in, holds the edge of the upper exactly in place, so that every part of the upper has been stretched in all directions equally. A special machine by means of a series of “wipers” is used to last the toe and heel. After the leather has been brought smoothly around the toe, it is held there by a little tape fastened on each side of the toe, which is held securely in place by the surplus leather, crimpled in at this point. The surplus leather crimpled in at the heel is forced smoothly down against the insole and held there by tacks driven by an ingenious hand tool. In all these lasting operations the tacks are only driven in part way, so they may afterwards be withdrawn and leave the inside perfectly smooth, except at the heel of the shoe, where they are driven into the iron heel of the last and clinched.

After these operations, the surplus leather at the toe and sides of the shoe is removed by the “upper trimming machine,” which cuts it away by means of a little knife and leaves it very smooth and even. A small hammer operating in connection with the knife pounds the leather on the same parts. A pounding machine hammers the leather and counter around the heel so that the stiff position conforms exactly to the last.

After the “lasted” shoe has been trimmed and pounded down to the shape of the last, it is turned over to the tack setter, who pulls out all the tacks except a few, called draft tacks. The insole is then wet to make it pliable, and is turned over to a very experienced operator, called the “inseamer,” who is to sew the welt on.

The shoe is now ready to receive a narrow strip of prepared leather, that is sewed after it is wet to make it pliable, along the edge of the shoe, beginning where the heel is placed and ending at the same spot on the opposite edge. This is called the welt, and is sewed from the inside lip of the insole, so that the curved needle passes through the lip, the upper, and the welt, uniting all three securely and allowing the welt to protrude beyond the edge of the shoe. The thread is very stout linen, and is passed through a pan of hot wax before being looped into chain stitch that holds the shoe together.

The nature of the stitch is a chain—two rows of threads on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. When the welt is finally sewed on, and the shoe put down on the bench, it looks like an ordinary shoe resting on a wide flange of leather. This flange is the welt, and to it the heavy outer sole is to be sewed fast. Should a single stitch break in this operation, it is passed to a cobbler, who repairs it by hand.

Before the outer sole is put on, the edges of the uppers must be trimmed along the seam that holds the welt. A slip of steel called steel shank is laid along the insole where the hollow of the foot is, and a piece of leather board laid over this to give the necessary stiffness and prevent the shoe from doubling up. As the welt has left a hollow space along the ball of the foot, it is necessary to fill this up, either with a piece of leather, tanned felt, or other filler. Felt is not waterproof, and leather squeaks, hence a mixture of ground cork and rubber cement is used. This is heated and spread on the sole, and run over a hot roller until the bottom of the shoe is perfectly smooth and even. The shoes are placed on a rack and are ready for the outsole.

Sole fastening is performed by a number of operations, in which a score or more of separate machines are used. The sole layers smear a rubber cement over this welt with a “cementing machine,” after the outsole has been soaked in water to make it pliable, and then place it on the shoe and tack a single nail in the heel. The “sole laying machine,” through great pressure, cements the sole on and fits it to every curve of the last. Then the sole is trimmed by a “rough rounding machine,” which trims the soles to the shape of the last. This machine also channels the outer sole at the same time, which is necessary for the next operation. The “channel opening machine” now turns up the lips of the channel and the sole is ready to be stitched to the welt.

The outsole is now sewed by a waxed thread to the welt, by an “outsole lock stitch machine,” which is similar to a welt sewing machine. The stitch is finer and extends from the slit (channel) to the upper side of the welt, where it shows after the shoe has been finished.

It unites the sole and welt with a tightly drawn lock stitch of remarkable strength. It sews through an inch of leather as easily as a woman would sew through a piece of cloth. The stitches are made through the welt and outer sole, the seam running in the channel of the outsole.

The inside of the slit in which this stitch has just been made is now coated with cement by means of a brush. The channel lip is forced back to its original position after the cement has dried, by a rapidly revolving wheel of a “channel laying machine.” In this way the stitches are hidden.

Welt shoes are stitched on in three different ways: “channeled,” which, when finished, leaves an invisible stitch on the bottom of the sole; “regular stitched aloft,” showing the stitches on both sides; and “fudge stitched,” in which the seam is sunk down in a groove, being almost invisible from the welt side.

Every stitch must be of such a nature that it is independent of the one next to it, so that should one stitch break, the others will not work loose. This is accomplished by running the threads through a pan of hot wax just before entering the leather, which causes the waxed thread to solidify, becoming, as it were, a part of the leather.

Notice should be taken of the difference between the way the outsole is stitched and the inner sole is stitched to the upper. In place of three threads in the chain stitch “that holds the welt to the upper and insole” there are but two here—an upper and a lower one. The upper thread extends only part way down, where it loops, twists, and locks into the lower thread. This is the reason why you can wear a welt sole clear through without its pulling loose.

Shoes that are stitched aloft go through the same operations as the channel-stitched shoes, with the exception that the rounding machine contrivance of cutting is eliminated.

Shoes that are to be fudge stitched are sent through the same machine as the regular stitched aloft, but an additional little knife point on the arm of the Goodyear stitcher digs a channel in the welt so that the stitches on that side are sunk into the leather.

The outsole is nailed at the heel after the stitching on the “loose nailing machine,” which drives the nails through the outsole and insole and clinches against the steel plate of the last. The machine drives separate nails fed from the hopper of any desired size or length, at the rate of three hundred and fifty per minute.

The edge of the outsole around the heel is now trimmed to conform exactly to the shape of the heel on the “heel seat pounding machine.”

The stitches of the regular stitched shoes are separated by a series of indentations, giving the shoe that corrugated effect which adds so much to the appearance of the shoe. In the fudge-stitched work the stitches are entirely covered up by the indentations.

Then a leveling machine, called the “automatic sole leveling machine,” with a pressure of about two and a half tons to each of the concave rollers, comes into play. The rolls move automatically back and forth and from side to side, doing the work that the shoemaker used to do on his lap with a hammer and stone, but doing it better and more quickly. It practically levels off the bottom of the soles.

An automatic guage regulates exactly the distance from the edge of the last, and by the use of this machine the operator is enabled to make a sole conform to that of all others of a similar design and size.

Heels are formed by cementing different lifts of leather. A machine called a “heel cutter” shapes out the lifts. The heel is then placed under pressure, giving it exact form and greatly increasing its wear.

In speaking of the ends and sides of a heel, the part that rests on the ground is spoken of as the top, and the first piece is called the top lift. The part that is fastened to the shoe is spoken of as the bottom, while the side nearest the toes is called the breast. The wedge is a flat, heel-shaped piece or lift of leather that is skived to a thin edge at the breast. Being thicker at the back, it tips the heel forward. Wedges are made from thin strips of waste leather, or from sheets of leather board, and are cut out with a hollow die. The gouges are cut in the sole leather room from scraps, and are a regular heel lift, having a horseshoe-shaped piece of leather with an opening at the breast.

The sole leather, insoles, counters, and heels, in the stock fitting department are “got out” by being cut into shape by a machine die.

The heel is now trimmed of all rough and surplus portions of leathers to the exact size of top lift. A blower attached to the machine removes all scraps, etc.

The breast of the heel, which faces the forepart of the shoe, is trimmed evenly across and with the desired slant by means of a peculiar-shaped knife which extends over the sole at shank. The edges of the heel are now scoured by revolving rolls with molded sandpaper to make perfectly smooth. Blowers attached to the machine remove all dust.

There are several types of machines for fastening the heel to the shoe, all very rapid in operation. One of the latest is that which feeds the nails, and which is operated by a man and boy, who together turn off a great quantity of work.

The nails are left protruding slightly above the heel so as to retain the top lift, which is now placed in position by the same operator on the same machine. It is pressed down over the heads of the nails securing it in position. The small brass or steel nails which protect and ornament the heel are now driven in by the “universal slugging machine.” This machine cuts the slugs from a coil of wire and drives them in with great rapidity.

We have practically now a roughly formed shoe ready for the finishing room.

Here the heel slugs are ground down, heel and sole buffed by sandpaper rolls on a scouring machine, wet down, stained, or blacked, as case may be, finished on bristle brushes, placed to dry, polished by a polishing machine, bottom stamped with the trademark, and passed to an operator whose duty it is to see that no tacks are left inside the shoes. Generally girls are hired to do this, as their hands are smaller and it is very important that no tacks are left, which might cause a great deal of trouble. If any are found, they are cut out with nippers or otherwise removed.

A lining is also generally put inside the shoe, covering the whole of the insole in a McKay shoe, and the heel only in a Goodyear shoe. Shoes must also be inspected here before they are packed, to see if they are perfect in every way and that each shoe is a perfect mate in the pair.

The shoes are now sent to the last department, called treeing, dressing, and packing department.

This department has to do with the finishing of the uppers. The bottoms and edges are all finished when shoes get to this department, and nothing remains but to finish the uppers and pack the shoes in single-pair cartons and then in wooden boxes or cases.

The different uppers are all finished by a different process, some being ironed with a hot iron, which is done to take out the wrinkles and smooth the uppers. Ironing was first introduced on kid shoes, but in recent years the hot iron has been put on nearly all kinds of stock. A shoe must be on a form or tree when ironed, the form or tree being the same shape as the last. The whole idea in ironing is the same as that followed by the tailor, who uses a hot iron to press and smooth out clothes. The operations in detail are as follows:—

Each shoe is treed, after having been drawn over a foot form similar to that on which the shoe was lasted, and any stain or dirt which may have been carelessly put on in former operations is cleaned off; the shoe is sponged with a gum prepared for either black or tan goods, rubbed down dull, and then rubbed to a polish. In many patent leather shoes the treeing is to clean off the surface, as we said before, and then to iron it with a hot iron, which takes out all stains, and leaves the leather shiny and black.

The shoes finally go to hand operators, who rag the edges and heels, leaving them ready to be laced and put into the boxes. After lacing, the shoes are passed to inspectors, whose duty it is to see that they are perfect, to throw out all which are not, make a record of them, and pass the perfect shoes to the packers, who see that the sizes are right, that each pair is mated, and placed in paper cartons, ready to be packed in wooden cases for shipment. The packing of cartons into wooden cases is done by men who nail on the lid when each case is full, mark where goods are to be sent, make a record of same and load the cases into freight cars.

There are other uppers that are treed, such as wax calf, for instance, and split uppers, which are used in heavy shoes. The main idea of treeing a shoe is to give it a smooth and finished appearance and a good “feel.” In the regular treeing operation they use liquid preparations, often called composition, and these are worked into the upper, filling it to some extent. French chalk is used a great deal in some uppers, and oil or some form of grease or gum is also used, all of which make the upper as it was when first put on the cutting board of the shoe factory. All work done in this room is intended to give leather its original luster, which has been lost to a certain extent in going through the different rooms and in being handled so much.

There are still other uppers that may not be treed or ironed but merely cleaned and polished to give luster. Some of these may be dressed. To dress a shoe means to put on a liquid dressing. In some cases two coats of dressing are put on and in other cases one coat. A shoe can have a dull dressing or a bright dressing, according to how the buyer prefers to have his shoes look.

CHAPTER SEVEN
McKAY AND TURNED SHOES

The McKay process is used very extensively in the manufacture of cheap shoes. Its introduction was a great improvement over the nailing and pegging of the soles to the uppers. It allows the two to be stitched together by means of a straight needle running through the entire thickness of upper, sole, and insole.

In following the McKay process through the factory, we find it very similar to the Goodyear welt process, which has been explained, the main difference being in the methods of fastening the sole to the uppers.

The lasts and patterns are obtained in the same manner as described in the previous chapter. The order is made out in the factory office, and the ticket is given to the sorter, who selects the required number of skins, which he rolls in a bundle and turns over to the cutter. The cutters form the various pieces of leather and linings, which are tied up in bundles and sent to the stitching room. Here they pass through the various sewing machines, finally coming out in the form of a complete upper ready to be attached to the bottoms.

The soles, insoles, counters, and heels for McKay shoes are all formed in the same room, as described in the Goodyear process.

There is a difference in making ready the outsoles and insoles. It will be recalled that the outsole for the Goodyear welt shoe was simply a block of leather cut to fit the shoe and was not channeled. The outsole for the McKay shoe is run through a channeling machine, which cuts a slit around the edge of the sole, folds the leather back, and digs a little trench along the inside of the slit. It will also be remembered that the insole of the Goodyear welt shoe was channeled with two slits, one of which was turned back to form the breast for sewing on the welt strip. The insole of a McKay shoe is not channeled in any way, but is left plain, like the outsole of the Goodyear welt. The uppers, the soles, insoles, counters, and heels all having been made ready, the pieces are taken to the lasting room.

The first process is called “assembling.” The operator takes up one of the uppers, inserts the last, sticks in a counter between the lining and the outside, puts in a “box” (a stout piece of canvas to give stability to the toe) at the toe, beneath the tip, puts in the insole, and then may pull the shoe tight on the last or give it to the operator on the pulling over machine to have it done. The pulling over machine is now used in nearly all factories, having displaced hand pulling the same as the lasting machines have displaced hand lasting. The assembling, pulling, and lasting on the machine are all parts of the regular operation of lasting. The hand laster had to do all three parts in former times, but now there are machines to do nearly everything, and at the present time the operation of lasting is divided into assembling, pulling over, and lasting on the machine. But even these machines do not do it all, as there is surplus upper to be cut away, toes to be pounded down, and filling to be put in the bottom, all of which are done on a McKay shoe before the sole can be laid. There are machines to do these parts, too.

A trimmer (this is done by hand) now takes the shoe, trims off all the surplus leather, tacks in the shank (a little piece of steel to give rigidity to the shank of the sole), fills all up smoothly and then passes it to the sole layer, who puts on the outer sole and tacks it in place.

The last is now pulled out of the shoe and it is ready for the McKay sewing machine.

This machine sews right through the inner and outer sole, and at the same time catches the edges of the upper leather and the lining in between the two and draws them all snugly and firmly together. The stitches are made right along in the channel of the outer sole, which is deep enough to admit the row of stitches without raising a ridge on the outside of the sole, after the channel is closed up and leveled. The channel is next filled with cement and passed on to the leveler, which turns down the loosened flap of leather, presses it all out smooth, and covers the seam up so completely that no trace of the sewing is to be seen. This little folded-over flap of leather serves the double purpose of hiding the stitches in the sole, and at the same time protecting them from wear against the ground.

The shoe is then ready to be heeled, and from here to the shipping door the McKay generally goes through the same process as a welt. After heeling, the McKay shoes are relasted or have followers put in to keep them in shape while going through. The sock lining may be put in here, too, before relasting, or it may not be put in till the shoes get to another room. The McKay lasting last must be pulled from the shoe to have the bottoms and heels put on and this also applies to a pegged or nailed shoe. But in the case of a welt shoe or a turn shoe, both stay on the original last until the bottoms and heels have been fastened on. The turn shoe being lasted inside out, must come off the last to be turned right side out, and it goes right on the last as soon as it can be turned. The different methods of fastening the bottoms constitute the main difference between Goodyear and turn shoes on the one hand, and McKay, pegged, and nailed on the other. The bottom stock must be prepared differently in order to fit the methods. Thus it is seen that only two departments are affected, namely, the sole leather and the making departments. In the cutting, stitching, finishing, treeing, and packing, all operations are practically the same on every shoe, no matter how it is bottomed. The patterns, however, by which shoes are cut may be different.

In the finishing room all of the finishing of the bottoms and heel edges is done. The heels are sandpapered or scoured, and are then blacked and polished under hot-iron pressure. Considerable wax is used on the edge and is melted by the hot iron. Heel edges may also be finished on a wheel or roll. There are several different ways, but the object of each method is to give a hard, black, and highly polished surface to the edge.

In finishing the bottom the top lift is scoured or buffed, and all of the sole and the breast of the heel also. Each is a different process, a different operator attending to each part. The object of scouring or buffing with sandpaper is to get a smooth foundation for the finish, which is put on next, and which may be all the same color in all parts of the bottom or may have one color in the shank and another in the forepart. The stains and blackings are used on bottoms, and these are brought to a high, hard gloss by means of rolls and brushes. Hot irons are often used on black shanks and bottoms to give added hardness and luster to the finish.

The turned or turn shoe is a woman’s fine shoe that is made wrong side out, then turned right side out. The sole is fastened to the last, and the upper is twisted over, the wrong side out. Then the two are sewed together, the thread catching through a channel or shoulder cut in the edge of the sole. The seam does not come through to the bottom of the sole, nor to any part inside where it would chafe the foot.

The preparation of the upper for a turn shoe is identical with that of a welt or McKay, with the exception that the back is cut a little longer and a little larger, in order to last it over the sole. The important difference in the make-up of a turn shoe as compared with that of a McKay or welt is that it has no insole, the upper being sewed directly to a portion of the sole itself.

As the cutting of the uppers and the stitching operations of a turn shoe are the same as the Goodyear and McKay, and have been explained, we will take up the forming of the sole, which is entirely different from either of the other two methods.

A turn shoe is put together wrong side out, and it is necessary, during the course of making, to turn it by rolling the sole up like a roll of carpet. It is evident, then, that nothing but good quality, pliable leather can be used satisfactorily, and great care is taken to include nothing but the best.

The soles are cut out on the beam machines, also previously described. They are then channeled on the side that is next to the foot. This channeling is similar to that done on the welt insole. Two incisions are made, the inside one being the same as in the welt insoles. The outside one, however, is different, as the flange is cut off square instead of being rolled up. This leaves a channel which begins at the edge and surface of the sole and extends in semicircular form to the abrupt wall of the cut in the sole, which forms the breast against which the upper is to be sewed.

After the soles are channeled, they are soaked until they become soft enough to roll up easily. They are then placed on racks and kept in a damp room until needed.

A turn shoe is hand lasted wrong side out. First the uppers are turned with the lining outside, then the last is inserted and also the toe boxing.

The sole is set straight on the last and is tacked firmly to it. The operator, by aid of hand pullers, draws the upper over the sole and tacks it securely from a point where the breast of the heel will rest to where the large toe will extend, and then along the same distance on the other side. The toe part is next lasted by machinery, a wire being fastened at one side and run around the edge holding the pulled-up parts of the upper which has been stretched tightly over the last.

The shoe is next passed over to the Goodyear inseamer operator, who sews the upper to the sole, the needle passing down through the inside channel, through the sole leather, out through the square-cut channel and then through the upper, uniting the upper to the sole with the chain stitch. In fact, the bottom of a turn shoe at this time looks exactly like the bottom of a welt, with the exception that the turn shoe is still turned wrong side out. The nature of the stitch is the same—a waxed, threaded chain, with two rows of thread on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. The shoe is sewed only from the back of the shank to the toe, the heel part still being loose.

The seam is now trimmed with an inseam trimmer, a machine with a revolving, jagged-edged knife that saws off the surplus portions of the upper, leaving it smooth and even with the sole. The tacks are all pulled out with a sort of a nail puller, which works rapidly and automatically.

The lasts are then taken out and the shoe is turned right side out. This turning process is not a difficult one, but it is perhaps the most interesting operation that the layman will see in the entire factory. The operation is accomplished by means of a rigid iron bar set slantwise in a table. The upper is turned right side out by hand and the sole is rolled right side out by means of pressure on this bar.

After this turning process, which twists and rolls the shoe out of shape, it has no semblance of its final form. The back part of the sole and upper are still loose, the upper being fastened from the shank to the toe.

The turn shoe must be “second” lasted, and the inserting of the last is no easy matter. A contrivance called a push jack assists the operator greatly. He uses a flat, narrow rod to smooth out the lining, and after squeezing, pushing, and smoothing, the last is finally made to fit in the shoe. The counter is placed in at this time, the shank piece is set in place, and the shoe and last are placed on a jack for nailing. The back part upper is now stretched tightly over the heel part of the last by means of lasting pullers, and is tacked down, the nails going through the shank piece and clinching against the anvil heel seat of the last. This operation completes the lasting, the shoe now having a form exactly like the last over which it is made.

Workmen now level the bottoms and form the shank by a hand method, preparatory to the machine leveling process. The shoe is still wet and is left to dry on the last twenty-four hours. Then it is run through the machine called the “leveler,” which, with its enormous pressure, forms the sole to that of the last. The shoes are now left four days on the lasts, to dry thoroughly, so that they may retain their shape permanently.

The putting on of the heel, and the various finishing processes are practically the same as that of the welt, with the exception that a turn sole must have a sock lining.

Some factories use a grain leather sock lining, which is pasted in, covering up the channels of the sole which hold the stitches and forming a smooth surface for the foot to rest upon.

The difference between a McKay and a turn shoe may be told by the fact that the stitching on the inside of the sole is much closer to the edge in a turn. Another thing, in a turn shoe, the seam connecting the upper and the outsole can be seen.

Nothing is likely to excel the turn shoe for lightness and flexibility, since the method of making, whereby the sole is stitched directly to the upper, interposes no thick or cumbersome material. Sole leather of good quality is used. In fact, the sole would have to be not only strong, but thin and light, or the shoe could not be turned in the process of manufacture without straining it and getting it out of shape.

History of the Turn Shoe

History states that prior to 1845, which marked the date of the introduction of shoe machinery, most of the shoes were sewed by hand, the lighter ones turned and the heavier ones welted. In fact, the early factories that began to spring up in New England about the beginning of the century, were merely cutting rooms and places for storing the lasts and stock.

Here the uppers, soles, and linings were cut by hand and then given out to people in the vicinity, mostly farmers and fishermen, to be stitched together and paid for at so much a dozen. Such was the beginning of the shoe industry in New England. Hundreds of families added to their resources in this way, the women doing the lighter work and the men the heavier.

In fishing communities, where men were away most of the time in their boats, their wives and daughters, who stayed at home, undertook the lighter grades of shoemaking—the turn process. This was the case in the “North Shore” towns like Lynn, Haverhill, and Marblehead, and these to-day, keeping to the old traditions, are the great centers for the finer turn-grades of shoemaking, whereas the “South Shore” towns, like Brockton, Whitman, Abington, Rockland, and the Weymouths, with the men at home all the year, came to make a specialty of shoes for men, and absorbed the heavier part of the growing industry.

With the introduction of the Goodyear turn machine, however, the handwork was gradually done away with, although more handwork is done in the turn process than in either the McKay or welt process.

Standard Screw Shoemaking

Many good qualities of heavy shoes are made by the standard screw method, which differs from the McKay method by having the outsole and insole fastened together with a double-threaded wire, which is screwed through and cut off by the machine the instant it reaches the inside of the shoe.

A pegged shoe is made in much the same way as the standard screw, except that wooden pegs are used instead of wire to fasten the sole together.

The nailed method of shoemaking consists in nailing the soles together around the edge. It is used principally for heavy, cheap shoes.

CHAPTER EIGHT
OLD-FASHIONED SHOEMAKING AND REPAIRING

The old-fashioned shoemaker formerly made shoes by hand as follows:—A last, which is a wooden model of a foot, was used, and pieces of leather were pasted here and there on it so as to build up a model conforming to the measurements of the foot. Then paper patterns of the upper leather were made from the last, and from these the upper leathers were cut out of tanned calfskins and sewed together.

The leather for the soles was cut out of tanned ox or steer hide, the pieces being the insole, the outsole, and the lifts of the heel. The inner soles were made of softer leather. Sometimes split sole leathers were used for uppers. The shoemaker then softened the leather by steeping it in water, until it was pliable and at the same time firm, and would cut like cheese.

The insoles were attached to the bottom of a pair of wooden lasts, and the wet leather fastened on with lasting tacks so as to mold it to the last. When it was dry, the shoemaker with pincers drew the leather out until it had taken the exact form of the bottom of the last. Then he rounded the soles by paring down the edges close to the last, and formed around these edges a small channel or feather cut or slit about an eighth of an inch in the leather.

Next he pierced the insoles all around with a bent awl, which “bit” into, but not through, the leather, and came out at the channel or feather edge. The boots were then lasted by placing the uppers on the lasts, drawing the edges by means of pincers tightly round the edge of the insoles. Then they were fastened in portions with lasting tacks. Lasting was considered a very important operation, for unless the upper was drawn smoothly and equally over the last, leaving neither a crease nor wrinkle, the form would be a failure. A band of flexible leather about an inch wide, with one edge pared, was then placed in position around the sides of the shoes, up to the heel or seat, and the maker proceeded to “inseam,” by passing his awl through the holes, already made in the insole, catching with it the edge of the upper and the thin edge of the welt, and sewing all three together in one flat seam, with a waxed thread.

The threads which shoemakers use are called “ends,” and are made of two or more strands of small flaxen threads. The shoemaker makes his own waxed thread as follows:—

He holds the main part of the thread from the spool, in his left hand, holding it firmly—where he wants to break it—between the first finger and thumb, so that it will not turn beyond that point. Then with the left hand, he lays the end of the flax on the knee and rolls it from him. This will cause the small fibers that compose the thread to separate—thus enabling him to break it easily. When the fibers separate, he gives the thread a light, quick turn, which causes it to break. As the thread breaks he pulls it apart gradually, so that the fibers will taper. Then he places the threads together, one just behind the other, so that the end will have a very fine point. He rolls the end and allows it to turn between the fingers of the left hand. After it has been rolled and twisted, it is waxed by drawing the thread through a piece of wax.

The fine ends are waxed to a point. A bristle is fastened on in the following manner: the head of the bristle is held in the left hand, and the portion to which the thread is to be fastened is waxed; then the thread and bristle are twisted together. A hole is made in the thread and the bristle pulled through and fastened. After the threads are fastened, the heads of the bristle are cut off, and the ends sandpapered.

The wax thread or “end,” as it is called, should never be made longer than is necessary to sew a shoe. Experience shows that if a portion of an end left after sewing one shoe is used on the second shoe, it is never as strong as a new end. The thread grows weaker and weaker as it is used. When the thread is well waxed, it is cemented to the shoe.

After the shoe is sewed, the shoemaker pares off inequalities and levels the bottoms, by filling up the depressed part in the center with pieces of tarred felt. The shoes are now ready for the outsoles. The fibers of the leather to be used for the soles are thoroughly condensed by hammering on the lapstone. Then they are fastened through the insole with steel tacks, their sides are pared, and a narrow channel is cut round their edges. Through this channel they are stitched to the welt, about twelve stitches of strong, waxed thread being made to the inch. The soles are next hammered into shape; the heel lifts are put on and attached with wooden pegs. Then they are sewed through the stitches of the insoles; and the top pieces, similar to the outsoles, are put on and nailed down to the lifts.

The finishing operations of the shoe include smoothing the edges of the heel, paring, rasping, scraping, smoothing, blacking, and burnishing the edges of the soles, withdrawing the lasts, and cleaning out any pegs which may have pierced through the inner sole. There are numerous minor operations connected with forwarding and finishing in various materials, such as punching holes, inserting eyelets, etc.

How Shoes are Repaired

Before one can understand how shoes are repaired, it is necessary to know the difference between the inside and outside of a shoe.

The last is divided into four parts, viz. toe, ball, shank, and heel.

Diagram No. 1 shows these parts and their shapes.

Diagram No. 2 shows the length of the inside of the divisions as compared with those of the outside. Notice the long shank and short ball.

Diagram No. 3 shows the outside of the divisions and the effect they have upon the shape of the shoe. See short shank and long ball.

Always remember that the ball of a shoe is longer on the outside, having a short shank. The ball is shorter on the inside, having a long shank. Compare outside and inside diagrams Nos. 2 and 3.