Vigo County Historical Society

Buying shoes once meant a trip through Sears and Roebuck catalog

Mon would trace child’s foot to send along with order

Looking through the phone book today, one can find dozens of shoe shores listed. Walk though any department store and you’ll see many different shoe styles.

For women, the styles range from rhinestone-studded party heels to clunky platforms to serviceable tennis shoes. For men, the styles are somewhat more limited but there is still a wide range to choose from.

That was not the case for much of this century. Shoe stores weren’t so prevalent in smaller towns. Owing a new pair of shoes required ordering them from Sears and Roebuck, located in Chicago.

Older adults will remember standing, as a child, on a piece of paper while mother traced the outline of the child’s foot. This tracing would accompany the mail order for shoes.

The choice of styles was extremely limited for both children and adults. Women in the very early 1900s, for example, generally wore high-top shoes that had a very narrow width and 16 eyelets on each side. Made of soft calf leather, they sold for $2.50 a pair.

These high top shoes were considered fashionable until 1919.

The next decade was distinguished by, another other things, a shift in what was considered fashionable. Among the hot fashions was the introduction of open-toe sandals in the late 20’s. The museum has a classic pair of gold colored strap sandals.

One can easily imagine a young woman on her way to dance at the Trianon Ballroom on Wabash Avenue wearing these elegant shoes. A streetcar would have taken her there for a nickel. Her date would have been fashionably elegant in his spats--those cloth coverings that fit over a gentleman’s ankle and the top of his shoes.

By the 40’s--the war years--saddle shoes were the "in thing" for both boys and girls. Scruffy looking or pristine white, one had to have at least one pair. With shoe rationing, even that one pair was sometimes hard to come by.

It stark contrast to the sensible, low-wearing saddle shoe were the extremely high heels that were to come into fashion in the late ‘40s. These arch breakers were in vogue to make wearers look taller and thinner. In reality, they hurt one’s feet, tilted women forward and were just flat out uncomfortable.

Some of these pain-inducing shoes had additional ankle-jeopardizing features. The Carmen Miranda is one such example--high heels on a platform.

By the 70’s the "clunker" arrived. It was a normal size shoe with a very large, thick heel. Though the style didn’t last long, it’s interesting to note that we are closing the century with its return.

Overshadowing all the many styles of shoes are sneakers. Tennis shoes. Tenny runners. Sneaks. Originally called tennis shoes, they now come in a variety of colors and sizes.

Some are prized for their meaningful logos, others for their function--tennis, basketball, running and walking.

Many of these styles can be seen in the museum during the "Celebrate the Century" exhibit.