Vintage Spectator Shoes

[countryclubjoe]

You can use a leather cleaner on that, but there is the real danger that you will remove some of the white coloring as well... leaving the leather in that area looking "dirty".

You can give that a try, but the nature of the beast for specs is that the white is going to get scuffed and stained as you wear them. Character!~

Thanks ISS
I will simply keep the few minor scuffs rather then risk ruining the shoes completely..
Best regards and thank you for the tips.

 

[Tomasso]

Vintage NO, compared to what is made today I would say Quality Yes..

Who is the maker?

 

[countryclubjoe]

Who is the maker?

AE

 

[Tomasso]

AE

I'd call them for advice. Worst case, you send them in to be refinished. $50

 

[countryclubjoe]

I'd call them for advice. Worst case, you send them in to be refinished. $50

Thank you Tomasso.. Much appreciated.

CCJ

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Thank you Tomasso.. Much appreciated.

CCJ

I would like to share some personal knowledge regarding all the brand names of anything you could use to "color" a shoe. Anything that is a paint, or acrylic, or latex, is not going to last on the leather and in the long run, you will be very unhappy with what took place. To use those products you have to "strip" the top layer of the leather finish off. If you do not do that, the product will not stick at all. When you strip the leather, you dry it out far too much. Cracking of the leather is going to be promoted like crazy! The Angelus and the Meltonian shoe coloring is acrylic. It drys hard like fingernail polish. Cracks, will not bend on the top of your shoes without cracking after being worn. Even with a "top coat" application which is their sealing liguid, you are still going to see that cracking. Constant repairing the cracking and having to strip off all that stuff each time. The shoes will not take a polish even a cream, as anything you put on this finish makes it turn to mush, just not a smart thing to do.

Suggestions for white leather! Find and use a white permanent ink laundry marker, use if very sparingly on any black marks bad scuffs to bring back the white but do not use it on the entire white surface. When it has dried for a day or more, then use a cream paste white polish and do not use much of it no matter what.

How do I know all this? I have witnessed my Husband finding out the hard way about all these shoe care products, you can imagine the "verbal" dismay I have had to hear when days of work on shoes just backfired as the so called shoe color product really did not work.

You want to die a shoe? Black shoe dye will work on a brown or black shoe, and you can freshen up a brown pair with the brown shoe dye. Now that shoe dye is NOT a paint, it is some bad stuff to use, smells, has some strong chemicals in it, like what is actually used to tan and color shoe leather to begin with. It is a messy product to use, and it will soak into the entire surface of what shoes you are going to dye with it. Like turpentine, is what it would remind you of. And if you use a real shoe dye, after it has taken a long time to really dry and cure, you have to pump the inside of those shoes with conditioner, and let it sit for days, or you can about count of those shoes to have the leather so dry it will just about rip apart.

There is NO fast fix for dealing with proper shoe care. Your best friends of shoe care, good conditioner and shoe trees, and of course never be shy to use saddle soap on them to clean them all off before conditioning and then a polish.

I just obtained a new (for here) pair of vintage spectators florsheims. The white is not so deep white and I spent a hour just washing and then letting them dry now for applications of conditioner. Daniel already has one pair just like these, and these new ones are in need of some real repair issues, heels and soles but the uppers are not too bad. Just the white. So I will post some pictures of what they have done step by step for you to see what I have learned from him. These shoes are going to be part of his birthday present, coming up really soon, along with a custom hat, other clothing goodies....a new Savinelli Black Alligator pipe, too!

 

[Isshinryu101]

Thank goodness for a voice of reason here! "coloring" = NO. Dye = Yes... with a caveat about old leather possibly drying out.

Agree 100&!

good luck with your refurb project.

I would like to share some personal knowledge regarding all the brand names of anything you could use to "color" a shoe. Anything that is a paint, or acrylic, or latex, is not going to last on the leather and in the long run, you will be very unhappy with what took place. To use those products you have to "strip" the top layer of the leather finish off. If you do not do that, the product will not stick at all. When you strip the leather, you dry it out far too much. Cracking of the leather is going to be promoted like crazy! The Angelus and the Meltonian shoe coloring is acrylic. It drys hard like fingernail polish. Cracks, will not bend on the top of your shoes without cracking after being worn. Even with a "top coat" application which is their sealing liguid, you are still going to see that cracking. Constant repairing the cracking and having to strip off all that stuff each time. The shoes will not take a polish even a cream, as anything you put on this finish makes it turn to mush, just not a smart thing to do.

Suggestions for white leather! Find and use a white permanent ink laundry marker, use if very sparingly on any black marks bad scuffs to bring back the white but do not use it on the entire white surface. When it has dried for a day or more, then use a cream paste white polish and do not use much of it no matter what.

How do I know all this? I have witnessed my Husband finding out the hard way about all these shoe care products, you can imagine the "verbal" dismay I have had to hear when days of work on shoes just backfired as the so called shoe color product really did not work.

You want to die a shoe? Black shoe dye will work on a brown or black shoe, and you can freshen up a brown pair with the brown shoe dye. Now that shoe dye is NOT a paint, it is some bad stuff to use, smells, has some strong chemicals in it, like what is actually used to tan and color shoe leather to begin with. It is a messy product to use, and it will soak into the entire surface of what shoes you are going to dye with it. Like turpentine, is what it would remind you of. And if you use a real shoe dye, after it has taken a long time to really dry and cure, you have to pump the inside of those shoes with conditioner, and let it sit for days, or you can about count of those shoes to have the leather so dry it will just about rip apart.

There is NO fast fix for dealing with proper shoe care. Your best friends of shoe care, good conditioner and shoe trees, and of course never be shy to use saddle soap on them to clean them all off before conditioning and then a polish.

I just obtained a new (for here) pair of vintage spectators florsheims. The white is not so deep white and I spent a hour just washing and then letting them dry now for applications of conditioner. Daniel already has one pair just like these, and these new ones are in need of some real repair issues, heels and soles but the uppers are not too bad. Just the white. So I will post some pictures of what they have done step by step for you to see what I have learned from him. These shoes are going to be part of his birthday present, coming up really soon, along with a custom hat, other clothing goodies....a new Savinelli Black Alligator pipe, too!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

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It is very common for some discoloration to appear on a vintage shoe like these pictures show. You will note the one pair that have already been treated with being saddle soaped, conditioned and then cream paste white. This is not a fast process. But it is what does work fairly well. The newer pair that need work done will take a week or more time, they need to be resoled and new heels and there are a couple of small cuts on the toe of one shoe.

 

[LoveMyHats2]

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Some old vintage secret weapons, 1921 International Shoe Company Chemical Department...shoe repair pencil crayons that are a medium dark brown. These are really priceless in filling in any issues on the leather of the shoe, it fills small nicks and cuts and scuffs (you have to warm the pencil slightly) and then work it into the application area. After this sits for a few hours, it is "set" and cured to where it stays really well. Then you can use a can of wax polish to seal over it, this is at times an application you only need to do once. After seeing this being done a few times by Daniel, I can tell some of the shoes it has been used on, will not need another application applied and is not detectable if done right. He has found several boxes of these, the medium dark brown, British tan, black, Navy blue. These were a rare find, but priceless as they actually work. A quest if you will want to call it that is to find some that are a white or cream color, so far still looking.

These were used by shoemakers in the factory to save and touch up any mishaps during the process of making shoes. Our cobbler here and his Father worked in the Shaw Shoe factory that when they were still around, located not far from here in the City of Coldwater, Michigan. An interesting history of what Shaw Shoe Company did, (as common practice according to him) was they actually made shoes for other brand names, and were also known to make a lot of "special order" custom shoes, aside from their own line of shoes. "In House" brand of Shaw shoes were made by a group of production shoemakers. Any of those individuals could make a pair of shoes no matter what stage of the making the shoe would be in, however, they had a "station" to be more like an assembly line, each one specializing in the step they did to produce the "In House" shoe. Then they had at least one person that was in charge, a "master crafter" shoe maker. Union rules. That person would handle anything special or custom order that would float in for order.

The materials and everything necessary for making a run of shoes always would be delivered before hand, and the Shaw Shoe Company did all their own cutting of the leather blanks, sewing them up and then made their own "lasts" for each shoe model order. This was a common practice for most of the better quality shoe making companies back in the day. Far better than what is common now. Most shoe companies have the leather already sewn to a pattern they supply to the "jobbers" that gather leather for orders to each company. Now a large company that wants the best leather, sort of gets a priority for that leather as compared to a small time operation. There a dozens of different leather quality, in Calf, Exotic, Regular Cow leather, and how it is processed and used in making shoes. Some shoe leather "blanks" of say, Alligator, can run as much as a hundred dollars for one "blank", and you may need more than one blank per shoe.

This is also why (as some people know) a shoe that is made of just one blank of leather material is commonly called a "whole cut" as it only had one nice well processed and more than not, higher quality material, for the shoe. "Whole Cuts" have a advantage to multiple pieces in making a shoe. First one is overall leather quality. Shoe strength integrity. Overall finish. Price. (you got what you paid for, a better quality built shoe).

I am not sure what pair of shoes my Husband owns that Shaw made, but has a different brand label on, I will have to ask him.

Amazing what I have learned about shoes. We here are still learning more, too!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

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Here a pair of vintage Mason brand spectators. Not something you see much as Mason normally is associated with blue collar work shoes or boots. However these are something to present a real challenge for the "white" part of the shoe. I have no idea right now, if the white is suede or smooth leather. When they arrive, I can then know and take some more pictures. If the white is suede, then I can brush for a long time with a suede brush and then I can use the "bunny bag" to freshen up the white. If it is leather, then washing and conditioning and then cream paste white on them. I will have to hunt for some laces for these, I know we have some true vintage white laces but am not sure where Daniel has stashed them? These have some mild spade soles and from what I could tell from pictures, they should not need too much done to them. I was lucky as I was just looking online at some gold Parker ball point ink pens, and then observed these for sale. Leaped on them as they are 11D! The seller did not know much so I stopped asking questions to him. Nice person however!

Not too sure but these may be 1940's or 1950's.

 

[Isshinryu101]

post a sole pic, pls.

 

[Johnny J]

No more vintage specs?

 

[Short Balding Guy]

New Vintage Shoe day at my house!

I would like to introduce my new (to me) 1930 Spectators. Roberts Johnson and Rand made these in the 1930's. Grey and green with gorgeous details. The green hue is truly "spectacular, " even for spectators.

The shoes arrived this morning and I removed some old built up wax. Then the leather has been soaking in conditioner. The soles cleaned and conditioned. I have ordered and am waiting for some Saphir shoe polish and creams I believe will match these shoes.

My cobbler was contacted early this week and we have an appointment for next week. I will have him review the shoes. I expect, like other vintage shoes, these will have to have the heels replaced, insoles made and a new insert for the heel created. The insoles and heel will make the shoes be able to be gently worn. As with other shoes I will have all the original parts saved. This afternoon I dropped the orginal box off to an archivist to have her work with the box preservation.

The soles will be covered with a rubber sole. My cobbler has done this with other shoes and has been very careful so as not to hurt the ability to have them come back to original condition.

This pair of shoes I intend to gently wear. Wear them I will!

Thanks for taking a look and stay tuned for future shots of them being worn.

Best, Eric -

 

[Short Balding Guy]

Holy new spectator shoe day! I would like to take this moment to introduce my new 1930 swede and brown ventilated spectators. They have the "London Spring Arch" system. Truly gorgeous shoes.

The suede leather is gorgeously intact and shoes the original leather strength and malleability. The nap is present and alive. When you brush the nap on direction it snaps up,like it did when it was new.

Cap toe is pretty and shows a spiffy curve. They must have been hard to last and construct. The perforations are well done and spaced.

The shoes shape appears elegant to my eye. I imagine that the shoe showing from under some spring or summer slacks they will be slick.

The soles - the soles.

What's the next step? I will have to protect the soles with a rubber protector. After the New Year I will have my cobbler install sole prtotectors. The suede should have some leather conditioner applied to it. What conditioner? Is this correct? I have ordered the Saphir Suede cleaner and am expecting it's delivery. I am not needing it reight away -planning ahead. The leather (brown), soles and insides have been soaking up leather conditioner this morning. The white I have been careful not to get any on. Additional conditioner has been ordered as I suspect both pairs of new spectators will need some additional treatments. Leather insoles(heel only) will need to be made and installed.

The vented spectators will be gently worn. They are such a condition to give many years of enjoyable spectator views.

Thanks for taking a look at the 1930 London Spring Arch spectators. Best, Eric -

 

[MondoFW]

Holy new spectator shoe day! I would like to take this moment to introduce my new 1930 swede and brown ventilated spectators. They have the "London Spring Arch" system. Truly gorgeous shoes.

The suede leather is gorgeously intact and shoes the original leather strength and malleability. The nap is present and alive. When you brush the nap on direction it snaps up,like it did when it was new.

Cap toe is pretty and shows a spiffy curve. They must have been hard to last and construct. The perforations are well done and spaced.

The shoes shape appears elegant to my eye. I imagine that the shoe showing from under some spring or summer slacks they will be slick.

The soles - the soles.

What's the next step? I will have to protect the soles with a rubber protector. After the New Year I will have my cobbler install sole prtotectors. The suede should have some leather conditioner applied to it. What conditioner? Is this correct? I have ordered the Saphir Suede cleaner and am expecting it's delivery. I am not needing it reight away -planning ahead. The leather (brown), soles and insides have been soaking up leather conditioner this morning. The white I have been careful not to get any on. Additional conditioner has been ordered as I suspect both pairs of new spectators will need some additional treatments. Leather insoles(heel only) will need to be made and installed.

The vented spectators will be gently worn. They are such a condition to give many years of enjoyable spectator views.

Thanks for taking a look at the 1930 London Spring Arch spectators. Best, Eric -

These are amazing, great find from wherever you got em.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

These are amazing, great find from wherever you got em.

Thanks sir.

 

[GHT]

These are amazing, great find from wherever you got em.

A lovely pair of Spectators indeed. When you get the soles covered ask if your cobbler still has the rubberised 'stick-a-sole.' These soles are strong and durable but when they do finally wear you can have them replaced without any damage or interference with the structure of the shoe. You might also consider a similar rubber heel with a three quarter steel, heel tip. These hard wearing heels will protect your magnificent shoes, however, if you do go for the steel tip, never wear them on a ballroom floor.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

A lovely pair of Spectators indeed. When you get the soles covered ask if your cobbler still has the rubberised 'stick-a-sole.' These soles are strong and durable but when they do finally wear you can have them replaced without any damage or interference with the structure of the shoe. You might also consider a similar rubber heel with a three quarter steel, heel tip. These hard wearing heels will protect your magnificent shoes, however, if you do go for the steel tip, never wear them on a ballroom floor.
View attachment 100124

Thanks I will consider and discuss options with my cobbler.

 

[MondoFW]

Finding original spectators that are affordable and in my size feels like mission impossible. Why do I have to have small feet??

 

[LuvMyMan]

Finding original spectators that are affordable and in my size feels like mission impossible. Why do I have to have small feet??

Not sure what size you wear but in some cases smaller sized vintage mens shoes are easier to find in never worn condition then larger sizes. I just say this as experiences in searching for sizes in the 10 1/2 to 11 D sizing are not so easy to find but smaller sized seem to appear more often. I can tell you that hunting for good clean non beat up vintage shoes is a full time job, LOL! If you look on eBay, Etsy, or any other online sources, you will eventually find something worth buying.