Who makes these shoes??

[Frankie Lamb]

I Just bought a mint pair of "Walk-Over" brown wingtips for $30.00 at a thrift store in Ventura ( California ) and I can't make out the name of the maker's stamp. All I can read is, "Walk-Over", then a stylized maker's name, then under that is, "Shoes since 1756". I suspect they're British but can't dredge up anything on the internet. It also indicates on the inside wall that the outer part is made of deerskin; I believe it, they're kid-glove soft. I wore them for about an hour and it felt like I was wearing a pair of comfortable old slippers.
As I said, they are mint with no wear-marks anywhere. Appreciate any info on these shoes.
Thanks in advance,
Frankie Lamb

 

[Miss Neecerie]

The Geo. E. Keith company was founded in 1874. An ad in the Saturday Evening Post, June 28, 1924, p. 123, notes:

"Half a century ago a man of high ideals, far-seeing vision, and rare courage dedicated his life to the work of making shoes fit better. That man was George E. Keith, and his life work became an American institution, for George E. Keith created Walk-Over."

The Keith company is still in business in Brockton, MA.

 

[cookie]

Walk Over

I Just bought a mint pair of "Walk-Over" brown wingtips for $30.00 at a thrift store in Ventura ( California ) and I can't make out the name of the maker's stamp. All I can read is, "Walk-Over", then a stylized maker's name, then under that is, "Shoes since 1756". I suspect they're British but can't dredge up anything on the internet. It also indicates on the inside wall that the outer part is made of deerskin; I believe it, they're kid-glove soft. I wore them for about an hour and it felt like I was wearing a pair of comfortable old slippers.
As I said, they are mint with no wear-marks anywhere. Appreciate any info on these shoes.
Thanks in advance,
Frankie Lamb

Funny this thread just surfaced as your truly recently tried on his new NOS black Walk Overs. Do you have pix?

They were a size 12B (ostensibly - I am 11E) but they dated to the 40s/early 50s when vintage sizes are larger than now. Anyways I took a punt because the dimensions as quoted on the item indicated they could fit. Wow I got that right!

The earlier pair of Walk Overs are a splendid terracotta coloured pair I bought from American Vintage.com. I would say they are my faves because the quality is awesome. They are made with a top leather and look as good as a pair of Edward Greens I have but better and the leather is softer.

These black ones are of a similar quality. To think a machine made shoe could be almost MTM quality just for regular folks. These shoes are even "waisted" insteps like you get from MTM makers lIke Gaziano and Girling which cost around USD1.500.

 

[Frankie Lamb]

Mystery solved; thanks

Thanks folks for the quick response to my request. Wow, what a history on these shoes. I have a number of Floresheim and Nunn-Bush shoes but none of them are as impressive in both fit, feel and craftsmanship as these. I guess that was a good buy at $30.00 after all. The shoe-laces are the very thin round ones which I'm thinking of replacing with a flat pair to keep the "vintage" look. Once again, thanks for all the info; I'm new at this game and I've got a lot of catching up to do. If I may ask your help in another area, I'd like to know of a source for shirts which have the two small holes in the collar to accommodate
a tie bar. The bars that just clip onto the collar seem to move out of place too easily. The catch is, I'd rather not have to take a second mortgage out on the house to have the shirts made! Am I barking up an empty tree??
Thanks for your help,
Frankie Lamb