Woman's Red Satin Shoes

The shoes are stamped on the bottom “Patented March 11, 1884” which helps us date their design and manufacture.  They are lined in white kid leather and labeled “W. H. Moore” on the interior sole, giving a brand identification.

The shoes have been worn, as we can see through the inner sole and the bottom of the shoe. The interior shows red and pink coloration on the ivory kid leather, likely from the wearer’s perspiration reacting to the dyes in the red satin covering. The bottom of the leather heel and the front of the sole show wear patterns. The red satin is in very good condition, indicating that the wearer took good care of their shoes or covered them with a gaiter or other protective covering when worn outside. The heels are attached with nails and the last marks are visible. They lace up the front with red laces ending in metal aglets, both of which were donated with the shoes. The satin outer covering is machine stitched, which is visible around the throat and the top binding as well as the machine-sewn eyelets.

The oxford shoes have a low side seam, medium vamp, rounded toe, and low broad heel called a Louis heel.  The Louis heel was named after Louis XV, monarch of France, and was a fashionable design during his reign. Shoes in the 1880s tended to have a stacked heel; this shoe represents a departure from that style.

William. H. Moore was a shoe manufacturer from New York. In his early years he built a “magazine and newspaper agency”, fittingly named Moore’s Agency, and purchased the Ham-Rogers Shoe Company with others. He co-founded the Moore-Schafer Shoe Manufacturing Company in Brockport, NY in 1888 and died unexpectedly from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1907 while on a trip to Canada, suffering from failing mental health. The Moore-Schafer Shoe Manufacturing Company continued to produce shoes until the company’s failure in 1929.

References

Anon. 1907. Shoe Retailer and Boots and Shoes Weekly 61, no 1: 90

https://books.google.com/books?id=KN0-AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA5-PA90&lpg=RA5-PA90&dq=retail+boot+and+shoe+dealers+national+association+sizing&source=bl&ots=3VB3K9ZSWD&sig=ACfU3U1RzPGcw5DwMBa_6hTWwK_PIJXExQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjMt4Tvq9n0AhUfkYkEHXBCBvMQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&q=retail%20boot%20and%20shoe%20dealers%20national%20association%20sizing&f=false a

Emily L. Knapp Museum. “Brockport’s ‘Ultra’ Shoe and the Moore-Shafer Shoe Company.” Accessed December 9. 2021. https://knappmuseum.org/2015/12/08/brockports-ultra-shoe-and-the-moore-shafer-shoe-company/

The Bata Shoe Museum. 2008. “All About Shoes: The Louis Heel” Accessed December 10, 2021. http://www.allaboutshoes.ca/en/heights_of_fashion/high_court/index_2.php