Shoes with wooden soles - stamped 1915

[JensF.]

I just got this pair of shoes with wooden and nailed soles. They are stamped "W?rttbg. 1915" and below a small antler (the crest of the Kingdom of W?rttemberg). I never saw that type of shoes before. Any opinions?

[JensF.]

2

[JensF.]

3

[JensF.]

Detail of the stamp. "W?RTTBG. 1915" and a single antler. Each shoe got a stamp!

Edited November 10, 2006 by JensF.

[peter monahan]

Jens

Fascinating ! In general design they are very like the "clogs" produced in the north of England (Yorkshire in particular) for wear by miners, labourers and factory workers.

Clogs are incredibly duarable, protect the feet from wet floors/ground - like wooden schoen - and are much cheaper to produce than shoes/boots with proper leather soles, as the "sole bend" (sole leather) is the most expensive and hardest to work part of the boot.

These might be late war production? Either for issue to factory workers or perhaps even troops who weren't actually in the line?

My two pfennings worth!

Peter

[Chris Boonzaier]

They are a bugger to dance in !!

[Bernhard H.Holst]

They are a bugger to dance in !!

Having to wear wooden shoes as a child which was quite the custom in my home area (then province of Hanover, now Lower Saxony) just walking in them was a pain !!

Bernhard H. Holst

[Daniel Murphy]

These might be late war production? Either for issue to factory workers or perhaps even troops who weren't actually in the line?

I do not believe factory workers would need the hobnails, but I agree that these were probably made for use by rear area (probably in Germany itself) Landsturm troops guarding bridges and other facilities. Germany suffered a severe leather shortage in 1914-15 of which one result was the ersatz pickelhauben. With the German troops marching hundreds of miles at the beginning of the war, it is not hard to believe that many boots were just plain wore out. Boots would then very likely be removed from the 3rd and 4th line units at home for use at the front. This may be what they were given in place of what they originally had. With the 1915 date on these, this would make sense. During WW2, I believe a similar shortage occurred in which jackboots were recalled from those who in the rear for use by front line soldiers. I seem to remember someone quoted as saying" All boots to the front! Those who want to keep them can go with them!" or something similar. I think they are a very nice item and Jens, if you ever tire of them, I would love to have a pair in my collection.

Dan

Edited November 11, 2006 by Daniel Murphy

[JensF.]

Thanks for your answers guys. Any idea about the quite unusual "W?rttemberg-stamp"?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Could it be that these were for wear in very cold areas where the guys did not move around much? They look big enough to wear 5 pairs of socks under, and the wooden soles are good for insolation on frozen ground?

[JensF.]

A couple of days ago I sent a mail to the Bayerische Armeemuseum Ingolstadt and asked them to forward pictures of my shoes to Dr. J?rgen Kraus (THE Dr. Kraus). Here is his answer:

"""

Sehr geehrter xxx,

die ?bersandten Fotos zeigen einen Ersatzschuh von 1915.

Im 1. Weltkrieg hat man mit den verschiedensten M?glichkeiten experimentiert, einen Schuh aus Ersatzstoffen, vor allem mit Holzsohlen, zu schaffen. Er sollte nat?rlich nur in der Heimat getragen werden. Ihr Exemplar zeichnet sich durch eine sehr stark vereinfachte Beriemung aus.

Mit freundlichen Gr??en

Dr. J?rgen Kraus

Oberkonservator

"""

Translation: The pictures show a "substitution shoe" from 1915. In WW1 they tried different possibilities to make a shoe out of substitution materials, especially with wooden soles. Of course it should be worn only at home. Your example is distinguished by extremely simplified straps.

Edited November 25, 2006 by JensF.

[peter monahan]

Translation: The pictures show a "substitution shoe" from 1915. In WW1 they tried different possibilities to make a shoe out of substitution materials, especially with wooden soles. Of course it should be worn only at home. Your example is distinguished by extremely simplified straps.

Makes perfect sense! And, BTW, hobnails don't necessarily imply military wear. I have a pair of Dutch "Klompen" which I wear around camp on wet mornings when I re-enact the War of 1812. I've hobnailed the bottoms to give me a grip on wet grass and I'm sure I'm only re-inventing what clever people have done for centuries!

Peter

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here are a later papergarn version....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-Rare-WW1-Imperial-German-Ersatz-Papercloth-Combat-Boots-papercloth-wood-/301227360356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item46228cc064

[Hoss]

QUOTE(JensF. @ Nov 25 2006, 12:20 ) ←

Translation: The pictures show a "substitution shoe" from 1915. In WW1 they tried different possibilities to make a shoe out of substitution materials, especially with wooden soles. Of course it should be worn only at home. Your example is distinguished by extremely simplified straps.

Makes perfect sense! And, BTW, hobnails don't necessarily imply military wear. I have a pair of Dutch "Klompen" which I wear around camp on wet mornings when I re-enact the War of 1812. I've hobnailed the bottoms to give me a grip on wet grass and I'm sure I'm only re-inventing what clever people have done for centuries!

Peter

Peter you need a firm grip early in the mornings when squatting definitely a good friend of mine does 1812 here in the US as an Indian he's a bit of a nut well more than a bit we all love it when he does W1 German great company and funny. Where do you and what events?

Eric

[Hoss]

Gents

Picture courtesy of the Australian War Museum a nice pair of ersatz boots.

Eric

[dond]

I'm always amazed at what is still out there.

[Steve Conway]

Hi,

 

I have a similar pair of boots which I originally purchased as WW2 U-Boat boots but I have since found out they aren't WW2, I wonder then if they aren't WW1 U-Boat boots based on the similarity to this set of boots?

 

Regards

Steve