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Collection

2009/91/4 Shoe, girls, leather / cotton, designed and made by Enoch Taylor & Co Pty Ltd, Botany, New South Wales, Australia, 1940s. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 1, 2009/91/4 Shoe, girls, leather / cotton, designed and made by Enoch Taylor & Co Pty Ltd, Botany, New South Wales, Australia, 1940s. Click to enlarge

Girls shoe by Enoch Taylor & Co

Designed
This style of shoe would have formed part of the attire of a child's Sunday best. It shows the influence of adult men's and women's shoes of the same time, including the 'Gaiety Supreme' and 'Clarence' designs. It also demonstrates the Enoch Taylor & Co Pty Ltd patented 'Taylorwelt' method of construction, which was a cross between the Goodyear welt and silhouwelting methods.

This particular shoe belongs to a larger collection of shoes and printed and handwritten material from the Enoch Taylor & Co shoe archive. Enoch Taylor & Co was a shoe and boot manufacturing and distribution company founded in 1851 by Enoch Taylor in Port Phillip, Melbourne and from 1926 - 2004, the company was continuously managed by the Lee family. Today, the company continues to operate but under different management with all of its production taking place off-shore in Suva, Fiji.

Enoch Taylor & Co is best known for their "no squeeze fit" and specialty production of heavy duty footwear, including the 'T Boot'. The production of children's shoes, such as this example, ended in the 1970s when the company's focus shifted from fashion and everyday casual wear exclusively into industrial footwear production.

Melanie Pitkin
Assistant Curator Design, History and Society
2009

References
Personal communication with Alastair Lee, 11th August 2009

Summary

Object No.

2009/91/4

Object Statement

Shoe, girls, leather / cotton, designed and made by Enoch Taylor & Co Pty Ltd, Botany, New South Wales, Australia, 1940s

Physical Description

Single girls lace-up shoe for left foot made of brown leather. The shoe features perforated decoration on the vamp and around the opening.

Marks

Logo, stamped in gold on insole, 'T / SHOE / STYLE COMFORT WEAR / Taylorwelt / PAT. NO. 2778'.
Logo, impressed on sole, 'T / SHOE / STYLE COMFORT WEAR / TAYLORWELT / PATENT No2778'.
Shoe size, impressed on sole, '12'.

Short URL

https://ma.as/398891

Dimensions

Height

76 mm

Width

75 mm

Production

Designed

Made

Notes

Designed and made by Enoch Taylor and Co in Botany, New South Wales in the 1940s. This shoe demonstrates the company's patented 'Taylorwelt'.

History

Notes

This particular design of shoe was a popular style of formal shoe for children during the 1940s and 1950s.

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Alastair Lee, 2009

Acquisition Date

5 November 2009

Cite this Object

Harvard

Girls shoe by Enoch Taylor & Co 2021, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 7 March 2021, <https://ma.as/398891>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/398891 |title=Girls shoe by Enoch Taylor & Co |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=7 March 2021 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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