Leather Breeches Maker & Shoemaker

A Shoemaker makes shoes, whereas a Cobbler repairs them.

Shoemaking has a four-step division of labor - a clicker cutting out the parts, a closer sewing the uppers, a maker building the shoe, and a ragger off doing the finish work. From a bundle of parts, a Shoemaker should be able to make at least one pair of shoes per day.

We estimate that a day’s pay might be the most that someone would want to spend on a pair of shoes.

By the time our leather arrives at the shop, it has passed through the hands of a network of allied trades and professions: from farmers and husbandmen who raise the animals, to butchers who slay them, and to players who remove the skins. Then they go to the tanners, white tawers, or leather dressers who process the skins chemically into leather. Finishing, such as waxing, dying, and coloring the skin to ready them for specific use, is done by the curries’ trade. The leather has been sourced from brokers or distributors.

For our uses, it’s often going to be bovine, from cattle, that is going to be most suitable, but each type of animal skin has different properties. Depending on the product being made, the skin will be selected accordingly, so if you ask that question of the Bookbinders or the Shoemakers, you might get a different answer.

Historically, the shop was developed during the Revolutionary War, with the sole purpose of generating war material for the Virginia Line. This was primarily shoes, but articles like harness parts and cartridge pouches were made, as well. Today, the shop does a wide variety of tasks to support the needs of the Museum. These range from luggage pieces to industrial fittings, repairs, and of course, military equipment for the Magazine.