Improvising with shoes
Wartime meant that not only individuals, but also industries, including shoe manufacturers, needed to improvise. The outbreak of Winter War between Finland and Soviet Union in late 1939 brought new kind of challenges to Finnish shoe manufacturers.
Leather and rubber footwear was reserved for the army, so the shortages were felt mostly by civilians. At first,shoes were rationed. A prospective buyer had to present a coupon and guarantee that he or she did not have more than one pair of leather shoes that could have been fixed. As supply problems drew on, shoe makers had to seek substitutes.
Soles were made from recycled rubber, but also from domestic wood like spruce, pine or birch. The elasticity of such soles was increased using various solutions, such as notches cut into the bottom of the otherwise stiff wooden plate. The uppers, lacking leather, were made of paper, cloth, laces, or pieces of tent canvas or fabric.
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How to cite this page
Slawomir Lotysz, 'Improvising with shoes', Inventing Europe, http://www.inventingeurope.eu/story/improvising-with-shoes
Sources
- Well Heeled: The Story of the Finnish Shoe, edited by Ritva Palo-oja. Tampere: Tampere Museums, 2005.
