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Posts from Heddels for 10/19/2023
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By Brad Lanphear on Oct 19, 2023 12:01 am
At the heart of Maine’s shoemaking heritage is the moccasin. New England colonists adopted Native American footwear well before the United States gained independence. Native footwear was much easier and more resource-efficient to craft than European options. As crafting techniques from Europe and North America blended, a distinctly American style of shoemaking evolved. Machinery evolved through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries but hand sewing remained at the heart of the practice. For generation after generation, some of the greatest shoemakers in the world cobbled away between Connecticut and the Canadian border.
Hand assembling a pair of Easymocs in Maine. Image via Easymoc.
Sadly, this robust and proud industry fell into decline shortly after World War II. American shoemaking, like so many robust creative industries, became the victim of offshoring, technological innovation, and the general cheapening of manufactured goods during the back half of the twentieth century. Today, only a few dozen people remain who possess the expertise to handcraft shoes the old-fashioned way. By the grace of diehard enthusiasts, some of the century-old machinery remains but there are barely enough people left who know how to use it.
Quoddy uses vintage equipment to hand-make every shoe. Image via Quoddy.
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