Boots and Shoes
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Boots and Shoes. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
foot coverings of the human family; exceedingly varied in form, and not less diverse in the material out of which they are made. The sandal is the most ancient foot covering of which we have any record, and examples of very ancient manufacture, taken from Egyptian mummies, are preserved in public collections. The shoe frequently referred to in the Old Testament, which played an important part in buying and selling, and in other social usages, was a sandal. The common sandal of the ancient Egyptians consisted of strips of papyrus plaited into a kind of mat, and that form remains the type of sandal of plaited grass or straw worn to this day by multitudes in central Asia, India, China and Japan. The sandal was the ordinary shoe of the ancient Greeks. In Greece, shoes were used only in exceptional circumstances, and long boots lacing up the front were worn by hunters. Sandals (solex) were the everyday wear of the Roman populace; the patricians wore shoes (calcei) of black leather; red leather shoes were reserved for the senators; and the long boot or buskin (cothurnus), reaching, sometimes, to near the knee, and frequently supplied with a thick sole to add to the apparent stature of its wearer, was appropriated to tragedians and hunters. Sandals and slippers continue to this day to be the staple footgear of Oriental communities. In mediæval times, shoes with long, pointed toes were worn by the high born; and toward the end of the 14th century these points became ridiculously elongated, so that there appeared to be a long strap projecting from each foot. Different kinds of half boots were worn by the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Normans; and in the reign of Edward IV., if not earlier, the boot proper, with tops and spurs, was established as an article of knightly dress. In the reign of Charles I., a species of boot, exceedingly wide at the top, made of Spanish leather, came into use; and with Charles II. the highly decorated French boot was introduced as an article of gay courtly attire. Meanwhile, the jack-boot, as it is called, had become indispensable in the costume of cavalry soldiers and horsemen generally; and by William III. and his followers it was regularly naturalized in England. This huge species of boot remained in use in British cavalry regiments until comparatively recent times, and, in a somewhat polished and improved form, it is still worn by the Horse Guards. The jack-boot is almost entitled to be called the parent of the top and some other varieties. Boots with tops of a yellow color were so commonly worn by gentlemen in the 18th century, as to be come a peculiarity in the national costume of the English. Among jockeys and fox hunters, top boots are likely to remain in permanent use. For many reasons the ancient domestic craft of shoemaking is dying out. Machine-made shoes being much cheaper, and answering the general need in appearance and wearing qualities, have generally superseded the hand-made article. A machine for sewing together soles and uppers was patented in the United States by Blake, and, as subsequently improved by Mackay, it became the apparatus which, for the period during which the patents were current, dominated the factory shoemaking industry. The Blake-Mackay machine sewed through outsole, upper and insole at one operation; but as the corporation owning the machine held the patent right for machine sewed boots and shoes, improvements by outsiders were for the time barred. Now there are in operation many varieties of sewing machines, some of which sew welted boots in all respects like the hand-made product. Factory-made boots and shoes are now entirely cut out by machinery, the uppers are sewn by strong sewing machines, and soles and uppers are fastened together either by (1) sewing, (2) pegging with wooden pegs, (3) riveting with metal pins, or (4) screwing by means of the Standard screw machine. The latter most ingenious apparatus uncoils a reel of screwed brass wire, inserts it into the sole, and cuts off the wire flush with the outsole with remarkable rapidity; and for solidity and durability the work leaves nothing to be desired. The manufactures in 1914 were as follows: 216,039,401 pairs Boots and Shoes (total) 17,733,689 pairs Slippers (total). Since 1914 there has been an increase of about 25 per cent in manufacture. The domestic per capita consumption of men's shoes in 1914 was 2.9 pairs as contrasted. with 2.6 in 1918; women's in 1914, 2.3 pairs compared with 4 pairs in 1918. In 1919-20 prices of shoes reached extremely high altitudes, but by the beginning of 1921 conditions had so readjusted themselves that a more normal basis of production and prices was indicated.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
foot coverings made usually of leather. In colonial days the shoemaker went from house to house making up the family supply of footgear for the year. Each person had his own last. This custom was inherited from England and, indeed, was common throughout the whole continent. Somewhat later the shoemaker established a shop at which customers left their measures for whatever they needed in his way. Nowadays nearly all footwear is made at factories. When manufactories were first established the cutting was done at a central shop, and the work was given out to be done by the piece at the homes of operatives; but now everything is done in the workrooms of the central factory. Soles and uppers are cut by machinery. Whether the various parts are sewed together with thread, pegged with wooden pegs, riveted with metal rivets, or fastened with bits of twisted wire, the work is done by ingenious machines. According to the last United States census, 150,000 persons are employed in 1,316 establishments, chiefly in New England towns. The manufactures pay out $70,000,000 a year in wages and turn out nearly a third of a billion dollars' worth of boots and shoes annually. American factories make on an average three pairs of boots or shoes for each man, woman, and child in the Union. Brockton, Lynn, Haverhill, New York , Cincinnati, St. Louis, Rochester, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and North Adams are centers of manufacture. American-made boots and shoes are finding their way into foreign markets in competition with the best products of British factories. In 1908 we exported 6,552,000 pairs-worth $88,000,000 at wholesale. American shoe stores are in evidence in most European cities. An ordinary pair of shoes requires 26 pieces of leather, 14 pieces of cloth, 24 buttons, 28 nails, 80 tacks, 2 tips, 2 heels, 2 box toes, 2 steel shanks, and 20 yards of thread. Not long ago an exhibition was given showing how rapidly shoes could be turned out. A pair was made which required fifty-seven operators, on forty-two machines. Word was given the work began. In thirteen minutes the pair of shoes was pronounced complete. See Lynn ; Leather ; Sandal 2026 Editor's Note: The entry catches the trade mid-transformation, and it went further than it could imagine: shoemaking became one of the first fully mechanized consumer industries, then moved offshore almost entirely. The dominant shoe today would astonish it — the sneaker , a rubber-soled athletic shoe that became ordinary daywear and a global fashion business. (Ed: BR 2026-06-28)