Saddle Shoes. Shoes in the 50's
Lidia Rosario
When were saddle shoes made?
Saddle shoes were made around 1906-1950. "HBC has first observed saddle shoes in the 1920's, but they first appeared in the 1900's" (Histclo.com). The Spalding company first invented the saddle shoe in 1906. The Spalding company was known for making baseball & baseball bats, not shoes.
Fun Facts
- "We do notice them being offered in the 1915 Sears catalog as men's 'tennis shoes'"(Histclo.com)
- "They have a hard time competing with sneakers with boys. They are most popular with girls, but are also worn by boys"(histclo.com)
- "Interestingly in the 1960s they were acceptable for teenagers up to around 1968 or 1969"(histclo.com).
- "This suggests that they were also being commonly worn by boys. Both wear them with white socks"(histclo.com).
- "I believe there was some regulation that prohibited two tone saddle shoes from being made during World War II because of the war. But after the war they were again very popular reaching a peak in the 1950s"(Histclo.com).
What gender mainly wore saddle shoes?
Male golfers usually wore them with their golf pants. Women regularly wore them with bobby socks, spending an hour cleaning them to perfection. Little girls wore them to Catholic school and same with little boys. Near the 70's, little girls and boys wore them as a dress up shoe. By then, girls mostly wore them for cheerleading.
When did saddle shoes go out of style?
They went out of style around the time Elvis died. When he died, sneakers were the big thing. The popularity of saddle shoes in the 60's has come and go. Saddle shoes were a big thing with guys, then they lost their popularity and sneakers took over.
Did any famous people wear saddle shoes?
Elvis Presley wore them in his film Jailhouse rock. He also wore them making them famous in the 50's. Ellen Degeneres wears saddle shoes on her show. Woody Allen wore saddle shoes often, too. For people who don't know who Woody Allen is, he's an actor.
Who made saddle shoes?
A.G Spalding introduced the saddle shoes in 1906. Spalding originally created them for sports. He intended to bring comfort for the instep to the foot.
Did they come in different colors?
They usually came in black and white. Black and white were the famous colors back in the 1900's, but they came out with brown and white, red and white, brown and dark brown. Saddle shoes came in different styles as well.
Bibliography
"Classic Saddle Shoes." Muffys.com. Muffys Enterprise, LLC, 2006. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <www.muffys.com/modern_traditional.html>.
J, Merle. "Saddle Shoes Chronology." Histclo.com. N.p., 2003. Web. 21 Jan. 2016. <histclo.com/style/fact/shoe/sad/sad-chronology>.
Raivio, Ville. "A History of Saddle Shoes." Keikari.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 20 Jan. 2016. <www.keikari.com/english/a-history-of-saddle-shoes/>.
"WiseGEEK." WiseGEEK.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. <www.wisegeek.com/what-are-saddle-shoes.html>.