- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
I reread Confederate Clothing of the Houston Quartermaster Depot by Frederick R. Adolphus tonight. One of the things the article tells about are the shoe contracts made by Captain Wharton. Some of these shoes would have went to Texas units, but probably also to Louisiana, Arkansas and the Indian Territory. One of the things that interested me was the proportion of shoe sizes per 100 pairs of shoes: six pairs in size No. 6, twenty pairs in size No. 7, thirty-five pairs in size No. 8, twenty-five pairs in size No. 9, twelve pairs in size No. 10, and two pairs in size No. 11. This got me wondering how the sizes of Civil War era shoes compared to the sizes used in modern men's shoes. At least to me it appears that Civil War era men seemed to have smaller feet than modern men. However, I was not sure a Civil War size No. 8 is the exact same as a modern size 8.
I know some men today have very large feet. For example growing up my dad wore a size 9 medium width while my best friend's father wore a size 17 AAA. Let us say a Civil War private wore a size 17 AAA, what would that private do for shoes? There were two size No. 11 per every 100 shoes ordered by the Houston Quartermaster. There is no way a private with a size 17 AAA foot could have put on a pair of size No. 11 shoes. The poor private would have had to cut the toes of his shoes off and had several inches of his foot sticking out the end. I have to wonder what sizes of shoes 100 modern men would need?
I know I had a private during the Gulf War who wore a size 13 EEE and the best I could do was get him a pair of size 12 E boots. These were so tight he had problems wearing them. In the end he had to use duct tape to keep his soles attached to his old boots which had worn out. He only wore the tight size 12 boots when he had to and most of the time wore his old worn out boots. He looked a bit funny wearing boots held together with tape. I do wish I could have found some black duct tape to match his black boots, but all I had was OD green tape.
I know some men today have very large feet. For example growing up my dad wore a size 9 medium width while my best friend's father wore a size 17 AAA. Let us say a Civil War private wore a size 17 AAA, what would that private do for shoes? There were two size No. 11 per every 100 shoes ordered by the Houston Quartermaster. There is no way a private with a size 17 AAA foot could have put on a pair of size No. 11 shoes. The poor private would have had to cut the toes of his shoes off and had several inches of his foot sticking out the end. I have to wonder what sizes of shoes 100 modern men would need?
I know I had a private during the Gulf War who wore a size 13 EEE and the best I could do was get him a pair of size 12 E boots. These were so tight he had problems wearing them. In the end he had to use duct tape to keep his soles attached to his old boots which had worn out. He only wore the tight size 12 boots when he had to and most of the time wore his old worn out boots. He looked a bit funny wearing boots held together with tape. I do wish I could have found some black duct tape to match his black boots, but all I had was OD green tape.