| Aglet |
The metal tag at the end of the lace |
| Ankle Strap |
A strap fastening round the ankle |
| Apron Front Shoe |
Front shaped like an apron |
| Awl |
Hole making tool, to pierce the skin prior to sewing |
| Back Strap (or Strip) |
A band covering the back seam of the shoe |
| Balmoral Boot |
A closed front ankle boot |
| Bar |
A strap across the instep fastening with a button or buckle is added along the length of the foot it becomes a T-Bar |
| BATA |
Boot and Shoe Allied Trades Association |
| Bate |
An alkaline solution used in tanning hides |
| Bazil |
Bark tanned sheep skin |
| Beamhouse |
A building housing the beams on which hides are scraped |
| Bends |
The tanned skin sides of a bovine animal used mainly for soles of shoes and boots |
| Bespoke |
Made to measure boots and shoes |
| Blind eyelet |
No metal shown on top of the shoe |
| Board Cut |
A leather component part of a shoe cut by a clicker by hand round a pattern on a board. |
| Boarding |
A process used in tanning to accentuate the natural grain of hides, in which the surface of a softened leather is lightly creased by folding grain to grain and then working the fold to and fro across the leather |
| Boarding Arm |
A board worn on the arm for grading leather |
| Bottom Stock |
Heel and sole cut leather pieces |
| Box Calf |
Black calf-skin leather tanned with chromium salts having a pattern of fine creases achieved by boarding |
| Broguing |
Punched patterns forming a decorative feature on toe cap, vamp and facings |
| Buckle Shoe |
One fastened by a buckle and strap |
| B U S M CO |
British United Shoe Machinery Co Made machines for the trade |
| Butts |
The portion of the hide covering the lower backside of an animal |
| Cabbages |
Off cuts of leather |
| Calf |
Leather made from a young bovine, a delicate leather |
| Casual Shoe |
Slip on shoe with no fastening |
| Chamois |
A cured skin of a goat A soft leather used in the trade and as wash leathers |
| Clicker |
A skilled leather worker who cuts the shapes of the component parts of the uppers of boots and shoes, making the most of each skin |
| Closing |
The process of sewing the leather parts of a shoe together |
| Cobbler |
A person who makes or mends shoes |
| Comb |
A section of a last, corresponding with the instep |
| Comeback |
The process of re-wetting dry tanned skins, to finish and work |
| Cordwainer |
A shoemaker |
| Co-Respondent Shoe |
Two tone brogue shoe, usually brown and white |
| Court Shoe |
Slip on high heeled shoe |
| Counter |
A section added to the back of the shoe covering the back seam and coming forward round the sides of the shoe |
| Crust Leather |
Dried tanned skins |
| Cuff |
The upper ridge around the back of the shoe |
| Currier |
A dresser of tanned leather to beat until soft and to dress the skin to make it workable |
| Day Work |
An employee paid to do a job of work at an hourly rate |
| Derby Boot |
Eyelet tabs stitched on top of vamp |
| Derby Shoe |
Eyelet tabs stitched on top of vamp |
| Drafting |
Pulling uppers into shape over a last |
| Digging Iron |
Iron strapped under boot to use with a spade |
| Drag Tool |
For pulling upper leather over the last |
| Drum Men |
Men who tended the large revolving drums of leather and liquor, the skins being tumbled until absorbing enough fats and softening agents |
| Dyers |
People who applied dye to skins, mainly for the fashion leathers |
| Emery Bat or Rapstick |
A wooden board covered in emery paper on one side and leather on the other for sharpening or honing clickers knives |
| Eyelets |
Metal (or plastic) rings crimped onto the edges of the holes for the laces |
| Facings |
The area of the shoe through which the lace holes or eyelets are cut, usually lined with a layer of leather or fabric |
| Fair Stitching |
Stitching a sole to the projecting edge of the middle sole |
| Fat Liquor |
Mixture of various oils used to soften the stricture of the skin |
| Feather |
Space between stitch channel and edge of leather |
| Fellow |
One of a matching pair of shoes |
| Fetch Out |
The clickers knife is ground out (fetched)to the right curve |
| Findings |
Sundry supplies relevant to the manufacture of footwear, for example eyelets, grindery and ornamentation |
| Finishers |
Skilled workers who buffed and polished the finished boots and shoes |
| Flaming |
Adding colour to leather |
| Ghille Shoe |
Lacing through loops instead of eyelets |
| Gimping |
The edges of the section of the uppers are cut with a fine dentate edge (In textile craft this is known as pinking ) |
| Gimson |
Stud |
| Glacé Kid |
Goat leather having a glossy finish |
| Goodyear Graders |
Highly skilled men who graded the rough skins, always maintaining the correct quality. Firsts, the most expensive, going down to 'inferior fifths' or lower grade, the cheapest |
| Grindery |
The nails and tacks that were used in the construction of a boot or shoe |
| Half-timer |
School child attending half time at school and half time at work |
| Hand Sewn |
Boots and shoes that were hand made, using an awl and waxed thread to join the component parts together |
| Heel |
A component which lifts the back part of the shoe away from the ground. It can be any height |
| Heel Ball |
A wax like substance that was used to finish the heels |
| Heel Building |
Assembly of a heel, layers of leather were tacked together and glued to form the heel of the shoe |
| Hide |
The raw skin of an animal before tanning |
| Impregnable |
John Whites brand name for boots and shoes |
| Indoor Working |
Working in a factory |
| Insole |
The inner sole of a shoe |
| Instep |
The arching portion of the upper foot |
| Jodhpur Boots |
Ankle high boot buckled at the side. Worn by horse riders |
| Kips |
The hide of a young animal, calf or lamb |
| Knot Tiers |
Those who tied off the ends of the sewing threads - often the half-timers |
| Lace Holes |
Holes punched in the facings so a lace can be threaded through |
| Last |
A wood or metal mould on which a shoe is formed |
| Latchet |
Straps extending from the front of the quarters across the front of the shoe over the tongue. They can be quite short with a sewn eyelet at the end to take a ribbon to fasten the shoe or longer to thread through a buckle |
| Leather |
The dry tanned skin of an animal |
| Lining |
A thin leather or fabric lining is often included in the shoe. Sometimes only part of the shoe is lined. If only the back part of the shoe is lined it is called a half lining |
| Loafer |
Slip on apron fronted shoe |
| Loop |
A loop of tape or leather either at the back of a pair of ankle boots, or on either side of the leg of a pair of boots to help in pulling them on |
| Moccasin |
North American footwear |
| Monk Shoe |
Motor racing shoe |
| Nappa |
Leather used for glove making |
| Open Toe |
A shoe where the vamp is cut away exposing the toes |
| Outdoor Closing |
The stitching of footwear in the homes of the workers |
| Oxford Shoe |
Eyelet tabs stitched under the vamp |
| Peep Toe |
An open toe shoe where only the tips of one or two of the toes are visible |
| Piece Work |
An agreed unit rate of pay, the money paid on each finished article, rather than being paid by the hour to do the same job |
| Pressmen |
Men who operated the Revolution presses, cutting soles and top pieces out of bends and shoulders, skilfully utilising each piece of leather to the maximum efficiency |
| Pullover |
A machine which helped stretch the leather of the upper over the last & applied pressure to join the upper to the insole of the shoe (bottoming). |
| Quarters |
The back part of the uppers There are usually two quarters joined by a seam centre back |
| Rand |
A strip of leather, often white, placed between the upper and the sole and visible on the outside of the shoe The rand is a feature of shoes from about 1650 to 1750 |
| Revolution Press |
A machine that consists of a bed of wood blocks on which a bend or shoulder is placed, and knives in the shape and size of soles and heels are placed on the leather, when the operative taps the bar at his feet the machine comes down onto the knife and cuts out the shape required. Each knife will carry about six or seven shapes before it needs emptying |
| Riveting |
Metal pins being used to join two or more pieces of leather together |
| Rough Stuff |
Leather for the bottom of a shoe |
| Safety Shoe |
A shoe having a reinforced or steel toe cap |
| Sam or Sammy |
Half dried skin |
| Sewing |
Sewing either by hand or machines the various component parts of the shoe together |
| Sewing Machine |
Mechanical stitching machine, e g 'Singer' |
| Shank |
The narrowing portion of the sole, under the instep, also the material used to reinforce this arch |
| Shoe and Leather News |
A trade journal of the industry |
| Shoe and Leather Record |
A trade journal of the industry |
| Shoe Mercery |
Trimmings and accessories |
| Shoetree |
A wooden or metal form inserted into a shoe or boot to stretch it or preserve its shape |
| Shop |
Boot or shoe factory |
| Shoulders |
The tanned part of the shoulder of a bovine animal, slightly thinner than a bend and used for top pieces generally |
| Skave |
A very thin layer of leather pared off the skin |
| Skiver |
Pared edge of shoe components to prepare for stitching |
| Skiving |
Splitting the tanned outer layer from a skin |
| Sling Back |
High heeled shoe with a strap enclosing the heel |
| Slugging |
Wire |
| Snob |
Shoemaker |
| Sock |
The lining in the base of the shoe covering up the roughness left during making. Often the makers name and trade mark are stamped on the sock |
| Soles |
The hard bottom leather of the boot or shoe, which makes contact with the ground |
| Solution |
A glue used in bonding two surfaces together |
| Sorters |
Skilled workers who sort finished leather for conformity and grade |
| Staking |
To soften and make pliable finished leather |
| Stiffener |
An extra layer inside the back of the quarters to help prevent the back of the shoe being trodden down |
| Straights |
Shoes which do not have any difference in shape between the left and right foot |
| Suede |
Leather finished with a fine nap, usually on the flesh side of the skin |
| Swab |
A small sample of leather |
| Tab |
The binding on the end of a lace, to enable it to be threaded through the holes |
| Table Run |
Unsorted leather bought from a tannery |
| Tablers |
Skilled workers that apply the colour or finish to a skin, using a dye or dope on a velvet cloth so that the skin is uniformly coloured all over |
| Tag |
Metal binding tag at the end of the lace |
| Tanning |
The process of turning raw hides into a cured leather, being steeped in pits of lime and other ingredients for a period of time |
| Tap Shoes |
Laced shoes with metal taps affixed to the toes and heels |
| Thread |
A strengthened cotton or flax fibre, usually waxed, with which to sew a shoe together |
| Toe Cap |
A cover applied to the front (toe) area of the vamp, giving extra strength and protection |
| Toe Peg |
The peg is gripped between the big toe and the other toes |
| Toe puff |
Insert in the toe area to support the toecap of the shoe |
| Toe Thong |
A sandal with a strap passing between the big toe and the other toes and then dividing to form two straps over the foot |
| Togglers |
The men who taken the wet skins from the drums and stretch them by means of a clip called a toggle onto a frame before drying, the aim to make the skin as big as possible whilst still retaining a uniform thickness |
| Tongue |
An extension of the vamp under the facings of laced shoes/boots. Bellows tongue-one which is joined to the shoe on both sides forming a weatherproof underlayer to the laced fronts |
| Top Edge |
The top edge of the upper, around the ankle opening |
| Top Piece |
The layer of the heel which is in contact with the ground. Remember that shoes are made upside down and this is the last piece of a heel to be added |
| Uppers |
The top part of the shoe above the sole |
| Vamp |
The front part of the upper covering the toes and front of the foot |
| Vegetable or chrome tanned |
The glass-like grain finish is obtained, according to the type of leather, by glazing, plating, ironing, or polishing |
| Vulcanising |
A process of heat bonding of the sole to the rest of the shoe using an adhesive |
| Wax |
Bees wax usually used to coat the thread used in sewing a shoe together |
| Welts |
A thin strip of leather between the outer and inner sole |
