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Shoemaker

Shoemaking among strongest trades in 18th-century Williamsburg

One of the two or three largest trades practiced in 18th-century Williamsburg, historical shoemaking is being rediscovered and preserved through the apprenticeship program at the Shoemaker's Shop, open for visitors today.

Shoemaker Al Saguto sews leather for a pair of boots in the Shoemaker Shop.

Shoemaker D. A. Saguto sews leather for a pair of shoes in the Shoemaker Shop.

Through the window of his shop, the shoemaker works by candlelight as shoes hanging on a line dry in the breeze.

The shoemaker works by candlelight as shoes hang on display in the window.

Shoemakers arrived in America in 1610

The London shoemaker's guild – the Worshipful Company of Cordwainers – helped finance Captain John Smith's 1607 expedition to Virginia, and Smith (inducted into the guild himself) was honored with a statue in London. Whether Smith actually made shoes is unknown. The first shoemakers arrived in America at Jamestown in 1610, and the trade was thriving as early as 1616. By the 1660s, the Virginia Assembly directed that each county must erect a tannery and a shoe manufactory. It also imposed tariffs on leather and shoes exported from Virginia to control speculation and profiteering in the local shoe trade, and stipulated that the fees collected go to finance the founding of the College of William and Mary.

Shoemakers diligently work at their trade by candlelight in the Shoemaker Shop.

Shoemakers diligently work at their trade by candlelight in the Shoemaker Shop.

Today, the shoemaker's shop in Williamsburg represents the firm of George Wilson, who moved to Williamsburg from Norfolk, Virginia in the late 1760s. In Norfolk, Wilson's sister-in-law was the proprietor of the shoe "factory" of "Mary Wilson and Company." In 1773, George Wilson specialized in "Boots and Shoes for Gentlemen," which he boldly advertised in the Virginia Gazette. Boot making was the most sophisticated and prestigious branch of the trade. And, following a centuries-old tradition, the making of boots and shoes for men and the making of shoes for women were separate pursuits.

Competition fierce among shoemakers

Wilson's shop competed with between nine and 12 other Williamsburg shoemakers, all operating in the city at the same dates. Together the local shoemakers struggled with competition from merchants in the colony who imported ready-made shoes from factories in London and Bristol in England. In addition, several local wholesale factories (one employing more than 30 men) mass produced shoes in Norfolk and Petersburg, Virginia.

Selection and purchase of shoes changed little over the years

When a man came into George Wilson's shop in 1773 to buy a pair of shoes, he selected from a stock of "sale shoes" in popular-styled, already-sized shoes – just like today. If his feet were an unusual size, he could have a pair made to suit his taste and fit his individual size. Boots for riding were the specialty of the firm, and Wilson advertised seasonally, offering imported leather and boot legs from London and also offering work for journeymen shoemakers who could make boots.

The little Shoemaker Shop is located on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg.

The little Shoemaker Shop is located on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg.

Boots made in the Shoemaker Shop today are made using 18th-century methods

Boots made in the Shoemaker Shop today are made using 18th-century methods.

Various leathers and tools made by specialty trades and imported from England were readily available for sale from merchants' stores in Williamsburg, it was no trouble finding supplies in the city. With strange-sounding names such as "helling sticks," "petty-boys," and "St. Hugh's Bones," a shoemaker's complete tool kit included relatively few items and could be purchased for about the same price as a common pair of shoes – the same as one day's wages for a journeyman shoemaker working for Wilson.

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