Help dating Florsheim Shoes

[GoldenEraFan]

I have an NOS pair of Florsheims I got off eBay. Wanted to ask the shoe experts how old these are. Any tricks to dating Florsheim shoe's in general would be greatly appreciated

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

I managed a Florsheim store back in the 80s. They look very much like one of the basic styles they made then. There were 2 plain lace up oxford type styles if I recall correctly. They sold for about 39.99 when I started, and came in both brown and black. I think the names were, The Eton, and The Kent. So my educated guess would be that they were made between 1980 to about 1995. If there is a last number inside, you might be able to request some information directly from Florsheim, or whatever corporate entity it has morphed into today.[huh]

 

[GoldenEraFan]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Isshinryu101]

I managed a Florsheim store back in the 80s. They look very much like one of the basic styles they made then. There were 2 plain lace up oxford type styles if I recall correctly. They sold for about 39.99 when I started, and came in both brown and black. I think the names were, The Eton, and The Kent. So my educated guess would be that they were made between 1980 to about 1995. If there is a last number inside, you might be able to request some information directly from Florsheim, or whatever corporate entity it has morphed into today.[huh]

Yes, This is correct. Thanks for weighing in here with personal experience... nothing beats that! I had guessed 70's or later... mainly because I am sure they are post 50's and my interest in Florsheim shoes ends somewhere in the 60's (before these were made).

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Yes, This is correct. Thanks for weighing in here with personal experience... nothing beats that! I had guessed 70's or later... mainly because I am sure they are post 50's and my interest in Florsheim shoes ends somewhere in the 60's (before these were made).

This may be so very correct, but, when looking at the inside of the shoe, at some point in time, Florsheim started to install a different logo inside the shoe, a style of logo that was not stamped, but a long and narrow strip of material that said on it, Florsheim. The older Florsheims have the gold stamp seal logo as what GoldenEraFan's shoes have in them. So now, where in the date era is it that Florsheim decided to not use the gold stamp inside that shows their logo and name, to just the material with their name and no logo?

Oh also, my Husband has a few Florsheims that are from the early 1960's, they do not have the gold stamped logo but do have the material that is attached on the inside just saying Flosheim, and the older Florsheim shoes he has are ones with the gold stamp on the inside!

 

[GoldenEraFan]

I didn't take a photo of the sides of the interior but on the left there's oval shaped "window" that has gold letters on a blue background reading "The Florsheim shoe". The opposite side reads "11 1/2 D 768149 16 31884 Flexible Fiber Insole HE".

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

Just dug my Florsheim "Metros" out of the closet that I bought in 1987 or 1988 I believe. They have the same little oval window on one side inside, and the same sort of info (size, last #, etc.) on the other side. They are from the "Designer's Collection", so they have a slightly different logo on the insole at the heel stamped in gold, mostly illegible now though. Also, the words "Florsheim Designer Collection" are stamped into the sole right near the heel. They are made of kid skin, which was my personal preference. Your shoes are made of calf, if they are really The Eton style which I am almost certain they are. The Kent as I recall, was a plain toe without the top stitching, and a very nice basic business shoe in the same line. I think both these styles were geared for the up and coming professionals of the era as they were the most basic of styles, and the lowest priced shoes they offered at the time. I sold a LOT of them.

 

[GoldenEraFan]

Just dug my Florsheim "Metros" out of the closet that I bought in 1987 or 1988 I believe. They have the same little oval window on one side inside, and the same sort of info (size, last #, etc.) on the other side. They are from the "Designer's Collection", so they have a slightly different logo on the insole at the heel stamped in gold, mostly illegible now though. Also, the words "Florsheim Designer Collection" are stamped into the sole right near the heel. They are made of kid skin, which was my personal preference. Your shoes are made of calf, if they are really The Eton style which I am almost certain they are. The Kent as I recall, was a plain toe without the top stitching, and a very nice basic business shoe in the same line. I think both these styles were geared for the up and coming professionals of the era as they were the most basic of styles, and the lowest priced shoes they offered at the time. I sold a LOT of them.

Again, thanks a lot for the info! Was hoping they'd be older but I'm still happy with them, especially for the price I paid compared to what I'd have to pay for new shoes now!

 

[LoveMyHats2]

Just dug my Florsheim "Metros" out of the closet that I bought in 1987 or 1988 I believe. They have the same little oval window on one side inside, and the same sort of info (size, last #, etc.) on the other side. They are from the "Designer's Collection", so they have a slightly different logo on the insole at the heel stamped in gold, mostly illegible now though. Also, the words "Florsheim Designer Collection" are stamped into the sole right near the heel. They are made of kid skin, which was my personal preference. Your shoes are made of calf, if they are really The Eton style which I am almost certain they are. The Kent as I recall, was a plain toe without the top stitching, and a very nice basic business shoe in the same line. I think both these styles were geared for the up and coming professionals of the era as they were the most basic of styles, and the lowest priced shoes they offered at the time. I sold a LOT of them.

I tend to think the small cut out window with the word, Florsheim, is something that goes a long way back. I further think a few other shoe companies had a similar window with their name on the shoe the very same way, such as Allen Edmond. It would be interesting to find out when exactly Florsheim started the use of that on the inner side of their shoes.

However, I am still wondering about the other issue here, when did Florsheim stop using the gold stamped logo and swap over to the material labels? I do see on the inside of what we call the Kenmore, a while back the inside of the shoe would have a gold stamp on the inside that would say, Imperial Florsheim and on the bottom of the shoe, the soles would be five nail and the V-Cleet heel. I also note that some of the older Imperial Florsheim shoes had a few rows of nails on the following of the heel edge, instead of just a single row of nails.

More modern Florsheim shoes also do not have the "logo" for Florsheim on the shoes at all, and the heel plate areas just are stamped with the word, Florsheim, on the rubber.

The normal color for the small window on the inside of the shoe that says Florsheim is blue, but, my Husband had a pair of shoes in which that area was a red instead of blue.

All of this has to mean something along the time line for dating the Florsheim shoes.

 

[Isshinryu101]

I tend to think the small cut out window with the word, Florsheim, is something that goes a long way back. I further think a few other shoe companies had a similar window with their name on the shoe the very same way, such as Allen Edmond. It would be interesting to find out when exactly Florsheim started the use of that on the inner side of their shoes.

However, I am still wondering about the other issue here, when did Florsheim stop using the gold stamped logo and swap over to the material labels? I do see on the inside of what we call the Kenmore, a while back the inside of the shoe would have a gold stamp on the inside that would say, Imperial Florsheim and on the bottom of the shoe, the soles would be five nail and the V-Cleet heel. I also note that some of the older Imperial Florsheim shoes had a few rows of nails on the following of the heel edge, instead of just a single row of nails.

More modern Florsheim shoes also do not have the "logo" for Florsheim on the shoes at all, and the heel plate areas just are stamped with the word, Florsheim, on the rubber.

The normal color for the small window on the inside of the shoe that says Florsheim is blue, but, my Husband had a pair of shoes in which that area was a red instead of blue.

All of this has to mean something along the time line for dating the Florsheim shoes.

All of these details were re-done in the 1970's and more recently. They re-did the "window" (also redone in recent years by AE). They re-did the footbed stamps. 1970's and 1980's marked the "vintage resurgence" years and everything that had once been done came back. Campus-shoe style square toe. Metal eyelets, pointy lasts. V-cleats and nailed soles. Old-style company stamps that had been replaced for decades. One cannot be married to the idea of identifying era based purely on these factors. The material that the footbed of the shoes that started this thread is HUGE. Plasticky and brown. Yes, it is the "old-style" stamp, but it was stamped on a much higher full-grained leather footbed. There is a thread somewhere on here where someone posted some 1970's shoes in an art-deco repro style. They look to be the original 1920's ones at first glance (like the pairs Marc C. posted). HOWEVER, the construction of the heel seam was the first detail that told the true "repro" tale. Material used in soles, The exact heel being used in relation to the style of the shoe. The interior lettering. The materials of footbed, sole, etc. These tell the story. Also, The leather quality of the pair that started this thread is heavily corrected grain. Not what they used in the 1960's and earlier. Better leather and higher quality stamping process.

 

[Isshinryu101]

A pair of Florsheims with same soles, heels, footbed material and stamp. Purchased by my Father in late 1970's- early 1980's.

 

[Horace Debussy Jones]

Now that I think about it, the color of the logo in the little window may have had some significance. I seem to recall different colors used in their "Imperial" and "Royal Imperial" lines. It was a LONG time ago though. I looked at the current styles on their website, and recognized only one style that is the same now as it was then. The "Como", which is a moccasin style. Nothing under $100 there now either!:eeek:

 

[rkinna]

Just found these well loved Florsheim shoes. I would like to date them but S/N is not clear and does not seem to be the same as others from what I can see. Any help would be appreciated.

THANKS R.

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

 

[Tommy-VF51]

http://vcleat.com/

For all your Florsheim, Nettleton, Alden and Allen-Edmond's needs!

Helped me date my PTB and Gunboats as being '60s.

 

[Isshinryu101]

LOL. that site has a LOT of mis-information.

Start with this... "Florsheim Imperial shoes run true to size but since they are handmade, there is some variance especially in the 1960s models."

NOPE! Not "handmade" in the 50's or later, and only certain models were in 40's and earlier. That's just the beginning of the incorrect data.

 

[LuvMyMan]

LOL. that site has a LOT of mis-information.

Start with this... "Florsheim Imperial shoes run true to size but since they are handmade, there is some variance especially in the 1960s models."

NOPE! Not "handmade" in the 50's or later, and only certain models were in 40's and earlier. That's just the beginning of the incorrect data.

There are so many things to learn about shoes in general, and it is so very sad that Florsheim Shoe Company turned to cheap shoe leather and outsourcing their manufacturing to India or where ever they have them made now...wish they would have kept things here in the USA and kept their quality up. For some time, Florsheim did keep records on things about their shoes, not sure if they still do or not?

BUT I trust your judgement on the Florsheim Shoe Line....you have to own a lot of them to know the date and quality lines.

 

[ironthinker]

I started buying quailty bands with Allen Edmonds. So by the time I was ready to try Florsheim they sold out and were manufactured in China. I now have AE, Hanover, Alden and Florsheim. They are all great, but I put vintage Florsheim at the top. The green stitching in the enterior is the way I decide if they are the quality version.

Below is a great website on many old brands. It even tells the Florsheim date codes, but the code only shows the month and last date number of the year manufactured, as they didn't want customers in the store to know the decade. They didn't want to let them know it was new old stock.

http://vcleat.com/florsheim-model-numbers-1950s-90s/

 

[LuvMyMan]

I started buying quailty bands with Allen Edmonds. So by the time I was ready to try Florsheim they sold out and were manufactured in China. I now have AE, Hanover, Alden and Florsheim. They are all great, but I put vintage Florsheim at the top. The green stitching in the enterior is the way I decide if they are the quality version.

Below is a great website on many old brands. It even tells the Florsheim date codes, but the code only shows the month and last date number of the year manufactured, as they didn't want customers in the store to know the decade. They didn't want to let them know it was new old stock.

http://vcleat.com/florsheim-model-numbers-1950s-90s/

Thank you for sharing this...super useful. Some non flosheim shoes that are in the early 1940's to late 1960's I can get help from our Cobbler, as he worked with his Father, whom was a Master Shoemaker, at the Shaw Shoe Company Factory in Coldwater, Michigan. Our Cobbler explained that back when many shoe companies were still up and running in Brockton, MA., would have large order runs, (including the Shaw line) and that a contract would be made to fill an order from another manufacturer. All the shops at one time were under the Union and in some ways that made one company make another company's shoe from time to time. BUT fires, mishaps and eventually the Union itself, ran the shoe industry under ! And also the way new ownership of some shoe companies got greedy and started to ship out orders from the USA to places like India, China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Mexico.

Another issue about quality vintage shoes, there have been European and shoe makers in many other Countries that made some fantastic shoes for a long time. Some are considered "Custom" shoe makers and some just a low volume shoe maker. We can't discount the high quality from England, Spain, Italy, France, and even Portugal. The shoe "tragedy" has never been defined as one shoe is the greatest...so many wonderful shoes. We are lucky to have a few people that come to this website that know a lot and share it with us all.

 

[mollyk]

Please forgive my ignorance, but prior to my recent endeavor to find information about Royal Imperials, my only knowledge of Florsheim shoes came from Frank Zappa (give me a five dollar bill and a Florsheim shoe). (I'm still a fan.)
So I came across a pair in the thrift store, $4.00. Took them home and started to research, was happy to see they sell well (I am an eBay seller), but any info after that was hard-won. I learned way too much about Florsheims in general, but precious little about this particular model (97318); that is, until I stumbled onto this old 2010 thread on another forum:
The V Cleat and five nails were used from the 50's (or earlier) to the 80's
The name "Royal Imperial" was introduced in the 70's or 80's
The wood grain staining on the sole of the shoe was introduced in the 80's
Prior to this the soles were a reddish finish
The markings on the sock liners changed in the early 90's changed to a sewn in tag

So, given that my shoes (dated H H) have a wood grain sole, they have to be at least 1980s, yes? And no sewn-in tag--these have the gold needle logo--would mean they couldn't be from 1997, no? So that leaves me with 1987, please correct me if I am wrong. But I am still left with a burning question (or 2): Where were they made? What kind of leather was used? They are cordovan in color, but that's about it--the leather is so thin and wrinkly--is it exotic or just overly corrected? Why do I care, one might query. Well, I don't, really...it's just that now I hafta know. Really would appreciate any help (or else I just may end up drinking all night till my eyes get red...stumble in the gutter and bust my head...get bugs in my zoot suit).