The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-05-13
SHOES FOR MEN AND WOMEN.
A Shoemaker Gives His Experience an,
Tells Tales Out of school.

There is little doubt in my mind" said
shoe dealer yesterday, g that it is in the
selection of footgear that people are most
fastidious. am well aware that every one
who caters to the fancies of the community
has a hard row to hoe but when the average
person sets out to purchase shoes then
comes the time that is calculated to try
mems souls. 1t requires hard effort fol
one to repress forcible expression of his
feelings on some occasions, but by expert
ence he learns to bear the torture in silence.
In after years he is even enabled to hide his
thoughts behind the most winning of smiles.
The man who succeeds in the business is he
who succeeds in pleasing patron with the
first or second pair of shoes taken from
box. Let him fail in this before he has
spread large array of footgear before the
prospective purchaser and he will have al.
most endless trouble. 1t all lies in the
ability to tell almost at glance the quality
of shoes desired by customer
g Is much difficulty experienced in deal
ing with women ~ was asked.
" That is a subject that has been much
agitated," was the reply, and in my opin.
ion it is one that has also been greatly oxag-
gerated. Women have strong natural de-
sire, one that almost appears to be Unborn,
to have as small and shapely feet as posi-
BILE, but, except in limited number of
cases, the desire is kept within bounds. 1t
is not unusual for one to insist on crowdinp
No. foot into o shoe two sizes smaller,
but the majority while buying footwear
have in view mainly their personal comfort.
There appears also to be growing tendency
in favor of comfortable shoes, even at the
expense of looks"
"Speaking of Sizes does the average diff.
fer in various parts of the country ?" asked
the reporter.
don't know just what foundation it
has or what investigations have been made
into the subject" said the dealer, .'but it
is generally recognized that the ladies of
the East wear the smallest Shoes 1t is said
that the average size of the shoes worn here
range from l. to q. In Ohio it probably
ranges from the latter figure to 81 and many
shoes half size larger are disposed of there.
Shoes get larger as you progress to the
West.n
How about the Chicago girls ?"
"The bellies of that city have to some ex-
tent been slandered, but it is fact that
their pedal extremities are larger than the
ordinary. The sizes psobaby run from num-
bers to A, 80 you see that although not as
diminutive as they might be the feet of the
young ladies are not so large that they merit
the widespread attention bestowed on them.
As between Chicago and st. Louis I think
nature in this respect distributed fayors
with an impartial hand. An exception to
all that has been said, however, is the case
of Sandusky belle. While only IT years
Of age she wears a number "a shoe. Ohio
does not thus take q position in the back.
ground even in the case Of feet. A New
York boot and shoe mandatory recently
issued to the trade a circular of which the
proportions of this young lady's feet formed
prominent feature. After much trouble
the manufacturer secured piece of paper
large enough to contain an outline of the
last from which the shoes were made, and
in addition filled the publication with poe
try appropriate to the subject It attracted
great attention, aud was much commented
upon at the time"
"What is the average size of shoes worn
by men 7"
81 think that it ranges from numbers
to s. 1t is for number 7, however, that we
have the greatest demand. Once in while
we have call for numbers IL or 70, but
few men require protectors of such ample
dimensions. As in the case of the women
the shoes worn by Eastern men are smallei
than those of their brethren in the West"