Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-11-03
.LAOY'S FOOT LARGER
London Shoemakers Have Known
This for Some Time.
Day Of Narrow, Pointed Shoe Has
Passed and This Is Declared
to Be Factor In In.
creased Size.

AOuUOu.-l lat Tue "Ou0u VI tuo
present generation have larger feet
than their mothers had. which. accord.
ing to cabled dispatches, was the
unanimous finding OF the National Con.
ference OF American Shoe Manufacture.
ers, came as something Of surprise
to society women. but not to their
shoemakers. They have known 1t for
a long time. but kept discreet silence
on the question. Now that the truth
10 out they are not 10th to admit it.
The managers OF Messrs. Seadon
Brothers. shoemakers to the king and
royal family In King street. st. James
said: YES. 1t Is quite true that women
are wearing bigger shoes nowadays.
and that 1t is easily accounted for.
The modern girl ia much taller than
her mother or grandmother was. That
Is the result OF the athletic exercises.
the outdoor sports and generally
healthier life she leads. See the wo-
men who are our customers. They all
belong to the upper classes. and they
are all tall. You cannot expect a tall
woman to wear a small shoe. The day
Of the 2's and 3's in shoes is gone.
and | should say that As are more
generally used for small women. while
tall women wear shoes that run up to
and 9.
Let me put In in another way. II
you examine the feet of a domestic
servant you will note that. as rule.
they are broad. the natural result OF
the amount Of foot work she has to do.
So 1t has become with the modern
girl. She does SO much exercise on
foot that naturally her feet have grown
larger-she requires more comfortable
shoes-and our women Will no longer
buy shoe that has the least tendency
to pinch"
Francis Bauer OF 40 and IL Burling.
ton arcade is another shoemaker
whose chief business is supplying foot.
wear to English society women. He
and his woman assistant showed much
interest In the subject, and they
agreed that the statement made at the
American convention was correct, the
latter remarking: MY experience is
that the English women's feet are
bigger than the feet OF American wo-
men. We do not stock anything less
than As, because they are not wanted
now. Indeed, young women Of eigh-
teen to twenty-five years take sizes OF
8 and 7, whereas their mothers wore
as small as and 3. But 1t does not
follow that because the girl OF today
Is taller ana bigger than her ancestors
and her feet are larger and developed
by the amount Of outdoor exercise in
which she INDUCES. that they are less
beautiful. On the contrary. the feet OF
the present.day girl are more symmet-
rical than they used to be. We have
customer who wears rs and her feet
are really beautiful. Another wea1s
50 and her feet are absolutely perfect
In shape"
J. C. Hitchcock. manager of the
Walkover Shoe company. the Aneri-
can firm, in Regent street, agreed on
all the points referred to as to the size
of women's footwear. my expert.
ence." he said. rs that the woman of
today Is becoming more sensible In re-
gard to her footwear. Unlike the wo-
men Of yesterday. who did not care II
q shoe pinched II 1t looked small and
neat. the woman Of today insists on
comfort. And she gets neatness as
we'll. That 10 what the American manu-
facturer has done for women. 1t Is
not so much the custom for women to
come and say they wear such and such
size. They leave the matter to US
and they go away satisfied with COM
Portable and neat shoe"
The manager Of the American Shoe
company, l69 Regent street, said:
Most Of our business Is in large sizes.
The 2's and the IS Of even five years
ago are seldom. II ever. required. OF
course the make Of the shoes has
greatly improved. With short vamps
and the improved Cuban heel. we can
make rs look as small as SIS. In fact.
all sizes now look two sizes smaller
than formerly. That explains a great
deal. The making of shoes has be-
come fine art. mainly due to the I'm
provements effected by American
makers, whose methods and style are
being copied by both English and
French makers. The day of the nar-
row pointed French shoe has gone and
comfort. combined with neatness. is
insisted upon"