Shopping from MacRostie Leathers

By Tom Bonamici

Macrostie product literature

LL's MacRostie Oxford

Honestly, the story of shoemaking in the upper Midwest would probably be best dealt with in a Steven Sondheim musical (à la Assassins), given the number of companies that have come and gone, the takeovers, the outrage.

Mr. Sondheim being do doubt occupied, I’ll just describe one of the minor players of the arena. Macrostie Leathers of Spring Lake, MN is the descendant of the famous Gokey Company, the first shoe company to put a hard sole on a moccasin. Elaine and Lyle Macrosite comprise the whole of the firm, and thanks to Lyle’s apprenticeship at Gokey, they can make some of the finest shoes in the States.

Lyle

Elaine

MacRostie Hard-Soled Moccasin

Highland Handmade Boots

While I don’t own a pair of Macrostie shoes, I do have a pair of original Gokey Sauvage Hikers. I bought them at a yard sale for $5, and they fit perfectly from day one.

Tom's original Gokey Sauvage Hikers

Orvis makes a version of this shoe, but if you have the time and money to spare, why not order a pair from Elaine and Lyle?

MacRostie Town and Country Shoe

Since I’ve got a pair already, I’d be tempted to order the Mountain Climber, which resembles my favorite boot from WC Russell, identically named.

MacRostie Mountain Climber

If you’re as swoony over Macrostie Leather’s products as we are, order soon.

LL's notes: I own a pair of the Lace-up Oxfords and Hard-Soled Moccasins. After years of wear, both pairs are ready for the resoling and refurbishing services offered by MacRostie.

Although I found MacRostie on the internet (searching for old Gokeys), my relationship with the company feels very old timey. I look forward to sending my shoes off to MacRostie just to revive my correspondence with Elaine who updates me on the state of handmade bootmaking in the US.

I've emailed Elaine about a possible future order for a pair of custom boots 8" lace-up boots similar to the Highland Lace-up.

Elaine has cautioned that I place my order sooner rather than later since the MacRostie duo is contemplating retirement (handmade shoe and bootmaking is hard on the hands and body).

If you like Russell moccasins but want to support a smaller, top quality, two person shop, give Elaine a call and start working on your foot tracings.

Some examples of some additional MacRostie special order boots:

Highland Handmade Special Order

Bunny Stomper Boots

London Puddle Stompers

MacRostie shoe and boot photos courtesy MacRostie Leathers website.

Please send me links to photographs of your own MacRostie custom shoes or boots.

Danner Factory Store Revisited

Danner Mtn Lites (Japan model on left, stock US model on right)

DJ Dakatons in orchid and green

1970s era Danner refurb (nfs)

Aspirational footwear via Ku:nel magazine

On Sunday, to cap off a long day at Ikea, we visited the Danner Factory Store in Portland, Oregon. A Restless Transplant and I have already reported on the DFS. In essence, if you show up at the right time, you'll find factory seconds from the Japan-only Danner Japan ("DJ") collection mixed in with standard issue military, law enforcement and fire jumper boots.

We intended to spend only a few minutes looking, but for once there were boots in our sizes. The store closed and we lingered, trying to decide between the various models. One of us is now the proud owner of a pair of Horween chromexel DJ Mountain LT.

I may be returning to the Danner store next weekend (11/14). So, if you're dead certain of your Danner size, and fall in the available size range (Women's 5-6.5, and some larger sizes; Men's 6-10, 12-15), I may be able to help connect you with a pair of these amazing boots. Email me and we can talk.

In turn, if you stop by the store, keep an eye out for men's size 6 (euro 39) DJ Mountain Lights in this colorway. I'm also stalking these styles (yet to been seen at the DFS).

Archival Fieldtrip: Horween Leather Co.

Horween tour photos by Rick Gersbach

Last week, Rick, Sara and I visited the Horween Leather Co. in Chicago, Illinois. Nick Horween directed our tour of the tannery, one of the oldest in the US. Horween produces highest quality leathers that are used for Alden shoes, NFL footballs, Russell and Quoddy moccasins, Altadena Works packs, Makr leather wallets and more.

The Horween factory consists of five floors and we were intent on seeing everything. Nick warned us that our eyes might glaze over. He might also have cautioned us about intense odors, high heat, puddles underfoot, sharp hooks overhead and proximity to machinery, ancient and modern. The many-stepped tanning process takes six months, so we weren't able to follow one hide from raw to finish state. We watched as cow and horse hides were stripped of hair, shaved of flesh, dyed, cut out, wrung, squeegeed, stacked, left to rest, hung up, impregnated with wax, split, dried, stamped, measured, and polished (not in that order).

Fortunately for readers wishing to better visualize the complexities of the tanning process, friend and photographer Rick Gersbach provided documentary evidence of our tour. A full set of Rick's Horween photographs can be viewed via his flickr site here.

At the end of the tour, Nick, our charming and well informed host, showed us some belts, shoes and wallets made from Horween leathers. While I've always admired shell cordovan leather from afar, I'm now fundraising for a Highland brand belt and a custom pair of Alden Style 500 boots in whiskey or cigar shell cordovan. But for now, I'll console myself with the chromexcel hide I purchased from Horween for future projects.

Dreaming of Alden Surgical boots in whiskey shell cordovan

For more stories and reports about the Horween Leather Co., read Nick's own official Horween blog.

Archival Fieldtrip: PDX October 2009

A few belated notes from a beginning-of-the-month (October) fieldtrip to Portland by way of the Oregon Randonneurs Bikenfest 200k (not pictured).

Sugar Cane Denim (not pictured) & Engineered Garments @ Blake

The shock of a properly fitting, size small, Filson Outfitter jacket

Custom tweed jacket @ Duchess

Billykirk leather tote @ Winn Perry

Scandanavian breakfast at Broder

Shoe shopping from Bicycling, Circa 1980

A guest post by Archival Associate, Tom B.


Like Lesli, I pine for the ability to mail order from the past – just a single Montgomery Ward’s catalog would be acceptable. But I’m experiencing similar saudade as I leaf through Bicycling magazines from the early 1980s. The articles are fine, but it’s the advertisements that slay me. Imagine being able to buy a new Suntour Superbe gruppo! How about all those Avocet imports? Their re-branded Ofmega hubs and cranks are particularly tantalizing. And, even though I ride with clipless pedals, it’s the shoes in Bicycling that really make me wish that the advertised phone numbers would still link me to a pair of Bata Bikers for $14.95.

Shopping from 1976: Brady Bags

Knowing my obsession with the history of British fishing bags, Brady Brothers was kind enough to loan me this original brochure from 1976. I'm told that when Brady was operating from Halesowen, England, they kept very few original advertisements or print catalogues. Brady issued a small brochure type catalogue every 10 or 15 years since nothing in the product line ever changed. At the time, British fishing and game bags were quite popular and there was usually a 2 year waiting list for a bag like the leather Brady cartridge bag. The small brochure from 1976 is the only one known to exist within the company.

I'd love to see the shopping list current readers would draw up from this catalogue. I own a few bags from this catalogue including the diminuitive Norfolk and the staggering Scot (webbing wider than my shoulder blade). Per Brady's own notes, most of the items pictured in this catalogue are still available today (making the catalogue a bit of a peeking-into-the-past let down). I'm most curious about the items found on the "Miscellaneous" page of the brochure--namely the ferret bag, bridle leather dog collar and rabbit purse nets. I'm wondering if these items should be considered as key accessories in a future heritage clothing collection.

Shopping from 1921: Équipages Français

Manufacture Francaise d'Armes & Cycles courtesy Pillpatt (agence Eureka)

Thanks to one of my favorite Archival finders, Robin E., who pointed me to this flickr set featuring pages from Manufacture Francaise, a French firearms and clothing catalog from 1921. Per an auction note for a related item: "Manufacture Francaise produced an annual catalogue with over 700 pages and thousands of images of various products for sale. The catalogue provides a great deal of information of every kind needful to Sportsmen, Cyclists, Anglers, Tourists, etc."