Vintage Dress shoe appreciation, tips, maintenance and advice

[friendlygoz]

AE Westgate wholecuts with reverse burnishing by yours truly…

 

[Satoman1]

Did a mirror shine for my new Stratford today.

 

[smfdoc]

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Anybody know anything about the Diamond Shoe Co?

From 1966
NOS

Undetermined if I want to buy or not

It appears they went in to business in 1912 and made shoes for wholesale. Likely for different stores under their brand name. They also appear to have made shoes for the US gov, and may have made shoes for the military. Those 1966 shoes may have been made for the Vietnam era.

 

[goatamous II]

Thanks - makes it even more interesting with me being in Canada

 

[William Kazak]

It appears they went in to business in 1912 and made shoes for wholesale. Likely for different stores under their brand name. They also appear to have made shoes for the US gov, and may have made shoes for the military. Those 1966 shoes may have been made for the Vietnam era.

My research said that Diamond was originally Peters Shoe company. A very old company. Eventually Diamond merged into International Shoe Company.

 

[goatamous II]

It appears they went in to business in 1912 and made shoes for wholesale. Likely for different stores under their brand name. They also appear to have made shoes for the US gov, and may have made shoes for the military. Those 1966 shoes may have been made for the Vietnam era.

From a US Military forum, the code on the shoes does seem to show that they're military. (Spoiler'd because it's long)

Spoiler

DSA - Defense Supply Agency: from October 1961 through January 1977
DLA - Defense Logistics Agency: from January 1977 until replaced in 1993 by SPO

FSN - Federal Stock Number - 1953 through 1973
NSN - National Stock Number - 1973 through current - also stands for NATO Stock Number if foreign material

A DSA or DLA [later SPO] numbered sequence is often called a "contract number" by dealers/collectors. The actual government terminology is the PII [Procument Instrument Identification] number. Each item in the sequence has a specific meaning.

A typical [post-1966] PII number looks something like DSA 100-67-C-1000.

The DSA/DLA/SPO [the first three letters, in the example it is DSA] is the identifier of the department or agency that issued the instrument [or "contracting agency" - the agency that secured the contract]. The second set of numbers [in the example it is 100] identifies the "class" of item. "100" is clothing [including individual equipment] but there are many others.

The next two digits [in the example it is 67] are the last two digits of the fiscal year the instrument [or "contract"] was awarded. "67" would be FY1967 which ran from 01 July 1966 through 31 June 1967. Which means the contract could have been awarded anytime during that period. A common misconception is that the date code indicates the year of manufacture...it does not. The actual manufacture of the item could be months, even years, after the contract was awarded.

The next letter [in the example it is C] indicates the type of instrument [or "contract"] of which there are many [all corresponding to letters in the alphabet]. "C" indicates a contract purchase.

The last four digits [in the example it is 1000] are the serial number of the instrument [or the "contract number"].

The Federal Stock Number is a standardized system of keeping track of military items that began in 1953 [it did not start appearing on items until 1954]. The first four digits are the Federal Supply Class [8465 is individual equipment, 1005 is small arms under 30mm, 8405 is clothing, etc - there are hundreds] that identifies what the item is. The last seven numbers are radomly assigned but together are unique to a specific item. An example would be 8465-001-6487 which is assigned to the ALICE LC-1 individual equipment belt.

In 1973 [to be effective in 1974] the FSN system was amended to include two more digits to comply with the NATO Stock Numbering STANAG. The FSN was then renamed National Stock Number or NSN [NSN also stands for NATO Stock Number when referring to foreign manufactured items]. The two additional digits identified the country of origin, called the Country Code. So the ALICE individual equipment belt FSN was changed, in 1974, to 8465-00-001-6487. The additional "00" indicates the country of origin is the United States. Further the "00" indicates the item was standardized prior to 1973. Any "new" item to enter US inventory, after 1973, was given the country code of "01" to indicate it is from the United States and standardized after 1973...so the updated ALICE individual equipment belt [standardized in 1982 with plastic buckle] was assigned a new NSN of 8465-01-120-0674.

 

[mormonopoly]

They’re definitely military shoes. From what I’ve seen, there seems to be a pretty big market in Japan for that style.

 

[suitforcourt]

Thanks - makes it even more interesting with me being in Canada

The sole stitching is tight and even. Great find.

 

[suitforcourt]

Hanover LB Sheppards converted into spectators for wingtip Wednesday.

Not that I needed it, but an attractive woman complimented this pair today.

 

[WoolyLamb]

Gentleman

 

[suitforcourt]

Gentleman View attachment 2181249

A beautiful colour tone and shine.

 

[ppk]

Gentleman View attachment 2181249

@WoolyLamb I wore my vintage shell gunboats today as well!

 

[actionjbone]

Today, for WTW, I broke out the cleaned-up Florsheim 93604's I thrifted a couple weeks ago (alongside a 93602 from the same owner).

Sadly, both pairs have several deep cracks, along with other damage. So they'll never again be recrafted.

Fortunately, the soles and heels have plenty of life left. And the cork beds almost feel like they were broken in just for me! So I'll get plenty of miles out of 'em before their lives are up.

 

[ccpl14]

Hanover LB Sheppard NOS

 

[smfdoc]

Hanover LB Sheppard NOS
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I love a good NOS find. They are like little time capsules. Congrats.