Does anyone here know anything about ...

[Mary Fisher]

...shoemaking?

Mary

[Hugh Jampton]

German F1 racing driver. Several times world champion. Drives for Ferrari.

HTH.

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

I watched a programme on Sky about making safety boots. Fascinating, it was, but I dare say it's not what you're after, Mary.

Si

[Mary Fisher]

[Mary Fisher]

What did you learn about it?

Mary

[Dave]

You're just talking cobblers now! :-)

[Mary Fisher]

No, a cobbler is a shoe repairman, not a maker.

Rrasppppppp!

:-)

Mary

[david lang]

|| No, a cobbler is a shoe repairman, not a maker.

That would be a Cordwainer.

Dave

[Mungo "two sheds" Toadfoot]

It wasn't in the greatest detail but it showed all the processes from tanning the hides to vulcanizing the sole to the boot. Mostly by machine of course.

Si

[ben]

I think you'll find he/she makes shoes if asked. :-P

[Michael Mcneil]

[keith_765]

Also known as a Cordwainer

[Brian Sharrock]

Cobblers to that!

That was my _Last_ job!

Do Cobblers make shoes to last?

et.al.

[Mary Fisher]

It would have been interesting but, as you surmise, not what I was after. Thanks anyway,

Mary

[Owain]

I bet you feel a right heel having written that.

It's their sole function.

Owain

[Mary Fisher]

But you don't know anything about it yourself ?

Mary

>

[Brian Sharrock]

That trade crops up frequently on genealogy records A cordwainer (AIUI) is one who works with Cordovan leather (a particularly fine flexible leather from the town of Cordoba(sp?) in Spain. Fine, flexible items would be manufactured from Cordovan leather such as gloves - it is not inconceivable that 'toffs' might have shoes made by their Cordwainer ... AIU Cordwainer != shoemaker. It's a bit like a cardboard-box folder being styled an _Origami artiste_; even though the techniques are similar.

[Martin Bonner]

My sister-out-law refers to herself as a cordwainer when she makes leather bags and belts. The leather she uses for that is a lot stiffer than most shoe-leather. She is using the word just to mean "leather-worker".

The old copy of Collins by my desk gives cordwainer as "Archaic: A shoemaker or worker in leather" (and then proceeds to give the derivation from Cordoba).

[Mary Fisher]

It's much more general than that these days - shoes and accessories in all sorts of leather and other materials are designed and made at Cordwainers College.

Mary

[Rick]

I know little except that in the streets of Cairo round the Babzewalla Mosque, you will find litterally hundreds of small business making shoes to fit.

Rick