Kedettes Shoe Ad, July 1938

Full page advertisement for Kedettes shoes for women and girls. McCall’s Magazine, July, 1938.

I paid $2.99 for a battered copy of McCall’s magazine, July, 1938 issue, and definitely got my money’s worth just from this full color Kedettes advertisement on the inside back cover.  “25 styles (6 for children) 22 color combinations. At the better stores — $1.65 to $2.50. Children’s lower.”

I’ll break the ad up into many smaller images with legible text size. In the background, there are black & white sketches of women boating, holding a tennis racquet, and walking a dog.

Top of Page, Kedettes shoe ad, McCall’s, July, 1938.

Bottom of page, Kedettes shoe ad, McCall’s, July, 1938.

The first thing that caught my eye was the floral print open-toed shoe in the center, but then I became fascinated by the colorful striped soles on five of the shoes:  so much more fun than many shoes I see today! Starting at top left of the page:

“Girls’ Kedettes moccasin oxfords — they’re just like mother’s and the soles are striped like stick candy.” 1938 ad.

“Of course little girls adore their Kedettes moccasin oxfords — they’re just like mother’s and the soles are striped like stick candy. Made of whipcord twill and peachskin, they come all white; white with blue; and red, blue, or brown with white. They’re washable.”

The green shoes below are described as “subject to change” — they have removable flaps:

Kedettes Swiss oxfords with removable flaps. Ad, 1938

“Subject to change are Kedettes peachskin Swiss oxfords [above right].  Minus their removable flaps, they become trimly tailored bluchers and show off their perforated vamps. All white; white with blue, red, or green; and blue or brown with white. Thick, square-edged soles and wedge heels.”

Kedettes ghillies with a choice of college or wedge heels and candy striped soles. Ad, 1938.

This ghillie style was available in a wide range of colors and with a choice of heel heights: wedge (low) or college (this mid-heel). Several of the shoes pictured come in a range of color combinations and also with either low or mid-heels, which accounts for there being just eight illustrations for twenty-five styles. This ghillie was also available in white with blue or green trim; or brown, blue, or red with white trim, like the blue version pictured.

Near the top center of the ad was this simple white shoe:

All white, “comfortable, conservative, and charming” blucher oxford whipcord cloth shoe from Kedettes, 1938. Cuban heel only.

In the middle of the page was this eye-catching summer shoe:

Flowered, open-toe, oxford style washable cloth shoe with Cuban heel, from Kedettes ad, 1938.

“Flowers on the feet for astonishing color accent, thanks to Kedettes printed open-toe oxfords, designed to dramatize the demure and dainty summer costume. Made of a fine mercerized broadcloth that’s easy to wash, they come with white, blue, or red binding. Cuban heels.” What fun! and you could coordinate the binding to a solid colored red, white, or blue dress.

A dashing shoe available in two different heel heights was this oxford for “spectator sports.”

Perforated oxfords for spectator sports, made in a wide range of colors and with low or mid-heels. Kedettes ad, 1938.

Peachskin must have been a specific cloth used by Kedettes, since it appears often in shoes described as washable. “Perforations, stripes, and pipings join in triple accent on Kedettes peachskin oxfords for spectator sports. And being Kedettes, they wash beautifully. All white; white with blue or red; and blue or brown with white [like the illustration] in college and wedge heel models. White with green, wedge heels only.”

In other words, white with green had “wedge heels only” because it was this shoe, without the removable flap! (With the flap, it reminds me of a golf shoe, without spikes.)

These two shoes were shown at the lower left of the ad:

The blue and white shoe (right) is a “moccasin oxford” and the red and white shoe is called a “peasant tongue oxford.” Kedettes ad, 1938.

“Some wear them dark, some wear them light — Kedettes moccasin oxfords [above right] are summer favorites. All white; white with blue, green or red; and blue, brown or red with white in both college and wedge heel models. Green with white; brown with yellow; and red, white and blue — college heels only. Wedge heel models have candy striped soles. [At lower left:] Peachskin flaps, stitched to reflect candy striped soles, supply the big interest in Kedettes peasant tongue oxfords of whipcord twill…. Wedge heels. White with red or blue trim; blue with white trim. Washable.”

Kedettes shoes were made by the United States Rubber Company, as far back as 1916, according to The Vintage Traveler. (Lizzie, this post’s for you — I hope you find some of these for your collection!)

I wrote about a 1917  Keds ad — for a surprisingly modern looking flat with a bow on the toe — here.

You can see more vintage Kedettes ads at the Vintage Inn blog. Click here.

Shoe Prices 1938

Note:  These attractive Kedettes were very reasonably priced, and I suspect that, being cloth shoes, most of them were worn out by their owners. (I.e., they’re they kind of everyday fashions not likely to show up in museums.)  In 1936, several sources agreed that a young woman college graduate could expect to earn about $18 to $20 per week. The same 1938 McCall’s magazine that ran this Kedettes ad ran another, for Royal Baking Soda, that said, “You can’t afford baking failures when you’re raising a family on $25 a week.” (McCall’s, July 1938, page 54. )

Rivals to Kedettes

Summer sports shoes from the Sears catalog were even cheaper, and, in some cases, very similar — except that they were not described as washable, and styles and colors were far more limited:

Summer shoes from Sears catalog, Spring 1938, catalog p. 292.

The Sears descriptions for those shoes — half the price of Kedettes — usually say “crepe-like soles,” but this pair — very like Kedettes and priced comparably — have “crepe rubber soles and heel:”

Sears’ Convertible Oxford, very like Kedettes, but these only come in white, brown, and gray.

 

 

 

 

Women’s Shoes: Sturdy, Comfortable and Tailored for Spring, 1936

 

Shoe Styles for Spring. Woman’s Home Companion, April 1936

This article from Woman’s Home Companion, April, 1936, showed me that I have a lot to learn about the way shoes were perceived in the 1930s. Were white lace-up heels always for women over fifty? Did young women really wear them, too?

Shoes illustrated with ‘Fashions After Fifty,’ in 1937. Did younger women also wear them?

“Old Lady Shoes”

Woman in her seventies wearing white lace-up heels. Circa 1948.

 

I find many thirties’ shoes stodgy looking because I associate them with “old lady shoes.” My grandmother and her friends were still wearing white, lace-up, perforated shoes in the 1950s.

Florsheim Shoe Ad, May, 1937.

Those white shoes looked exactly like some of these fashion shoes from 1936, and the question raised in some online discussions has been, “Were the old ladies we remember wearing shoes they had saved for 15 years, or did they just buy new ones that looked old-fashioned?”

Black Florsheim lace-ups from 1937.

You could still buy similar shoes in the 1960s. (When lace-up oxfords with moderate heels were black instead of white, we called them “nun shoes.” I went shopping with a high school friend who had to buy a pair when she entered the convent in the 1960s. We laughed a lot.)

Shoe Vocabulary, 1936

As often happens with fashion writing, vocabulary doesn’t always mean the same thing now as it did in the past. It would never have occurred to me that oxfords were more “tailored” and more appropriate for wear with a city suit than pumps with straps! It’s also hard to remember that a “sandal” was any shoe that did not completely enclose the foot, no matter how structured and pump-like it was. And how can a high heel be “Monkish?”

Here is the article, with its line illustrations, plus related ads from 1936. [Fashion reports in the Woman’s Home Companion rarely named the sellers of featured items. If you wanted more information, you had to write to the magazine and ask for it.]

Sturdy, Comfortable, and Tailored for Spring

“What type of shoe, Madam?” and if your answer to the sales clerk is “Something to wear with my spring suit – something sturdy and comfortable and tailored looking,” he may bring out some or all of these eight most popular styles.”

Oxford Style Shoes for Spring, 1936.

“Oxfords still come first. We used to wear them for comfort and now we choose them for style. The newest are trimmed with stitching and perforations ranging from tiny pinpoints to larger triangular shapes, for decoration as well as ventilation. Some show tiny touches of light contrast under the perforations or, even newer, thongs of bright colored kid laced through the holes.”

Illustration: Oxford Shoe, April 1936.

This perforated oxford was actually black, like some of the shoes in these advertisements.

Ad for Selby Shoes, March 1936; Perforated Black Oxford.

Ad for Selby Arch Preserver Shoes, May 1936. Prices $9 to $12.50.

Wide Strap Pumps

“Sharing the popularity of oxfords are wide strap pumps. They have the comfort of oxfords and are more open, a trifle less tailored.” [Surprise. I would have said these are more dressy.]

Illlustration: Wide Strap Pumps, 1936. The one on the left is made of blue gabardine.

It’s a little surprising that gabardine fabric shoes were popular in the Depression, since they would not wear as well as leather. But fabric is also featured in this Matrix Shoe Ad, March 1936.

Ad for a Matrix Sandal, March 1936. Available in black fabric with patent leather or in blue fabric with kid trim. $9.00 and up.

Blue was definitely a fashionable color:

Queen Quality Shoe Ad, March 1936.

In this Queen Quality ad, the question of the wearers’ age is settled by the appeal to “Spring Brides.” And, although not extremely narrow, those are pretty high heels. Here are more wide-strap styles:

Another Wide Strap Shoe; Selby Ad, March 1936.

Wide Strap Spectator Pumps and an Oxford, right. Red Cross Shoe Ad, May, 1936.

Monk Type Shoes

Illustration: “Monkish Styles Seem to Be Coming Favorites for Town,” 1936.

“If you prefer a heavier-looking shoe to go with a mannishly tailored costume then a monk type with side strap and leather heel is your goal. This style originated in smart country shoes and is now coming into new fame for town wear.”

Probably the stacked leather heel gave it a “country shoe” feeling. These “Cabana” two-tones with a (monkish?) tongue and buckle are perforated, but don’t have that ‘old lady oxford’ look to me:

Ad for “Cabana” shoes from Walk-Over, March, 1936.

Square Toes and Square Heels for Young Women, 1936

Illustration: “Square toes and square heels in Dubonnet red bucko for smart young feet.” 1936.

“Young girls, with that smartly casual look, may choose a different type of tailored shoe altogether. With their youthful suits, stubby little square-toed square-heeled sandals are charming. [Bucko was a scraped leather with a slightly sueded or matte finish.]

Low heeled, square-toed shoes were also available in the 1960s, but the one in this ad dates from 1936.

Ad for Square-toed Collegebred Shoes, 1936. Available in Gray, Blue, Brown, Black, or White.

Like the shoes in the illustration, they are made of bucko; the brand ‘Collegebred” confirms that these are for teens and young women. They have casual, stacked leather heels.

Sandals, 1936

Illustration: Formal Tailored Kid Sandals, 1936.

“The last of these eight popular types is a sandal with high support and an open effect, the perfect complement to your silk suits and dresses.”

These may not be what we usually think of as sandals, but they look light and appropriate for a silk, rather than a wool, suit or dress.

Like the article on shoe styles I have been quoting, these Walk-Over brand sandals are from Woman’s Home Companion, April, 1936:

“Nothing smarter for town, sport or afternoon. New ‘dark accent’ colors of suede. Patent. And British Tan calf, the exciting ‘high’ shade.” Walk-Over Ad, April 1936.

They are much more open, but not open-toed.  All four styles were available in patent leather, and some came in a range of colors (Dubonnet, blue, black, white, brown, British tan, white kangaroo suede, etc.) Style A has square toes and heels and is pictured in bucko. Perhaps I like these sandals because – except for the one with the wide strap – they remind me of the elegant shoes of the twenties. The ad says they are “young” and colorful. I wonder:  Would they have looked old-fashioned to women who had worn similar styles – which were then described as new and “unusual” —  in 1928?

“Unusual” Evening Sandals from Netch & Bernard, Delineator, October, 1928.