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Are these shoes Liberty of London

Discussion in 'PUBLIC Vintage Fashion - Ask Questions Get Answers' started by Ann Louise, Jan 18, 2017.

  1. Ann Louise

    Ann Louise Registered Guest

    Hi Everyone,

    I acquired these shoes recently and on the inside of both it says Liberty. I havent been able to find a vintage label anywhere online matching this. Can anyone tell me if they are Liberty of London and if so what date?

    Thanks
    Ann Louise




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  2. Jonathan

    Jonathan VFG Member

    Liberty of London never did shoes as far as I know, at least not in the 1940s when these date from (they may have done some shoes in the 1970s/80s -- everybody was doing shoes then). I expect these are postwar and the 'Liberty' is a line of footwear from some company. Are you in England or did you get these in the UK? The boots look European to me, not American (fleece lined bootees are very postwar Europe), but the printed label in English, suggests England.
     
    Ann Louise likes this.
  3. Ann Louise

    Ann Louise Registered Guest

    Hi Jonathan,

    Thank you so much for the reply. Yes I am based in Northern Ireland and these came from a lady who lived in Scotland. I was doubtful they were but thank you so much for confirming this for me,

    Kind Regards
    Ann Louise
     
  4. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    Just FYI, here are some Irish and Scottish ads for Liberty boots. The references are from (top to bottom): 1911, 1927, 1932:

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  5. Ann Louise

    Ann Louise Registered Guest

    How fantastic I couldn't find anything online so this is just lovely.
     
  6. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    In a quick look, the last ad I saw for Liberty shoes was from 1955, but that may just be the latest date of the newspapers in the database.
     
  7. Retro Ruth

    Retro Ruth VFG Member Staff Member

    Re that middle piece, talking about the Prince driving from Oadby then visiting the Liberty Boot Works. This is in the Midlands in England, near Leicester. There was a lot of shoe manufacturing around there, as Melanie will know.

    I was born in Oadby, so I know exactly where that is!
     
  8. Pinkcoke

    Pinkcoke Alumni

  9. thespectrum

    thespectrum VFG Member Staff Member

  10. lkranieri

    lkranieri VFG Member

    I am impressed that you remembered the prior discussion and I enjoyed reading the history, but the fly in the ointment is the first ad I posted is from a 1911 newspaper. Could the date discrepancy be because it was a Scottish paper?
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2017
    Ann Louise likes this.
  11. Pinkcoke

    Pinkcoke Alumni

    Hmm The Liberty building was built in 1919. The company changed the name to Liberty in 1920 and the earliest advert I've found is from 1921 showing both Lennard Brothers and the 'Liberty' brand name.
    Two options are the date of the newspaper is a typo and is from 1921, the other is that the company were using the brand name for the footwear before they changed the name of the company.
    There is of course no reason why another company could not have used the name seperately in 1911, though as you can see from the 1932 advert, this type of slogan/statement brand name was much more typical post WWI. For example before becoming Liberty the Lennard Brothes Ltd traded as The Public Benefit Boot Co. which is in league with the other 'health' promoting names of the early 20thC.

    http://www2.le.ac.uk/library/find/s...itions/industrial-leicester-online-exhibition
    http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Lennard_Brothers

    1921:
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  12. Your boots are lovely and look to be in such nice condition, too. So glad our members could help to answer your question regarding "Liberty" brand.
     
    Ann Louise likes this.
  13. Ann Louise

    Ann Louise Registered Guest

    Thank you so much I am completely gobsmacked at the amount of information I received. I am so glad I found this site.
     

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