1955 Clarks pierced tan leather heels in original box - museum worthy?

[Pinkcoke]

Now I'd like your honest opinion; I've just finished researching this amazing pair of shoes (which I love and would definetly wear if they weren't a UK 3 1/2) which are in near mint condition - only one sole has any signs of wear (broken leg?) in the original box.

I contacted Clarks customer services, who were great, and they replied with this info:

'I can confirm that the shoes you've bought were manufactured in 1955 as part of the Clarks Wessex range, their style name is 'Cassian' the 'Teak Mellocalf' wording you found is the colour of the shoe. They retailed at full price for 49/9 shillings.

The 'castle' you enquired about is Glastonbury Tor, a landmark about 5 miles away from Clarks founding village of Street. The Tor Brand was a series which for a short time all our shoes were branded with.'

This was much earlier than I ever thought (I new it was pre - 1969 because of the decimalisation but didn't think it was much earlier than that).

I have found a few museums that say they buy items in this condition but don't want to look silly entering something that shouldn't be considered, one has said they want unusual styles or designer items only.
I don't think these are very mainstream for the 50's (if I was asked before I would have said 70's - but what do I know? :P ) what do you think? The places I am thinking of have shoes across the 20th century and nothing like this pair in the 50's at all.

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

That is a great pair of shoes, but I don't see them as museum items. did you ask Clarks if they'd like them for their historical archive collection, possibly?

 

[retro ruth]

Just to say I love these.

I wear Clarks a lot, one of the few high street shoe shops that do my size. Amazed to read that they used to be branded with a picture of Glastonbury Tor!

I have no idea about their museum worthiness, but thanks for sharing. Clarks is such a classic British brand .

 

[Pinkcoke]

Mary I have asked in my last reply if they have a museum at Clarks village, I am waiting for a response.

Thankyou GoldenAge, I wasn't sure where to post these but definetly wanted to share them here. I had no idea their designs were so modern back then, and the quality is fantastic they haven't suffered from age at all and could be worn today (by somebody with tiny feet :( )

 

[thespectrum]

Beautiful shoes! Round toed babydoll low heel pumps in a lovely classic color.

Someone would definitely love to own these to wear, there are still a lot of people in the world with tiny feet. I purchased a huge lot of shoes (many unworn in the original boxes) in sizes 4 to 5 & have sold so many of them to customers all over the world.

 

[Jonathan]

Clarks were mass-producers of footwear an its great that this pair is in such good condition and have the original box. They are typical of the mid 50s and I suspect there are many museums that would like to have them, but I doubt any would pay money for them. Museums usually have no money to purchase anything, and those that do reserve their funds for items of extreme rarity and value. I don't know if English museums give tax receipts for donations, but if they do, that is a possibility.

 

[Circa Vintage Clothing]

I agree with Jonathan - if you wanted to donate them, I would contact museums but otherwise you're probably best off selling them. There are lots of people who would like to wear your pretty shoes, and some of them even have small feet!

Nicole

 

[lizzietree]

Hello!
I work for a museums service and whilst i know that here in the U.K. many museums would LOVE a beautiful pair of shoes like these, there simply isn't the money in the system to pay for items like this. Unfortunately this is something that a museums service would hope to be donated rather than them have to pay for.

Saying this i (amongst many other collectors) would happily pay good money for shoes like these, and i recommend you just try and sell them to the general public!

 

[Pinkcoke]

Thankyou for everyone's replies they have been very useful: I did indeed find out that Clarks has a shoe museum in Somerset, England but it will be a while before I can visit as it's a good 3 hours drive away from me. I didn't set out to sell them to a Museum, I'd just seen on the websites I'd visited that they did buy shoes. Now I know; it's for the rare or priceless!
I had the shoes on Etsy before posting here but de-activated them as they had the wrong date in the title, until I received the reply from Clarks. Now I have a specific date which is great, I've re-activated the listing and I hope somebody falls in love with them.