Are these Kangaroo leather loafers from the 1970s?

[laurenm]

These shoes look circa 70s to me.
1, Is there a more specific dating do you think?

The photo of the inside didn't come out really clearly....it says
"Directors Quality, Hartt, Canada's Best Shoemakers since 1898,
Genuine Kangaroo."

2. Are/were kangaroo shoes very common in North America? I saw a pair of water bison chelsea boots on ebay from Hartt.

3. And what would 'directors quality' mean?

Thanks ,
Lauren

 

[Jonathan]

It looks like a white boot in a snowstorm.... pic?

 

[laurenm]

oops...here's the needle in the haystack......

 

[foofoogal]

Oh my stars. I thought they were endangered or something. Sorry. Nice shoes.
Learn something new every day.

 

[laurenm]

I just checked, and I believe the original 'wild' water buffalo but the domesticated ones are used/were used commonly as livestock in Asia. Good to know things, thanks for the prompt Foo Foo

 

[laurenm]

Okay, I'm having an ommision issue day.
That was meant to say the original wild ones are endangered.

 

[Jonathan]

They look late 70s - really early 80s to me, by 84ish brown loafers were out in place of black tasselled loafers. Hartt was around for a few days shy of a century - they closed in 1998. 'Director's quality' is probably just a phrase to make it sound good - like 'executive quality', but its not an official term in the shoe industry.

 

[laurenm]

Thanks alot Jonathan.

 

[David W]

Hi Lauren. My name is David. I live in the little city where your kangaroo skin shoes were probably made; Hartt Shoe and Boot Co. First, Hartt closed in June, in the year 2000. The kangaroo hides probably came from Church's shoe factory in England where an outbreak of political correctness in the 80s led to Englishmen not wanting shoes made of anything but cows leather. Church's owned Hartt at that time, having purchased them in the 1960s. Many of the "exotic" leathers that Church's had were sent to Canada for the North American market. Hartt used seal, kangaroo, camel, lizard, etc, In fact, kangaroo is thought to be thebest, strongest leather to make shloes from, and as many of them die on Australian roads daily, why waste their hides? Anyway, the hides that made your shoes were legal. There are some great examples of leather shoes out there, and this pair is one such. Hartt shoes employed a lot of people for a long time, and they produced shoes that were easily amongst the top 10 factory made, hand sewn, ones in the world until free trade agreements completely destroyed their market.. I realize that sounds like a tall boast, but they were initially very successful on their own, then owned by Dack's before Dack's was producing crap, and then owned by Church's, a company whose reputation for excellence would not have permitted them to ally themselves with anything less than amazing. Most of my Hartt shoes in my own wardrobe are made of top quality leathers, and made on Church's lasts, with an eye to perfection that doesn't exist anymore. I am personally acquainted with an elderly gentleman who used to be hartt's hide buyer, and he said that they were so strict that even within same lots of freshly dyed leathers, most of the specimens were rejected and returned to the tannery. Hartt is part of my local history. it's awesome to see that you have a pair of these wonderfully made shoes. Best regards, david

 

[David W]

Oh, by the way, the "Director's Quality" was the second highest of their line. Each particular shoe style generally had one of their product streams made to Director's Quality standards. here's what it meant;the tongue and inside of the shoe was usually lined with gorgeous soft leather, the welt was usually double stitched and would last a long time, and the over-all quality of the leathers used was near impeccable. only custom orders were of a higher standard. I own about 30 pairs of vintage Director's Quality Hartt shoes. The only thing comparable to them today is Church's Custom Grade line, of which I own one.