Info on Celluloid shoes

Pinkcoke

Pinkcoke

Alumni
Has anyone ever seen any information on Celluloid shoes, I have found an article on the introduction of some in 1931 but they sound much plainer than the pair I have found which could be late 1940's. They are black suede over the heel and ball of the shoe as well as the neck and peep toe-trim which have punched hole detail. The main body is made of clear plastic with a black floral print. I've yet to test it but am told it's celluloid. I can't find any examples or pictures just descriptions.

Mel.
 
I would love to read the article you mention because I have never seen a pair of celluloid shoes. Celluloid is brittle and not suitable for shoemaking construction although I have seen it used to cover wooden heels and also sometimes throat ornaments are made from celluloid - but more often in the 20s than the 30s. Lucite (aka perspex/plexiglass) was invented in the mid 1930s and utilized to make clear plastic heels in the U.S. during the war and afterwards - you see them a lot in evening shoes of the early 1950s with carved details and inset rhinestones. Otherwise, vinyl was also used during the war starting in about 1941 - mostly for making rain capes. I have seen a lot of mid 40s - mid 50s shoes with clear or coloured see-through vinyl uppers and straps, usually but not always in conjunction with lucite heels. It sounds to me like these are probably vinyl -- a picture would help.
 
I stand corrected. Lynn sent me a link to a couple of articles about celluloid shoes. One article from 1931 talked about celluloid toe and heel sections of an upper with leather straps worked between them, which would work, for a while until the celluloid got brittle with age. This article later went on to refer to coconut lampshades and using maps for wallpaper - so it wasn't reporting mainstream fashions but rather peculiarities. The other article refers to 2 inch platform soles in Paris in 1939, but this article was written by a socialite and her reportage of what she saw in Paris, and I suspect she got the information wrong - it might have been lacquered wood, or perhaps a strip of celluloid covering the outside edges of a wood platform - I don't believe celluloid can be used as a construction material in shoes - there is no give to it and it will break. I would love to see a pic of a celluloid shoe, because I doubt they were ever put into production -- paper shoes were reportedly available at department stores according to an article appearing in Harper's Bazaar in 1968 but that's not true. The few pairs of paper shoes that exist in museum collections were all made for photo shoots, promotion, window display, etc. So the info we read in newspapers is not always proper trend reportage.
 
Yes my first question was is the plastic brittle but fortunately not. It is sounding much more like they are Vinyl now, they do look similar to the black suede and net patterned pair in Jonathon's book in style but with a peep toe and more decoration around the edges. I haven't received them yet, just getting started on the research! I don't know about the brand yet either - all I know is 'Benefit' I've found a website about The Public benefit boot co. Ltd but it doesn't go into the product much yet it's too new. I've also found one advert from 1925 that's it.
Yes I read the same google archives article on Celluloid shoes here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...IBAJ&pg=5452,6504968&dq=celluloid-shoes&hl=en
 
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