Seeking help on deciphering label for knee high boots

Retro Ruth said:
Hi Anna

I got your emailed fles.

I get the same error message on one of your images, therefore it's the image that is causing the problem rather than anything to do with your computer or browser. I think it's simply too large a file for our forum to handle - it's very large at 8.6MB. Our forum does resize large images, but I guess there's also an upper MB limit to how big a file it will upload. I resized it in photoshop to reduce the file size, and it uploaded fine.

The other two were just slightly smaller, 8.1 and 7.2 MB, and they uploaded for me without an error message, or needing to be resized.

Perhaps you can change your camera settings to produce slightly smaller files, if you don't have software that can resize them.

So now that's sorted out, I wonder if anyone can read your insoles!

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Thankyou so much Ruth, that is so very helpful. I need to get myself a decent camera- I am currently relying on a Samsung phone. It usually takes small images, but appears to have changed tact recently. I must look into it!
 
Avantbo said:
Hello Ruth,

On your points and this is probably not the page for me to reply to them.

It more then likely Anna's image sizes that caused her the issues.

The forum does do a good job at resizing JPG/JPEG images but as you rightly state some of the images can be very large indeed, what it doesn't do very well, at least I have found, is handle RAW image format, even the smaller ones cause error issues.

For point and shoot cameras, RAW should never be an issue but large Jpegs might when uploading them to these forums.

Cropping a JPG image as much as possible may do it but generally an image resize is required.

Opening an image in either Photo Shop or Windows " Paint " or any other decent image editor will suffice.

For forum purposes, 2500 to 3200 horizontal, (or below), vertical sizing should be automatic once " H" is imputed and "saving image ", this should prevent those pesky error messages ever happening again when uploading.
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Thankyou! I will study this and see what I can do
 
lkranieri said:
Absent any other clues to the maker of the boots, even info on the sole might be a hint, but I am unable to see "Indian Feather Head Dress" in either of the attached images. Is that what it says or were you just describing the logo? If so, can you please tell us what text is on both places on the sole?

Thank you.
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Hi Lynne, thankyou for your help! The American Indian logo is a stick-on sole, presumably added after purchase. The text says 'longlife Indiana'. The shield on the leather undersole reads 'Vero Cuoio, Made in Italy'
 
Vintagiality said:
I was thinking a photo of the logo on the bottom (not the insole) might be more helpful. Looks to have both an image and some writing but it’s hard to say from that angle
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Hi Victoria, I neglected to photograph this aspect properly as I looked it up & found they are a brand of stick-on rubber soles. I know I've taken leather-soled boots to the shoemender before if they've had leather soles- to stop the rain leaking through. But then I live in a very damp part of the world!
 
Avantbo said:
Hello Anna,

I think real Alligator, not embossed, I think I'm seeing some umbilical scarring on one of the boots although that could be simply creasing.

Last five number digits, could they be month and year of manufacture and Euro size 40, ( UK 7.5-8 ).

If riding crop, I vaguely remember reading, riding crop symbol can mean " real leather " in some countries.

Beautiful boots.
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Yes, they're a size 40. Interesting to learn about the riding crop being a symbol for leather. Thankyou for the tip about alligator- I will look that up
 
Avantbo said:
I was describing the logo, I am sure it is a Native American wearing a feathered head dress.

If that be the case, admittedly a little bit reaching reason leads be to believe the boots have been resoled, my thinking is would they not have been originally leather?

Be that the case, " Indian Rubber ", before replying to your post I just did a quick Google and fell off my chair, the logo for the IR Company is a Native American wearing a feathered head dress and they are or look very similar.

As for the other logo, I've gone squint, the more I look, the more I'm convincing myself, it is a stretched hide, Alligator--maybe?
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I had a look & you're right-all the rubber companies feature American Indians. I was blissfully ignorant of the history of the rubber industry until just this minute. Please excuse me for quoting Wikipedia (not the best source) and for going off on a slight tangent:
'The rubber boom and the associated need for a large workforce had a significant negative effect on the indigenous population across Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. As rubber plantations grew, labor shortages increased. The owners of the plantations or rubber barons were rich, but those who collected the rubber made very little as a large amount of rubber was needed to be profitable. The rubber barons rounded up all the Indians and forced them to tap rubber out of the trees. One plantation started with 50,000 Indians but, when discovered, only 8,000 were still alive. Slavery and systematic brutality were widespread, and in some areas, 90% of the Indian population was wiped out. These rubber plantations were part of the Brazilian rubber market, which declined as rubber plantations in Southeast Asia became more effective.[3]

Roger Casement, an Irishman traveling the Putumayo region of Peru as a British consul from 1910 to 1911, documented the abuse, slavery, murder and use of stocks for torture against the native Indians: [4]'

Coincidentally, Roger Casement was a family friend of my Great Uncle's!
 
Anna Evans said:
Would that mean that the boots could be as late as (May) 1991 then? ' 591 40'
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Hi Anna,

I'm reaching but applying logic, look at it this way, I guessed correctly they had been resoled, enhanced the head dress logo as much as I could and "40 " was the euro size-- then just maybe 5-91 is May 1991 in that combination of numbers on the boots.

And I do think they are Alligator Skin, not embossed but a bit hard to tell.

Not a great rule of thumb but maybe, as you have the boots, think, eyes closed,, running your thumb/finger across paving slabs, you would feel and sense depth of cravises, croc' & alli' skin is the same, where the scales join, most embossing doesn't have this, the crevices are almost shallow/smoothe.

Some of my croc' and alli items--you almost fall in, well thumb does.:)
 
... where the scales join, most embossing doesn't have this, the crevices are almost shallow/smoothe.
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And with real reptile, you can usually find a few scales that have "edges" that lift away - even if only a little - from the background. Even if you can't feel them, you may be able to see them with a magnifier.
 
Avantbo said:
Hi Anna,

I'm reaching but applying logic, look at it this way, I guessed correctly they had been resoled, enhanced the head dress logo as much as I could and "40 " was the euro size-- then just maybe 5-91 is May 1991 in that combination of numbers on the boots.

And I do think they are Alligator Skin, not embossed but a bit hard to tell.

Not a great rule of thumb but maybe, as you have the boots, think, eyes closed,, running your thumb/finger across paving slabs, you would feel and sense depth of cravises, croc' & alli' skin is the same, where the scales join, most embossing doesn't have this, the crevices are almost shallow/smoothe.

Some of my croc' and alli items--you almost fall in, well thumb does.:)
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Thankyou, that's really helpful advice. I had researched the subject online, but that method makes more sense to me!
 
GemGem said:
I agree with 80's if there were any doubt ;)

I was wondering if you have something in the US wiki, like this list i found on UK wiki of current and closed shoe & clothing stores in the UK. I had a quick look through it as obviously we have international stores too, it's not complete and nothing stood out i'm afraid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_clothing_and_footwear_shops_in_the_United_Kingdom
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Thankyou so much for looking!
I bought these boots second-hand when I worked in a vintage shop (in N.Ireland). It is possible my boss was ordering stock from the US; the stick-on sole does seem to be an American brand. They are an EU size, so it's also possible they were bought at a boutique in Italy- but labelled for the English-speaking market/tourists. I did come across a similar pair of alligator boots that came out of an Italian 'Boutique' (It's just an assumption that the insole says 'boutique' by the way, but it definitely looks like 'IQUE')
 
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