Club Obi Wan

What kind of shoe was Indy’s supposed to be? Was it supposed to be an ex-military product, the all-purpose shoe of the times, a dress shoe that he decided to use as his field boots, or simply the work boot of the times?

Easy, the boot was what Indy (and Harrison Ford Himself) was most comfortable with; that's what counts, personal preference!

Ian

I'm referring to their original intended purpose. Example, I have running shoes, but I don't wear them to weddings (unless it's a jogging-wedding, but I haven't been to one yet).

Oops, sorry I had a blonde moment

I would say then, it was supposed to be the 'upper end of the market' work boot; as they are very tough and high leg.
Not that my opinion means anything of course!

Ian

We're talking about a fictional character, opinions are all we have to go on... Heh-heh.

We're talking about a fictional character, opinions are all we have to go on... Heh-heh.

Yes very true, good point!
What would be your opinion as to the original origin of Indy's boot?

Ian

Of course historically speaking, high top boots such as the Alden 405 represents was a pretty standard piece of footwear for men during the period of time between 1900 and WW2, so it could have been at either end of the 'quality' scale of the shoe industry. It was a pretty standard style for the time. Regards. Michaelson

I'd say work boot. Many things from yesteryear seem to lack a certain specificity with regard to purpose, which is why one could wear the aldens cutting wood or in the office. Clothing today is more suited to its intended purpose (like the act of running and “running shoes”).

I always felt that "Indy" wore Alden’s as his shoe/boot of choice. We know as, Michchaelson stated, that the Alden 405 was around and is a solid boot with a good look as well. But that's just my 2cents

Cheers,
Jeff

Check 'em out. The style seemed pretty standard. K

Of all things, I saw a hiking boot from the 1920s in a Museum the other day. It was quite like an Alden 405, but had a decent tread on it.
The tread is the only thing that gets me- if I was Indy I probably would have chosen something a bit less slippery on certain surfaces.

Ah, Kittlemeier, is that a Lewis Hein (sp?) photo? He did the coolest stuff of the Empire State Building under construction!

Not Hein, it's "Lunch on a Skyscraper" or "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" by Charles C. Ebbets. It was taken during the building of Rockefeller Center. I love these kinds of pics. K

Look at the profile of the boot on the guy that's 4th in from the left...very alden-like.

That pic is giving me the heebie jeebies just looking at it. There's NO WAY I could ever work on a skyscraper like that. One look down and --ULP! 8-[ &

Although I have gone sky diving several times... go figure.

I've got an old pair of vintage shoes/boots which are very much like these, but they're black. I'll have to try and take some pics of them.

bink

From what I understand the orginal boot GL and SS invisioned Indy to wear was more along the line of Belloq's. They weren't that comfortable an so Ford convinced Steve and George that since Indy was more of a utility guy, the 405's were the choice he'd wear.

Any pics of Belloq's boots?

Kittlemeier wrote:Not Hein, it's "Lunch on a Skyscraper" or "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" by Charles C. Ebbets. It was taken during the building of Rockefeller Center. I love these kinds of pics. K

I saw a special on the building of the Empire State Building and they showed this same picture. They said it was taken during the construction of the Empire State Building. I tend to agree. If you look around, there isn't any other buildings around there that are anywhere near that high.

Check these out

Shoes, Service, Cordovan, USMC
A welt constructed shoe; with ½ bellows tongue, out side counter pocket, full toe vamp, toe cap with USMC style toe, heavy first quality bend outersole, leather slip tap and plain heel, and leather heel lifts. The upper leather is best quality, heavy, Brown, side leather fully chromed and vegetable retanned. The shoe is lined with cotton duck material. These shoes were used by the USMC from 1910 to 1940, so these would be suitable to used even with WWI impressions of Marines.



With the era of Indy, these were probably a plentiful, well-made viable contender.

May have to get me some o' those too...

JJ

Hey, Jersey, are these repro boots? If so, where can I get a pair? They look similar to the vintage boots I mention above, except mine are black and have speed laces at the top.

bink

It looks a lot like the WWII US service boot too.



£99.99 att SoF, of course.

Regards,
Swindiana

I saw a special on the building of the Empire State Building and they showed this same picture. They said it was taken during the construction of the Empire State Building. I tend to agree. If you look around, there isn't any other buildings around there that are anywhere near that high.

I can't say for sure. Just going by this other one. I would have posted it but the boots didn't show up as well.



and this

That pic is giving me the heebie jeebies just looking at it. There's NO WAY I could ever work on a skyscraper like that. One look down and --ULP!

Right there with you. K

I love this one. No boots with suits here. K

Kit
I love that picture....

Hey did you get my email, I wrote you last week I believe....?

Good to have you back!

james

K,

I have seen both of those pictures and I swear they said it was during construction of the Empire State Building. But, I believe the Rockefeller Center does have a tower, I don't know if it is that tall or not. I also thought maybe it was of the ESB and they just had the pictures at the Rockefeller Center. It certainly has piqued my curiosity.

Swindiana said:

It looks a lot like the WWII US service boot too.



£99.99 att SoF, of course.

I do believe that they appear to be the same boot! These only look a little lighter, but it could be the lighting of the picture.

The Empire State Building, I think was begun in 1930 and completed 1931. Rockefeller Centre was 1931-1933- so the date on the photo is on the money.
The angle looking up Central Park though is what makes me think it is definately the Rockefeller Centre- I don't think you'd get that from the ESB as it's further towards the south.
All these kinds of photos look fairly similar, so it's very easy to mistake one for the other.
Oooh, I love skyscrapers.

My sincerest apologies for disrupting the smooth path of this thread.

Mystery solved. Check this out. Very interesting article.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/corre ... 113003.htm

Here's Ebbets setting up for the shot.



How's the jacket wearing James? K

Edit:

My sincerest apologies for disrupting the smooth path of this thread.

No problem here, I've always wondered the history of the photo. If I'd tried to find it six months ago, I'd have been out of luck. The article's from 11/30/2003.

K,

Thanks for the article. I found it very interesting. I guess that solves that question. And now to try and get this thread back on topic, I am glad that I now know exactly which building those Indy era boots were dangling from.

Okay, I got pics! These are the boots I mentioned above. The first pics is after pulling them out of my closet, the second is right after I smathered them with Pecards. The pics were taken with an archaic digital camera I borrowed, so sorry if they're not the best quality.

http://public.fotki.com/binkmeisterRick ... hoes1.html
http://public.fotki.com/binkmeisterRick ... hoes2.html

They work wonderfully for the era and may just well be from that period of time. They even have B.F. Goodrich stamped on the underside of the heels, which makes me believe they very well could be that old. Enjoy.

bink

Nice boots!
I wonder why it is so hard to get hold of ankle boots these days, at least in Sweden. Dress shoes always seem to be of 'standard' height and when finally seeing a pair remotely close to vintage ones they are always rugged winter boots, or Dr. Martens. Is it just about fashion coming and going?
Maybe I should start saving for some Aldens right now...

Regards,
Swindiana

Maybe Indy shouldve worn converse all stars!

http://www.jackpurcell.com/conversehi/chucktaylors.jpg

I don't see why not. The first one was made in 1917. I own a black pair myself, they'll have to do for now.

Regards,
Swindiana

Swindiana wrote:

Nice boots!
I wonder why it is so hard to get hold of ankle boots these days, at least in Sweden.

Thanks! I don't know why it's hard to find them. I bet if you looked hard enough, you could find a pair. Shoot, what about the pair from SoF you posted? They look almost identical, except for the speed laces and the color.

I think fashion has a lot to do with it, as well. If you wait, it'll come back around sooner or later.

I've postulated on my Indy boots several times in the past.

The good news is it wipes right off and with a little pecards, they come out good as new.

Seriously, slightly OT but wasn't Indy supposed to wear a pair of army-style boots or similar? Ford brought in the Alden idea as he wore them anyway.

So we could all be buying combat boots instead of 405's, were it not for Ford's dodgy back.

I know that the original designer swears to this day they were Redwing boots, and if memory serves me right, Lee Keppler saw one example YEARS ago in his original quest to find the truth about the boots, and a vist to the prop department. (correct the story if I got it wrong, Lee. It's been a while since I heard it.) He also saw one of the original used 405's that Ford substituted in the Redwing's place. Personally, I'd like to know which Redwing boot they were planning on using. Just another interesting footnote to 'what if' in the Indy story. Regards. Michaelson

footnote

I'm slappin' my leg as I type!

I've been thinking of getting a pair of these:
http://www.shoestoboot.com/moreinfo.cfm ... tegory=172
They probably weren't around in Indy's day but after owning a few pairs of black combat boots, these are cool. I also dig their historic aspect.

The pics were taken with an archaic digital camera I borrowed...binkmeisterRick

an "archaic digital camera"????!!!!...hey, Michaelson, now I really AM starting to feel old around here!!!!!

I like the "common work boot" idea. Makes sense.

Ron

Yeah, I caught that too. I'm still using an original Instamatic 110 myself, and they're talking about old digital cameras? Oh well, I'll just go home and play my Columbia Graphanola records and drink my coffee now..... Regards. Michaelson

Come on, guys, I'm not that young! The only reason I stated that was in case the image quality looked bad. I'll take a film camera any day if I have to choose between the two. I have all the box cameras, bellows types, and Brownies that belonged to my grandparents, including some stuff which belonged to my great grandfather who was a talented amateur photographer in his own right. Personally, I'd love to get my mitts on an old Lieca if I can ever afford one, but that's a different topic, altogether. Maybe I'll have to wear my BOOTS when I buy one! bink

That still makes us about a generation removed. Box cameras and Brownies were the cameras of choice of MY parents, and in your case, grandparents. Regards. Michaelson

I remember my dad talking about a Brownie being one of his first cameras. My father worked with computers when they took up rooms bigger than the first floor of our apartment house and could do things like add. His first and favourite car was a late 40's Roadmaster he got used. Man, I wish he still had that car. Anyhow (to keep things a little on topic) the boots I have were probably something similar to what my grandfather wore. bink

prettybigguy wrote:I've been thinking of getting a pair of these:
http://www.shoestoboot.com/moreinfo.cfm ... tegory=172
They probably weren't around in Indy's day but after owning a few pairs of black combat boots, these are cool. I also dig their historic aspect.

They have WWII jump boots in size 11 on sale on Soldier of Fotune too for £59.99. I'm not sure if it will be cheaper with the shipping costs, but maybe they are worth checking out in case the size is good?

http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/reenactors/index.htm

USWWII/CLOTHING/FOOTWEAR

Regards,
Swindiana

Go to http://www.wwiiimpressions.com/ for those old-school WWII USMC boots.