Yes I like it too.
Or you mean geographically?
Talking of Longwings...does anyone know if you get can them in a grain and smooth mix?
GW, theres the Cheaney Victor not sure if that fits your brief..
http://www.cheaney.co.uk/classic/206/victor-brogue-in-burnished-chestnut-with-mahogany-grain
Last edited by The Woolster (2013-12-30 02:49:19)
You may be right then. Can I have the links to your evidence please.
1959 seems to be the date they were first introduced by Florsheim
Have to concur with The Woolster here.
Florsheim were making a long wing blucher before the USA got involved in WW2, as part of their 'Sport Shoe' range.
The earliest reference I can find is a 1936 editorial in Esquire which specifically mentions Florsheim as a source of a longwing as opposed the more common wing-tip style (the article is itself about the 'radical' style of Edward Prince of Wales in the 1920s and how it was now (1930s) effecting mainstream US style).
Yuca, 1956 appears to be the launch of the 'Imperial' line of shoes for Florsheim (hence no ads for them before that for the Kenmoor we know and love) the launch comes a short while after the reorganisation of the companies ranges following the acquistion by International Shoe Company in 1953.
I must admit I ws initially surprised about the 59 date, however as the site owner seems to know his stuff, I took it as gospel. But it sounds like the l/w goes back a lot further. Do you have a link for the Esquire editorial?
There's no internet link yet Yuca, but the microfiche archive is currently being scanned for Esquire Magazine to put online soon.
That's how I got to dig through a big chunk of it last year, I was supposed to be advising on 'data storage' for them.
Yuca,
There's a references to the Esquire article in both ....
'Icons of Men's Style' by Josh Sims
and
'Dressing the Man: Mastering the Art of Permanent Fashion' by A. Flusser
Which is why I looked it up in the first place, Edward PoW was a bit of an obsession for me a while back.
It appears that the longwing, in a non-gunboat incarnation, certainly existed before 59. Apparently it was Florsheim who introduced the longwing gunboat, and according to the above Florsheim were making longwings in the 30s; so it may be that the Florsheim longwings of the 30s were gunboats.
The proprietor of Vintage Shoe Addict has kindly given me the following info:
"Longwing Gunboat" is a specific version/ style of the longwing. Yes, the longwing, in a different style, has been around since at least the 1940's. Florsheim added the thick double sole & the 360 degree goodyear welt.
Here is the florsheim version (albeit a later version than the 1959 Viking)
http://i855.photobucket.com/albums/ab11 … G_8895.jpg
The longwing, in its basic design, had nowhere near the impact on US shoemaking that the gunboat version did. The gunboat has been sold many milions of units and remains a style of popularity, with versions by AE & Alden still made in the US.
Allan McAfee (before they re-labeled Church's shoes) made a longwing version in the 1940's... but, again, no 360 degree welt and single sole.
As an addendum, I have found an earlier GUNBOAT longwing by Florsheim that dates back to their mid-1950's line. I have documented it, but have yet to find the time to update the site.
Thanks Yuca.
Yuca
your original post just said 'longwing' and not 'longwing gunboat', hence my, and I think Wololster's, comments.
Last edited by Acton_Baby (2013-12-30 10:13:49)
That's because I had no idea that non-gunboat longwings used to exist. Do you think the pre-50s longwings were ever gunboats?
Yuca we are getting into 'Budapester' type territory there and there were American copies post-war of that style of longwing (still not quite gunboats but heading in that direction).
Pre-war and just post war-the UK would have been making the closest to a 'longwing gunboat' hence their other name, for marketing purposes in the US, in the late50s/early 60s period was 'english brogues'.
Last edited by Acton_Baby (2013-12-30 10:31:53)
So it was only in the 50s that the longwing gunboat, i.e. as we understand it in classic ivy terms, appeared.
I've just always conjured a vision of the gunboat when thinking about a longwing. The two have been pretty much synonymous in my mind. Until now!
American made probably yes,
but Trickers and Churches both made for US retailers before that and many of the UK bespoke makers had US 'Trunk Shows' , so the styling may have its origins there.
Allen Edmonds Longwing and Longwing-Spectator shoes from about the early 1940s are the earliest I can find that are US made that fit the full brief.
I'll dig up some links, but I think there's a picture on vintageshoeaddict.com 'gunboat' pages.