My newest really neat old thing are a pair of really old East German boots. These are very nicely made enlisted boots. Appear to be made of vegetable tanned pigsking, quite tough and stiff. Foot is rough out, shaft is smooth out.The shaft, in back, overlaps itself, instead of having a separate strip sewn over the seam. In this respect it is quite like a WWII boot. In fact, it is very similar to a WWII boot except for the tops of the shafts - there is a lining of khaki twill at the top four inches or so. The pulls have a shield of white coated fabric sewn over them from the inside. Best of all - the soles -are made from LEATHER, and better yet, the also have HALFSOLES made from LEATHER too! The heels are stacked leather but with a rubber heel bottom. The patterning on it reminds me of crushed coal from a toy locomotive tender, except for what resemble a roll of toilet paper with a Z on it and two "25"s in a circle.
I've never seen a pair of DDR boots so old. I have an East German coffee table book from about 1965, and in a few photos you can see the seam at the top of the boot. They really look like they could be from the late 50s or early 60s. I've seen leather soled officer boots, and I have seen one pair of boots with a leather subsole and rubber half sole, but I never saw an enlisted boot with all leather soles before. Anybody else have a pair? Or know when they stopped making them like this?
Dave
I've never seen a pair of DDR boots so old. I have an East German coffee table book from about 1965, and in a few photos you can see the seam at the top of the boot. They really look like they could be from the late 50s or early 60s. I've seen leather soled officer boots, and I have seen one pair of boots with a leather subsole and rubber half sole, but I never saw an enlisted boot with all leather soles before. Anybody else have a pair? Or know when they stopped making them like this?
Dave