Salvatore Ferragamo
April 27, 2014 § Leave a comment
Notes from a trip to Italy that my grandfather took in May of 1955 when he was the general manager for the I. Miller shoe factories.
Salvatore Ferragamo/Women’s Runa Suede Bow Pump
THE SALVATORE FERRAGAMO MUSEUM
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Another Mystery
April 25, 2014 § 4 Comments
In the 1960’s, with a heart condition, my grandfather retired to Florida — today he probably would have had bypass surgery and continue to work. After my grandmother died he set up a studio in his garage and taught himself to paint. So I was surprised to find this article from Boot and Shoe Recorder Magazine. After some reading about labor relations and Puerto Rico I think it may have been around 1962 – 1963.
Boot and Shoe Recorder. Date unknown.
Courtesy Library of Congress;Reproduction Number: HABS PR,7-SAJU,6–11
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More Treasures Discovered
April 23, 2014 § 6 Comments
My sister who lives in my grandfather’s former home in Florida found a few shoes stored in her garage. 1 pair of I. Miller, 1 pair of Daniel Green and 1 Crik-etts. The I. Miller and Daniel Green look like they’re from the 1930’s. It’s a mystery as to why he would have saved them since he didn’t leave Schwartz & Benjamin until the 1940’s and joined I. Miller in the 1950’s. They look like samples to me — too small to belong to my grandmother Rose. They may have been his designs that were copied (Patent). Unfortunately with the relentless Florida humidity the shoes are in sad shape.
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Memorabilia
April 18, 2014 § 2 Comments
On a recent trip to visit my mother I found a case that belonged to my dad filled with family shoe memorabilia.
I. Miller Shoe Advertisement, New York Times, April 17, 1955.
One of my beloved moccasins that I mentioned in my previous post was in it.
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What is the rule about wearing white?
April 2, 2014 § 16 Comments
It seems every Spring and Summer I notice my friends with Southern roots get out their white pants. The only fashion rule I remember from my eclectic childhood was no shorts in Manhattan – period. Looking back through family films and photos it’s clear that this was a rule strictly followed at one time. After some googling I found Memorial Day to Labor Day is the rule and no white clothes after Labor Day. I also learned that Emily Post gave the ok to continue wearing white after Labor Day.
Why We Can’t Wear White After Labor Day – Time Magazine
Still from family film footage. Somewhere in Long Island.
How to Wear White After Labor Day: Ten Pieces for Fall – Vogue
Still from family film footage. Somewhere in Long Island.
My grandmother holding my dad.
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I. Miller Shoes
March 16, 2014 § 15 Comments
In 1952 my grandfather Ben Benjamin became the General Manager for the I. Miller Shoe Company.
I. Miller – A Little Jewel Box of a Shoe Store, New York Times Feb. 10th, 2008
Follow up to the 2008 New York Times article: At Restored Landmark in Times Square, Mixing ‘Brash and Beautiful’
Andy Warhol
I. Miller Shoe Advertisement from The New York Times, April 17th, 1955.
Andy Warhol found early success as a commercial artist and was hired by I. Miller as their chief illustrator in the 1950’s.
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1954
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Courtesy The Library of Congress: Reproduction Number: LC-G612-T-36355-B,Call Number: LC-G612- 36355-B <p&p> [P&P] Date Created/Published: 1939 Oct. 21.
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CRIK-ETTS
March 15, 2014 § Leave a comment
My grandfather, Ben Benjamin created a shoe called Crik-etts that boasted the first flexible sole. I found these clippings with some other things he gave me. He didn’t tell me much about it. I wish I had known to ask him about this part of his life and also his days at I. Miller that followed.
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Boston
January 22, 2014 § Leave a comment
Boston: Library of Congress:
Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-131972 (b&w film copy neg.)__
In England you always heard Boston is the Shoe Center of this country, so I was anxious to get to Boston, see what it was like. I kept finding jobs and the union wouldn’t give me a permit to go to work. That’s why I came back to New York. – Ben Benjamin
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Before he left Schwartz & Benjamin my grandfather went back to Boston.
![Shoe Factories Lynn Mass Library of Congress: LOT 2913 (F) [P&P]](https://womensfootwearinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/shoe-factory-lynn-mass.jpg "Shoe Factory Lynn Mass")
Shoe Factories Lynn Mass
Library of Congress: LOT 2913 (F) [P&P]
A couple years before I got out, before we moved into New York City. We talked it over, Ben Schwartz & I, about starting a factory out of town instead of NY. See? It was getting impossible to lead the business there because of the unions and their demands. Prices kept on going up higher, and new machinery was coming into place. So people out of town who made cheap shoes could make better shoes than what they were making with the new equipment. So we went. We went to Lynn, and Boston and St. Louis, Cincinnati. We went all around. When I came back we sat down and talked it over. I says Ben, after seeing all the towns, I think Lynn is the best place of the lot. A lot of the shoe factories have went out of business there. Not good shoemakers like we’ve got in New York, but they could be trained–taught to make better shoes. After I got out, Ben Schwartz did finally go to Lynn. – Ben Benjamin
Dora Benjamin (sister)
Lynn Museum
Women's Footwear in America 