The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
994.2012.1
Tricouni Nailed Boots
31/07/2012
Hermione Cooper
31/07/2012
Pair of brown Tricouni nailed boots with 12 eyelets and canvas laces.Leather soles with nails.
leather, metal
Size 9 33(l) x 12(w) cms
1 pair
On inside sole "JOHN WHITE 1945"
brown
John White
Andy Hume donated this lovely pair of boots on behalf of his father Ronald, who was a keen hillwalker/mountaineer and member of the Ferranti Mountaineering Club back in the good old days. He bought the boots back in the 1950's, from Northern Supplies, Leith Walk, Edinburgh as ex-army surplus. There was a large amount of ex W.D. (War Department) gear around at this time - just a few years after WWII - and most outdoor folk were kitted out almost exclusively in military gear, the Gucci outdoor shops of the late 1900's were yet to appear. These chunky, solid and rather heavy nailed boots bear all the hallmarks of a military boot and look very much like the ones that became 'standard issue' to RAF rescue teams in the 1950's and 60's.
We don't have a Northern Supplies catalogue from the 1950's but the 1949 Campbell's Rubber Co. advert captures the period wonderfully.
Interestingly, John White Footwear is still very much in business(2012) and seems to have been around since the early 1900's. Their website tells us that they were the "biggest supplier of Army boots to troops during World War II" so it seems the boots we have here were from a batch made by Whites for the War Department just as World War II came to an end in 1945.
Donated by Andy Hume
31/07/2012
31/07/2012
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
31/07/2012