Figure 1.--This new style cabinet card shows a brother and sister in idential white dresses and multiple bar strap shoes. The boy's shoes have three bars, his sister has five bars. The difference seems to be the larger aize of the girls' feet. The boy has white socks, his sister white long stockings. The portrait is undated bit the mount styles suggest the early-20th century, we think the 1900s.

The standard strap shoe had one hoirizontal strap, commonly called a bar. The placement of the bars varied as did the width. The bars were opened to put on or take off the shoe. There were both buckles and buttons. Also common was a center vertical strap connecting the hoizontal bar with the front of the shoe. This center strap is sometimes called a post. These shoes were sometimes called 't'-trap shoes and sandals. They were mde in both dress and play styles. The play styles wer commonly called sandals. While one bar strap shoes became the standard, there were other strap shoes with multiple bars. Footwear with double bars, almost always with the center strap. These were for the most part not dress shoes and often called a sandal. It was commonly used as play footwear for younger children. While the single or double bar footwear were by far the mot common, we see strap shoes with multiple hirizontal bars, without center straps during the late 19th and very-early 20th century. We see shoes with three-five bars and less commonly even more. As far as we can tell this was an entuekt decorative decice. One br and atvthe mot two were needed to securely hold the shoe in place.

Created: 7:28 AM 12/5/2015
Last updated: 7:28 AM 12/5/2015