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We have very limited information on 1971. We do have a newspaper advert for Clarks sandals. The company was famous for its school sandals--closed-toe "T" strap sandals. They were commonly worn by generations of school children. This advertisement promoted sandals for summer wear--"Sandal summer". By the 1970s there were destinctive styles ahnd colors for girls and boys, although some styles and colors could be worn by both boys and girls. The ad appeared in the 'South London Press', April 20, 1971.The heading here read "Going to be a sandal summer with Clsarkd". The heading caption read, "Hard wearing hard playing, that's Clarks sandals. Cool carefree and good for growing young feet. Your children will love them--so will your purse. At your Clarks Main Fitting Centre we offer an outstanding selection of up to 2,000 pairs of shoes and sandals in sizes, half sizes and four width settings. Our fully trained staff measure on Clark Footguage". The ad pictured six different styles of sandals, all closed "T"strap styles: Trajan, Sunflower, Clabar, Sunspray, Joyace, and Lysander. We can't read the text for each style. The prices varied from £1.99-2.99."
We do have a newspaper advert for Clarks sandals. The Clark Shoe Company was founded by two Quaker brothers; Cyrus and James Clark in Street, a small village in Somerset which is in South West England. Initially they made sheepskin rugs and carpet slippers. Now it is a global shoe company with operations in Britain, Europe, the United States, and the Far East.
The company was famous for its school sandals--closed-toe "T" strap sandals. They were commonly worn by generations of school children.
This advertisement promoted sandals for summer wear--"Sandal summer". This of course helped to expand the company's sales beyond schoolwear.
Another point of interest in the Clarks advert is the rather fuzzy diagram in the top left hand corner. This machine was, I think, called a fluroscope. It was actually a low power x.ray machine that would show how the foot fitted into the shoe. As you see the boy is standing infront of the machine. He would be placing his feet in a recess at the
bottom and x-rays would pass through his feet. I remember being quite excited when I first saw the bones of my feet
being display in a sinister green image and the outline of the shoe. We would wiggle our toes and glean much enjoyment from the experience. I think the x-ray dosage was small -- my feet haven't dropped off -- but there were concens about the amout of radiation children might receive from all sources and these machines were eliminated in the 70s.
By the 1970s there were destinctive styles ahnd colors for girls and boys, although some styles and colors could be worn by both boys and girls. School sandal styling was fairly simple. Some of the styles here are a little different than commonly worn to school.
The ad appeared in the 'South London Press', April 20, 1971. It was placed by a retailer--James Webster (Brixton). The heading here read "Going to be a sandal summer with Clarks".
The heading caption read, "Hard wearing hard playing, that's Clarks sandals. Cool carefree and good for growing young feet. Your children will love them--so will your purse. At your Clarks Main Fitting Centre we offer an outstanding selection of up to 2,000 pairs od shoes and sandals in sizes, half sizes and four width settings. Our fully trained staff measure on Clark Footguage". The ad pictured six different styles of sandals, all closed "T"strap styles: Trajan, Sunflower, Clabar, Sunspray, Joyace, and Lysander. We can't read the text for each style. The prices varied from £1.99-2.99."
An English reader tells us, "That advert brought back memories. I wore sandals of the T-bar sort every summer as part of my summer school uniform. This was going back in the 1930's. The style had not changed markedly by 1971 from what we wore before World War II."
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