Vamp Beader

[LittleMissP]

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone could help here as a google search has found spectacularly nothing, except a couple of other people on the 1901 census working as the same...

I recently accessed the 1911 census and found my great grandmother living with her married brother and family, single and working as a 'vamp beader shoe industry'. It seems her sister-in-law was a bow-maker in the shoe trade. Ok, so I can easily picture a bow-maker, but a vamp beader? This conjures possible images of intricate bead work sown into 'vampish' shoes, but I'm not sure how plausible that is really! I CAN imagine beads on shoes, and someone like her doing what could have been a fairly tedious, laboursome job. Has anyone got any further info on what exactly this was? Even better, anyone got any pictures of what these shoes might have looked like?

Thanks in advance,
Paula

[LittleMissP]

Thanks very much for that, now that you've explained the word 'vamp' it makes things much clearer! So my understanding now is that she sowed beads on the seam of 'fancy' shoes, as simple as that. That does sound like a very boring and tedious job, poor thing, and I'm sure of course low-paid too. Thanks for the info. :D

Any pics still welcome though of any shoes that might be of the right period ;)

Paula

[AnnB]

Although the picture here (http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/online/exhibitions/shoes/tinne/bronze_bead_shoes.aspx) at the Liverpool Museum's site is dated 1910, it must show a similar type of shoe to the ones your gt granny decorated :)

Best wishes
Ann

[Ladkyis]

aren't they just beautiful! I would love a pair of shoes like that. Just enough heel to be comfortable a good shape to be fashionable without killing my feet and that lovely traditional "Mary Jane" style oh I am in love!

I also love the idea of my grandmothers both saving their money to buy a pair of shoes like that

~sigh~

[AnnB]

aren't they just beautiful! I would love a pair of shoes like that. Just enough heel to be comfortable a good shape to be fashionable without killing my feet and that lovely traditional "Mary Jane" style oh I am in love!

I also love the idea of my grandmothers both saving their money to buy a pair of shoes like that

~sigh~

I love the written description of them :)

You set me off looking at my old photos to see if any of the ladies were wearing similar footwear...... but I can see feet in any of them!

Best wishes
Ann

[Penny Gallo]

Were your ancestors working in Northampton?

The link to the Liverpool Museum is fascinating!

Best wishes xxx Penny

[LittleMissP]

Hi, thanks for the link to that photo. They are beautiful shoes! Think about how fiddly and intricate the work is, and she probably couldn't even afford a pair for herself :( BTW, she wasn't in Northampton, she was in the East End of London.

Thanks again,
Paula

[annebagby]

I wonder what a pair of shoes like those pictured would cost. I need to look at pictures of my family to see if anyone had fancy shoes.

[Browneyes]

Something you might find interesting:

On Google Books:

Women in industry: a study in American economic history
By Edith Abbott
Published by Ayer Publishing, 1969
ISBN 0405021011, 9780405021015
Chapter VIII. The Manufacture of Boots and Shoes

(I know...it's an American study...but vampers etc are mentioned )