Blue Souvenir Baby Shoe #030
This light blue baby shoe has an open tongue and mild impressions of eyelets on the upper edge of the shoe. It also has impressions of creases on the vamp or upper and lines where the individual “leather” pieces would have joined. It is made of a moderately good grade of porcelain and it lightweight. There are no chips, cracks or crazing on the shoe.
The shoe measures 4 5/8″ in length, 3 7/8 in height and is 2 1/8″ wide. Although it looks as if it could have been used as a planter, it is clean and unused in the interior.
The shoe is decorated with flower sprigs on both sides. On the vamp is a souvenir picture of a building and street scene. The shoe is marked NEW ORLEANS, LA above the scene and LACE BALCONIES below the scene. This is a well visited tourist stop in the French Quarter of New Orleans. These balconies are very lovely. To see an actual photograph of a set of them in New Orleans go to http://www.frenchquarter.com/uploads/imageThumbs/zhm9c03unq2k3w6r.jpg
The abbreviations for the states were established in October of 1964 by the United States Postal Service. This shoe is marked with the LA abbreviation for Louisiana so it was made after 1964.
The label is intact and on the sole of the heel. Silver and black, it says “TOPS IN QUALITY JAPAN SPIN original.” There is no information regarding the SPIN original name on the internet or in the research books. However, recently there are two pieces of this brand’s products on eBay – a girl figurine in very good condition that sold for $8.50 and a figural dog with a small chip that sold for $5.00. Neither, however, were souvenir pieces.
This shoe is in excellent condition and has souvenir value as well. With its intact mark and the name of the Japanese maker labeled on the shoe its value will be higher than shoes without these features. Estimated collector value is $15 to $20 dollars. Its manufacturing date is probably in the late 1960s and 1970s, making this shoe approximately 35 to 40 years old
Information regarding porcelain versus pottery figural and shoes in in Collectible Glass Shoes by Earlene Wheatley, published by Schroeder Publishing, 2001. Other information from personal papers of BP.
Baby Bootie with Silk Flowers #028
This is a white porcelain baby shoe with a blue ribbed top, peach colored stars around the bottom near the sole and dabbed flowers on the sides. It also has a dark blue painted ribbon which goes in and out of a design in the shoe.
It measures 3 3/8″ in length, 2 5/8″ in height and 2″ in width. Perfect condition, with no chips or cracks.
The shoe is decorated with a satin purple ribbon tied in a bow and a purple silk flower with leaves. It has two strands of little pearls sticking out from the flower. It is actually quite cute and fairly well made.
Yong Feng Shangdian is the store in the China Pavillion in Epcot Village in the DisneyWorld Complex in Orlando, Florida. It is the only Yong Feng Shangdian store that I have found on the Internet and there were Florida government papers documenting the formation of this store with a fictionalized name for this specific site. The shoe is assumed to have been manufactured in China.
I have no recall of purchasing this shoe, but our family did visit Epcot in 1986, so it is possible it was a purchase then. My only question is the price. Could this really have only cost $1.50? Actually it probably did. I keep forgetting that 1986 was 21 years ago.
Estimated value now is probably $7.00 to $10.00 on a site like eBay.
Information from interviews and personal papers of BJ and BP.
German Souvenir China Shoe #004
The word souvenir comes from a French word which means “to remember or to come to mind.” It refers to a keepsake that serves as a reminder of a special moment, person, or place. German ’scenic’ china was a very popular souvenir in the United States, and though it was commonly called German china, it was also made in Austria, Bohemia and Poland.
This porcelain is highly reflective of the general mood of the Victorian Age. The pieces showed scenes, buildings or people that were important to the people of that time, and give us a glimmer into the Victorian mind.
This shoe, which is approximately 1/3rd larger than the photo, is white porcelain china and top down rose tinting is applied to the top of the shoe. This is a commemorative or souvenir china shoe. On the top of the shoe is a detailed rendition of a building and underneath the picture is written ‘High School New London Wis.”
Its age is undetermined, though this particular building was constructed in 1906. These shoes were manufactured in Germany and Austria beginning in 1893 for the Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, IL until the German Blockade in 1915 during WW I. This piece was an acquisition of the Lillian P. Wood Memorial Collection, purchased at a Madison, Wisconsin area antique store in the late 1990s. Estimated value is $40.00 to $55.00.
Information from Collector’s Guide to Souvenir China by Laurence W. Williams published by Schroeder Publishing Co., 1998.
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