Summary

Rectangular wooden handled edge iron was part of Stanio Fancoff's extensive shoemaking kit. The edge iron family is the largest in the shoemaker's kit and each tool comes within various sizes and formats. Used heated, the edge iron is run under pressure along the shoe's sole edge to seal the leather from water, enhance its sturdiness and provide an aesthetic appearance of shine and fashionable style. This particular tool with its stepped tool head and inscriptions of '4' on the tallest side edge and '3' on the smallest side edge, suggest that each side was used for a different sole depth sizings. This edge iron was an integral part of Stanio's shoemaking kit, that enhanced both the shoes function and its aesthetic qualities.

Stanio Ivanoff Fancoff was born in 1908 in Bojentsi, a small village in Bulgaria. At age 11, Stanio left home to learn the shoemaking trade. In 1929, he immigrated to Melbourne, settled in Fitzroy and began to work for the V.G. Zemancheff & Sons basket shoe factory in South Melbourne. In 1936, he married Dorotea Georgi Touzou who had recently arrived in Australia. Around this time, Stanio set up his own shoemaking business from home, with Georgi, her cousin and sister weaving the shoes which he then assembled. Selected shoe samples were then taken to Sydney and Tasmania for sale. In 1942, Georgi and Stanio moved to Broken Hill for Georgi's health; daughter Nancy was born there and Stanio set up a shoe shop/factory. In 1945, Georgi died and by 1950 Stanio and Nancy had moved to Adelaide where he again opened a shoemaking business and shop. He passed away in 1978, having been in the shoemaking business for 59 years.

Physical Description

Edge iron tool mounted onto a rectangular-shaped, wooden handle. Handle has a singular button-holed small dark leather strap attached by one tack to the lower handle's base. The wood exhibits darkened patches possibly varnish or other decorative surface protectants used with the shoe-making process. The iron head is shaped within a stepping style format of three different levels that ascend from the lowest to the highest level. On the shortest level side the tool is inscribed with the number '3', while the opposing tallest point side depicts the number '4'.

Significance

This collection is significant in documenting a small migrant business as well as the fashion of a particular period. It is well provenanced and charts the application of trade skills in a new country. It also illustrates the stages of hand shoe manufacture from the 1930s, demonstrating the enduring nature of the tools and patterns that were used.

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