Summary

This large timber reel with its steep conical shaped ends stores a sheath of white/cream cotton most likely used by Stanio Fancoff in the stitching of his various shoes and boots. Along with many other sewing objects, this reel indicates Stanio's prolific shoemaking production and was an integral part of his shoemaking craft.

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. In1936, 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. Select shoe samples were then taken to Sydney and Tasmania for sale. In 1942, Georgi and Stanio moved to Broken Hill for Georgi's health; there daughter Nancy was born 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. This collection documents his migration and working life experiences.

Physical Description

Large manufacturers timber reel with a sheath of white/cream cotton. The sold timber reel has a cyclindrical shaped core with steep half conical ends that maintain the thread's unwinding operation and its position upon the reel. Whilst solid in structure the reel has a small round opening that passes through the reel. The light timber reel material exhibits signs of various scratches and abrasions suggesting use and ageing. Although not thick within depth, the white/cream cotton spools around the entire reels cyclindrical section.

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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