Summary

This hand-cut left shoe sole pattern with its various pencil markings and inscriptions has been created on brown paper and was mostly likely used by Stanio Fancoff within the production of his many shoes sometime between the 1930s to the 1970s. Pencilled upon the sole are the texts, "NENCY" possibly indicating the particular women's shoe style and its sizing "5 1/2". Along with many others, this top sole pattern piece was an integral part to Stanio Fancoff's shoemaking craft and business.

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

This hand-cut left shoe sole pattern with its various pencil markings and inscriptions has been created on brown paper. On the frontside, it reads NENCY, 5 1/2, TOP SOLS while on the backside a pencil mark mimics the shoe's outer upper edge and the text T SOLS appears.

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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