Summary

This brown cardboard ankle boot side elevation shaped pattern, with its text "No. 7" referencing possible sizing was most likely used by Stanio Fancoff as part of his shoe patterning schemata sometime between the 1930s and 1970s. Along with many others, this pattern was an integral part of Stanio'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

Brown colored cardboard set within an ankle boot side elevation shape. On the front side, side edges are marked by pencilled inset lines (approximately 15mm inset). Located withIn the upper central region six small pencilled circles encircle a similar sized singular circle, while the right lower corner exhibits a small puncture hole. On the reverse, cursive script text appears. Although in good condition, this piece exhibits smudges of surface dust/dirt and some brown spots, possibly foxing.

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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