Summary

Child's leather boot, circa 1880. It was found under the floorboards of one of the oldest buildings at a psychiatric hospital, Caloola Training Centre (1880s), Sunbury, Victoria Australia. Item may date from that time. It is not clear if this shoe was lost after wear, or if it had been concealed deliberately.

Physical Description

Well-worn and incomplete child's boot with wooden sole studded with metal studs; horse-shoe on heel and brass reinforcing at toe. Shoe appears to have been made of four pieces of leather with overlapping at heel and in the middle of the foot. A leather tongue is sewn to the front piece. No back seam. The shoe would have been fastened through four eyelets: two on either side. Shoe shows signs of having been worn in the mud and wet.

Significance

Example of clothing worn in a psychiatric hospital in Victoria Australia

More Information