Summary

Leather boxing boot with rubber crepe sole and eight pairs of metal eyelets. The boot was used by the Harry Johns Boxing Troupe. Harry Johns was a boxing and wrestling entrepreneur who toured the agricultural shows of Australia's eastern states between the 1930s and 1960s.

Boxing troupes toured agricultural shows in eastern Australia between the 1920s and the 1960s. Travelling boxing troupes can be traced to the late 1800s, but it was not until road transport improved that troupes became a regular feature of country shows.

Boxing was an important aspect of Aboriginal culture in the twentieth century, and a large proportion of tent boxers were First Peoples. Boxing was seen as a way of escaping mission life, and as a vehicle for political and social change and development.

Material from Harry Johns' Boxing Troupe is also located at the Gallery of Sport.

Physical Description

Boxing boot, leather. Rubber crepe sole. Eight pairs of metal eyelets. Cotton dirty frayed laces. Backstrap with loop at top to assist putting boot on.

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