Thursday, November 18, 2010

L.L BEAN CANVAS BOOTS.....help needed




I've had these in my closet for a while and love their look.I've always thought they were an interesting cross between a pair of work boots and good ol' chucks,but i've never been able to date them.The closest i went, was not so long ago,when looking at some old pictures in a 50's FIELD& STREAM magazine for a possible post,in it,were 3 pictures of guy wearing a pair while fishing and that's all.There's a pair on ebay right now and the guy is asking 300$ for them.I've heard that LL BEAN still had them on their catalog up to the early 80's ,is this a legend !?.What are they!? fishing,camping,hunting boots!? i don't really know so if you've got an idea just shoot me a line .....

7 comments:

  1. More elusive fishing boots!
    Did you see the mysterious Morvans I posted?
    I reckon canvas and rubber makes a good wading boot.

    Not a clue about the vintage.
    The '36 L.L. Bean catalog had the Maine Guide Shoe, for guides, trappers, forest rangers and general outing.
    A lightweight moctoe/non-slip rubber sole,6 eyelet boot, BUT with a leather upper.
    A free can of waterproof dressing was given with each pair.

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  2. seen the MORVAN great indeed ....wish i had some BEAN catalogs to research these.

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  3. Patrick segui,
    I work at LLBean and was interested by your query. I have contacted the Archives department and they came back with the below information for you!

    "The scoop on the shoes:

    What was known in 1926 as the L.L.Bean Maine Hiking Shoe. The shoe was used for bird shooting and general outings. It was made of good weight brown canvas with fairly thick, pure crepe rubber sole and heel. It has a steel shank to support the arch. Leon Bean personally used this type of shoe and swore by it. The price is 1926 was$2.90. The name of the shoe changed in 1989 to "Maine Canoe Shoe." It was touted as being perfect for camping, canoeing, wading, portaging and light-hiking. Worn by many professional guides throughout the country. These were made similar: Uppers of rugged 9.7 oz. army duck which would allow air to circulate around feet and dry quickly if wet. Cushioned innersole with built-up heel and arch. Completely vulcanized to durable crepe rubber outer soles with sure-footed, corrugated treads. $25.00 ppd. They were sold up until 1990 in our catalogs. In 1992, L.L.Bean came out with something close, "Canvas Camp Sneakers." Pretty much all that changed was the sole and that wrapped up around the shoe more.

    I don't have any idea how old his shoes are - seeing the label might help."

    I hope this helps you. We value our customers and their history with our company!

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  4. How excellent is that?
    Beanlady just made MY day, and they're not even my boots!

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  5. thx a million BEANLADY ,for taking the time to answer and post on my modest blog .i do hope sincerely that this model will resurface at some point,as i've been asked so many time where i've bought them .as for the label there's just the classic LLBEN INC glued to the back of the sole and a stamped size inside followed by M990....any idea!?

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  6. I wore those canvass LL Bean shoes for years - they were the best with heavy double canvas uppers. They would last until the bottom wore out and that took some real miles. After buying them for years from LL Bean I discovered they were actually made by the LaCrosse, WI boot factory and when they opened up an outlet you could get them for just a couple bucks. This was great until finally LL Bean quit selling them and eventually the supply at the outlet store dried up. I miss them so much because they were the most comfortable durable three season footwear ever. For awhile I was able to find some canvas desert boots made in Israel that were sort of okay but they just were nowhere near as good as the LL Bean/ LaCrosse ones were.

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  7. I still have a pair of these that I bought in 1974. Back then they were called Maine Hiking Shoes.

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