Shoemakers

Shoe manufacturing

If we talk about peasant shoes, then in the imagination of many of our contemporaries, bast shoes, the most ancient type of shoes of the Slavic peoples, immediately arise. Bast shoes were woven not only from bast, but also made from birch bark and even from leather belts. However, the Russian Siberians did not know bast shoes, but wore leather shoes — teals and brodni, even for prisoners going to the place of serving their sentence, there were their own leather shoes — kots.

According to scientists, in the old days, children’s, men’s and women’s shoes had the same style, varying depending on gender and age. Master tanners (they were called in different ways, for example, usmari) sewed leather shoes on wooden pads, which were made extendable. At the same time, shoes on the right and left feet were often cut in the same way. It was such shoes, and not bast shoes, that should have been changed from foot to foot in the forest against the devil, this cannot be done with bast shoes.

Another type of leather shoes are bashmaki (the word "bashmak" came to Russian language from Turkish). They differed from teals with a sewn-in sole. Thick leather, horse or cow leather, was used for the sole. Bashmaki were painted in red, blue, green or black, and decorated (for the rich — even with gold thread). Unlike the production of teals, bashmaki are a craft product of the townspeople shoemakers.

The word boot got into the Russian language from the Turkic peoples. The peasants called fishing shoes Brodni (from the word "wander"). The customs were common among the Russian and Tatar populations. Unlike brodmi, boots are shorter — below the knees, often with a wide top, boots have a sole. In the old days, they were decorated with braid, strips of bright fabric, and horseshoes were sewn to the sole. At first, boots were exclusively urban shoes (they were made by shoemakers), but then they appeared in villages. It is no coincidence that on a holiday, at a wedding, a peasant wore boots, not brodniks.

Shoes of the Siberian Tatars

Men’s shoes

The most common everyday and work shoes were "tsaryh" brodnis made of rawhide horse or cowhide. The straps were high, sometimes up to the groin, loops were sewn between the head and the boot, into which the tie was pulled.

Since the second third of the twentieth century, with a decrease in the number of livestock in private farms, only the heads began to be made of leather, and the boot was made of tarpaulin. Traditionally, washcloths were worn in brodnis — they wrapped the foot and ankle with bundles of thin strips of washcloth.

Since the 1930s, a square heel made of thick leather or a wooden sole has been sewn to the soft sole of the shoes. This can be attributed to a general decline in living standards when the place of weekend boots is occupied by brodney.

The festive shoes were chrome or yalov boots with hard soles lined with wooden nails. Such boots were sewn by artisans coming to the village or they were purchased in city shops and shops. Footcloths made of soft fabric were worn in boots, mainly from canvas, which was in the sock and became soft.

In winter, felt boots ("puima") were worn — white, gray and black, scooters made of sheep’s wool or high colored (most often red) with embroidered patterns. They were imported "Kazan", very expensive.

Women’s shoes

Casual shoes of Siberian Tatars were made at home from rawhide, horse or cow leather. Such shoes were called "tsarykh pashas" (teal heads). Such shoes were attached to the foot with a braid, which was pulled into loops along the upper section of the shoe. Soft boots were worn on holidays. In winter, felt boots were worn, sometimes short, up to the ankle. At the beginning of the twentieth century, rubber galoshes came into use, they were worn with soft boots.

The Shoemaker

Shoemaking (Westernism) is one of the most ancient. Shoes have always been in demand. Master shoemakers made and repaired shoes by hand. It took the master from 30 to 40 hours to make a pair of boots, that is, an experienced shoemaker could make shoes in just a day.

In the second half of the 19th century, shoe factories appeared. The shoemakers employed in them began to be called "factory shoemakers." Machine manufacturing was used in factories, and shoe manufacturing became fast and widespread. In the twentieth century, the craft became a thing of the past, but artisanal shoemakers existed in the villages for a long time. They sewed leather brodni boots.

Today, the production of handmade shoes has become a very rare phenomenon, but has not disappeared altogether. Craftsmen make shoes to order. Shoes are also made by hand by orthopedic craftsmen and shoemakers who work in theaters or "ballet shoemakers" in opera houses.