A pair of Aurland shoes, photographed in Aurland, Norway, between 1945 and 1960; the photographer is not recorded. National Library of Norway, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Penny loafers
What it took directly
- statedThe Bass Weejun took from a shoe found in Norway"Bass Weejun was born/introduced in 1936 and the Weejun was based on a shoe discovery in Norway." G.H. Bass & Co., on its own history page
- documentedNils Tveranger's Aurland moccasin took from the moccasins of the Iroquois, by a story told about him"It was claimed that Nils Tveranger was inspired by the traditional moccasins of the Iroquois tribe in America." Visit Flåm's page on the Aurland Shoe, which reports the story as a claim
- statedRaymond Lewis Wildsmith's loafer took from a bespoke pair of house shoes made for King George VI"The style was derived from a bespoke pair of house shoes, designed originally for King George Vl to wear with his shooting hose, whilst inside the house." Wildsmith, the London shoemaker, on its own history page
What it learned to do
- documentedNils Tveranger learned from shoemaking in America, before he set up in Aurland"Nils Tveranger came to Aurland as a young man, having learned shoemaking in America, and set himself up as a cobbler." Visit Flåm's page on the Aurland Shoe
- statedAurland's other shoemakers learned from Nils Tveranger, then opened their own workshops"Dei lærte av han, og så starta dei sine eigne skoverkstader." Aurlandskoen, the Aurland shoe factory, on its own history page (in Norwegian Nynorsk)
The tradition it sits in
- inferredThe Bass Weejun comes from the Aurland shoe"It was exported to the UK, Canada and the USA" inferred — Bass says its 1936 Weejun was based on a shoe found in Norway, and the Aurland shoemakers say their 1930s moccasin was exported to the USA; neither source names the other, so this is a reasonable guess, not a record
- documentedThe Weejun comes from George Henry Bass's shoe company in Wilton, Maine"George Henry Bass established his shoe company in Wilton in 1876. In 1936, the company introduced its famous Weejuns loafers" Tom Kirchofer, Associated Press, in the Los Angeles Times (1998)
- documentedThe Aurland moccasin comes from teseskoen, a Norwegian shoe it resembled"Nils Tveranger developed the Aurland moccasin, which had similarities with the Norwegian Teseskoen, and was later named the Aurland shoe." Visit Flåm's page on the Aurland Shoe
- statedThe slip-on loafer comes from Raymond Lewis Wildsmith's 582, made in London, by Wildsmith's own account"Raymond Lewis Wildsmith created the first ever slip-on loafer shoe in London, originally known as the 582." Wildsmith, on its own history page — a claim of firstness by an interested party
Where the whole form comes from
- statedThe Aurland shoe comes from the simple moccasin-like shoes Aurland had always made"Her har det jo vore laga enkle, mokasinliknande sko i all tid" Aurlandskoen, on its own history page (in Norwegian Nynorsk), which says Tveranger may have drawn on them
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