Letters From the Front

Sergt. S. Allen, 37th Battalion, C.E.F., Headquarters Staff, Exhibition Camp, Toronto

Mending Boots for the 37th Battalion CEF

Shoe and Leather Journal, Acton Publishing Co., Toronto, Ontario Published:

The Shoe and Leather journal was an industry magazine that was published twice each month. The full publication for 1915 is digitized and available online. The magazine reported on the shoe industry across Canada, and often featured details about men who had been with the shoe industry and had enlisted for military service. Also covered were many topics about footwear production for military use, and other subjects connected to the war.

The letter that was published is not actually dated, but this web page requires a date to be entered, so it has been estimated to be around November 1915.

Dated:

THEY STOOD THE STRAIN SPLENDIDLY

The Walpole Rubber Co. of Canada, Limited, recently received this appreciative letter regarding use of rubber heels by Canadian soldiers:

Just a few lines in praise of your famous Cat's Paw rubber heels. I have been mending boots for the 37th Battalion for the last ten months, and I have tried a lot of different makes of rubber heels, but I have never come across any that can beat the Cat's Paw, and they are a cheap rubber heel which will suit any person's pocket. Some of my men in the 37th Battalion have worn your famous rubber heels on their boots for four and five months, and they have done between fifty and sixty miles a week route marching, besides ordinary everyday walking. They marched from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Toronto, a distance of ninety-two miles, and some had worn rubber heels for six weeks before the march and I can safely say that they would last another month. You can use this letter to do what you like with. I only hope I can get them in England when we go there, which will be on the 25th of this month. Hoping to use your famous rubbers always, I can safely recommend them as a good rubber heel, as I have put on hundreds of pairs, I remain, yours truly,
Sergt. S. Allen, 37th Batt., C.E.F., Headquarters Staff, Exhibition Camp, Toronto.

Transcribed by: Marika I. Pirie