We found another old cabinet photo of a group of miners in the Jack Possum Mine, Wentworth, Missouri. There's not much information on this mine, but with a little research we found out that it was owned by Smith & Hodges Mining Co. and was one of the largest in that area around 1915 to dig for sphalerite, the most common zinc ore.
It's a beautiful picture that breaths the dark underground atmosphere, the young brave men wearing heavy boots, denim overalls and dungarees accompanied by a hinny on the right for the real heavy work. A great addition to our growing collection.
When we started the Red Wing Shoes store Amsterdam I started collecting bank bags, and although I didn't started a real collection before I completely lost myself on ebay, searching for vintage bank bags, leather deposit bags and other vintage bank related pieces. The collection is still growing but I forced myself to put the energy in something worth sharing here. And a new collection was born.
Together with Menno we're now putting together a collection of vintage photographs of people wearing denim (for Tenue de Nîmes) and images of rail-, mine-, and factory workers for the Red Wing Shoes store Amsterdam. It's an amazing source of inspiration, and they will probably make it into a publication, but until then we will share some here.
A while ago the International Business Times put together an amazing set of images from the Depression Era. 'These vivid color photos from the Great Depression and World War II capture an era generally seen only in black-and-white. Photographers working for the United States Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI) created the images between 1939 and 1944.' Simply beautiful! (More here and here)
Check this amazing collection of flight jackets by Scott Kraska. Kraska wrote a book on uniforms (River Patrol Insignia of the United States Navy (Vietnam)), is an ardent collector of items from the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII and the Vietnam War and the owner of this collection of A-2 leather flight jacket from Army Air Forces pilots in the second world war. ‘Army Air Forces pilots, navigators and bombardiers, who often decorated their jackets with squadron patches and elaborate artwork painted on the back.’ (Thank you Jonathan for sharing)
When we opened the Red Wing Shoes Store Amsterdam we filled it with vintage items, varying from old tools, miner canary cages, antique flags and signs, all from the United States. While looking for all these things I found an old bank bag and a new collection was born. A mere 1,5 year later the collection of bank related bags has grown to something around 70+ items, all different, from every corner of the world and from the early 20th century until today.
This one is one of the key pieces. An extremely old security bag. Fantastically aged leather, heavy weight canvas, beautiful stenciled type and a rubber bottom by Can Pro Corp from Wisconsin. Unfortunately the leather strap with the lock is lost, but it still is an amazing piece. Especially love the shades and winkles in the leather! Imagine your Iron Rangers 50 years from now…
We love vintage items and it’s always good to see a pair of really nice vintage Red Wing Shoes. This pair of shoes, found by Menno, are quite rare. We’re not sure but they are probably from somewhere before the 50s. They look like the new Ox Blood 214’s, but with an old Avon sole and beautifully faded. Simply amazing! If you know more about it, just let us know.
We will try to make this a returning feature here online to share all the great items we find, whether it are shoes, or other vintage items. Stay tuned...
