Highlights From Our Collection - March 2010

Shoe Fitting Stool, ca. 1905

This stool was used by salespeople at the Smith Shoe Company of Boulder. It has a padded seat with leather cover for the sales person to sit and a slanted front where the customer would place one of their feet. On bottom of seat is written:

Smith Shoe Co
Est. 1907
Rob Smith
4th generation
3-7-04

The Smith Shoe Store, an independent shoe retailer on Pearl Street, was Colorado's oldest continuously operating shoe store until it closed its doors in 2004. The Smith family donated numerous items connected with their 97 year business to the Boulder History Museum. The collection includes many pairs of shoes and advertising materials from over the years. Rob Smith became the fourth generation proprietor of the store in 1986 and owned the company until it closed in 2004. Rob’s grandfather, Charles Smith, developed several innovative shoe devices that are still used in shoe stores today.

Charles Flint Smith and sister Myrtle Eunice Smith, 1905.

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