The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

The most important information provided by these documents is the restricted
number of models Edwards was producing. Women's pumps, men's shoes,
men's pumps and single channel shoes provided the bulk of his production (fig.
5.5). Again we can suppose that he sent several pairs of shoes of each size,
although sizes are not mentioned in his accounts. These shoes were produced for
the ready-to-wear market of the metropolis. They provided 'buffers': basic
footwear produced in short periods and at low prices.
Table 5.6 provides a synthetic analysis of the prices charged by John Edwards
on shoes sent to London. These prices are about 20 per cent lower than retail
prices both in London and in Northampton, which at the time were the two
largest shoemaking markets. These shoes could be retailed with a good profit
margin in the capital and were cheaper than those manufactured in Northampton.
Women's pumps
Men's shoes
Men's pumps
Single channel
Brown rounds
Double channel
Women's shoes
Turned pumps
Boys shoes
Table 5.6 - Prices of shoes in the 1750s and 1760 (in pence per pair)
Type of shoes
Wales wholesale Northampton retail London retailing in
prices in 1750s prices in 1764 the 1750s and 1760s
30 38
48 to 60
48
60
28
66
49
48
24 to 30
Source: PRO, C 106/120; Northampton Gazette (1764); various trade cards.
59
60
72
72
60
60
36 to 45
60 to 72
48 to 72
London shoemakers confirm the findings by Federer on Westminster trades.
Most of such trades could not afford to "finance a labour process carried out
entirely by waged workers. By contrast, the payment schedules involved in
subcontracting were far more flexible". 47 The financing of the trade imposed
constraints on its organisation. It has been suggested that subcontracting was
222
96
78
55
21