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Boy's M-1943 Double-Buckle Boots


siege1863
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Just purchased from member "plick27" this incredible pair of M-1943 double-buckle boots made for a boy. They are a near-exact copy of the issued footwear and were likely made by one of the companies contracted to make boots for the military. They measure 9" heel to toe. Can anyone identify the maker looking at the tread pattern (what is left of it) on the soles? It resembles some found on Biltrite boots.

 

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craig_pickrall

I went thru all of my boot and shoe photos and found one likely candidate. I have several pair of post WW2 Paratrooper Boots but only one used the Biltrite sole. It was Herman. Out of all the boot and shoe photos including catalog info and military manual info I only found one other Biltrite and that was on a pair of resoled WW2 International Paratrooper Boots.

 

Here are the new Herman's.

 

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craig_pickrall

The 2 buckle boots were fairly common in the early 1950's for boys. I had a pair but they are long gone. I have no idea who the maker was.

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There was a store in Jacksonville Fla. located on Main St. between downtown and the northside named Atlantic

Mills. They sold these. I had a pair. On the inside of the buckle cuff was the outline in silver of a paratrooper

floating down to the ground. This was in the early 60s.

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This pair of boy's double-buckle boots may date from the 1950s...

 

I noticed my pair have the dark brown soles usually seen on WWII-period boots. Can this detail be used in any way to date them?

 

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craig_pickrall

I think those boots were probably available into the very early 60's but I have no idea whether they were brown or black soles.

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Very cool to see some other examples. Somewhat the same yet different.

The buckles and sole look very similar to those BiltRites but lack the riveted construction.

They definitely are killer little boots.

 

RJ

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Ditto to what Craig said. My brother and I wore these 2 buckle boots in the early 50's. When my Uncle came home from the Army in WW II he worked for the railroad and always wore his pantlegs tucked into the top part. He was our "Hero" and we wanted a pair just like them. He went through the war unscathed only to die of cancer in 1952. RIP Uncle Guy!

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wow do they bring back memories - each one of us boy got a pair for school at the beginning of the year and that was in the late 50's early 60's - some even came with a pocket knife and holder on the top - never make it school today - nice find

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I remember these well.

 

There was a time I would have gladly sold my birthrights for a pair.

 

How nice to see them again...

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I remember a friend of mine got a pair of thee in '65-'66. They were the ones with the embossed paratrooper of the cuff. They were soo cool!

 

Steve Hesson

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  • 4 years later...

Like the others who grew up in the 1950s (I was born in 1946), when you said "combat boot," you meant the double-buckle boot just like in the catalog illustration above. But five or six dollars was not exactly pocket change back then.

 

Most towns at the time always had an army-navy store which probably had some surplus stuff but mostly work clothes and new military style clothes and related items. The "real" surplus stores would be found outside the larger army bases and could be found stacked floor to ceiling with surplus used uniforms and both obsolete and current issue web gear. Remember, M1 rifles and BARs and all the related web gear (ammo belts) were still in use in the National Guard into the 1970s.

 

I've seen a lot of really small boot sizes on eBay, mostly Canadian army issue. I think they and the British have an active cadet program which might call for small sizes. I was a lot smaller when I was in the army almost 50 years ago but my feet weren't any smaller than they are now.

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maybe a small lady WAC would have used a boy's sized combat boot?

 

 

http://olive-drab.com/od_soldiers_clothing...combatboots.php

 

The "Boots, Service, Combat" were also made for women, using the same patterns as for women's service shoes with the double buckle cuff added.

I have two pairs of WAC rough-out double-buckle boots--both in very small size. Direct acquisition. Jack

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's a pair of child's double buckle boots with their original box.

I have another pair from a different maker and a slightly larger size.

Ronnie

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  • 1 year later...

I had a pair of double buckle boots as a child. My ownership was short lived, because the soles had lugs and all it took was one pass through the house with mud stuck in the lugs and the shoes disappeared.

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I too had a pair of them, of course I also remember that AAF sheep skin flight boots were 50 cents a pair in the local surplus store, they were good for about one winter.

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