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USMC boondockers polished black?


Bob Hudson
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Got these out of some footlockers that had been stored away since the early 60's - they were from a Master Sgt who retired about 63-64. They appear to be pre-Korean War brown boondockers polished black. I looked through our USMC shoe/boot reference at http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...?showtopic=3497 and the mottled appearance of the soles on these does somewhat match one pair shown there.

 

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Bob: I have a pair, '43 dated and size 10, which look like they have had this done to them; I wonder if it's some kind of dubbing or...?

 

Also interesting to note that all of the Marine/Navy Coats I have which feature leather components have only black leather on them. :think:

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Those may have been "born" black, as there was a period when the Corps issued black rough-out boondockers, and as I recall, though don't take this to the bank, it was around 1948. I owned, I think, three pair over the years, a couple of them being unworn.

 

Steve

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  • 2 months later...

During my Dad's time in the service, beginning in 1943, he related several things about shoes and boots.

 

His first combat boots were the rough out combat boot which they burned smooth then polished to meet formation. He thought it stupid to be issued rough out boots that had to be polished.

 

Then he spoke of having to dye brown boots black when he had brown boots issued in black boot times. They had a surplus of the browns when the service went to black.

 

And as an aside, I had a navy uncle who dyed boondockers black when nothing else was available. It seems in some places it was "anything goes"..

 

Had one Dad and nine uncles, all WW-II combat veterans, and I now regret destroying their uniforms to play in when I was a kid, not keeping some of the items like their painted unit helmets, and even worse, not sitting down with them and running a recorder.

 

Today when I think of those guys, I feel so small and with them gone, lost. The world made sense when they were alive.

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Cpl Punishment

My dad was in the Marines in 1957 and he told me he was issued rough outs that they would somehow polish using a coke bottle. Not sure if they were issued brown and then polished black or if they came black...

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  • 2 years later...
1st.marine.captain.17

I spoke to a few vets. Went with different answers. The WWII vet whom I spoke to first, told me that nothing was done to the boondockers, though few of his other buddies did this and that and he can't recall much. The Korean War era and late 50s vets told me that they were black "as issued" and wear washed with saddle soap as the only treatment permitted during boot, and one (1) of them told me he applied the 50s dated can of "preservative".

 

Gosh. They're all too old now to really recall much. However, after speaking to them, I found this site which might prove useful for some of you folks.

 

http://www.yellowfootprints.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12342&page=5

 

Help yourself.

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