Martinsburg, PA

This look book is dedicated to the American workers of the H.H. Brown Shoe Company, who preserve our legacy of expert craftsmanship with pride and integrity.

In the heart of rural Pennsylvania, the Cove shoe factory is home to the Vintage Shoe Company, where each shoe and boot is crafted by hand. Wrought with leather, rawhide, thread and steel, each shoe that bears the Vintage name is a proud reflection of the skilled hands that worked to create it, piece by piece.

Crafted by Hand: The Shoemaking Process

In order to ensure the highest level of quality, comfort and fit, every Vintage shoe undergoes an intensive 125-step construction process. In the following pages, we will take you through the seven major stages of this process, and introduce you to some of the men and women who have a part in the creation of every shoe we build.

1. Cutting

The first step in our intensive manufacturing process begins in the cutting room, where leathers are marked with stamped dies and cut into all of the necessary pieces needed for construction.

Cutting dies at the ready for cutting leather. Between five and eight differently shaped dies are used to cut leather for a typical shoe; boots require up to ten.

Our cutters plan carefully to get the most out of each piece of leather to minimize waste.

This Hytronic cutting machine applies 25 tons of pressure to the die, cutting each piece of leather with exacting precision.

(from left) Dena Norris, Josh Reed, Joey Lemerise

2. Prefit

In this process, the individual parts of the leather upper and lining are marked for stitching, branded with logos, and “skived” to thin out the edges.

A tooled pallet is used to perforate the intricate details in wingtips and western boot saddles.

Tickets contain instructions for the cut leather, with specifications for processes including skiving, a technique which thins the leather.

(from left) Misty Henry, Tamra Thomas, Kristy Cliber

3. Fitting

Inside the fitting room, each of the individual parts is assembled into the shoe’s upper. Details such as eyelets and temporary laces are added here.

The average shoe is made with over 1,000 individual stitches.

A seamstay is applied over a closed boot seam, reinforcing it while enhancing the stability, comfort and aesthetics of the finished product.

(from left) Christopher Wendle, Destiny Robertson, Crystal Bollman, Jim Evans Jr., Ed Kinsley Jr.

4. Lasting

The newly assembled upper is pulled up over a last, or molded shoe form, to ensure a secure fit with a smooth finish, straight seams, and no gaps or bunching on the inside or outside of the shoe. This is an exacting process and one that is essential to the integrity of the shoe.

During the toelasting process, pressure is applied to the shoe to keep it in place and ensure a proper fit.

(from left) Bill Showalter Jr., Todd Horne, Dustin Slowik

5. Making

Also known as bottoming, or constructing, this is the action of attaching the sole to the upper using one of three methods: cementing, direct attaching - molding through the heat or pressure, or welting with a stitched seam.

The shoe’s welt is attached through the upper and into the rib on the insole during the Goodyear welting process. Special wax-coated cotton threads lock the stitches in place.

Inseaming, or attaching the welt to the upper, takes just five to ten seconds per shoe in our stitchers’ skilled hands. After adding a shank, cork bottomfill and a heel piece if needed, the outsole will then be cemented and stitched to the welt.

The Goodyear stitcher uses a heavy thread to stitch the sole to the welt, using a cutting tool to cut the thread at both sides of the product when finished.

Stitching a leather sole bottom. This machine is set up to “groove stitch” the sole so that the thread is recessed below the shoe’s surface. The shoe’s upper is covered with plastic wrap to prevent excess dust and oils from staining the material.

(from left) Richard Walter, Jeff Smith, Chris “Cowboy” Lynam, Brian Gardner, Sam Miller Jr.

(from left) Tom Ross, Rob Norris, Travis Renney, Charlie Bogel

6. Finishing

The final details are applied in the finishing room – from removing the last from the boot to attaching the heel with nails, trimming, burnishing, buffing, polishing, adding laces and more – and giving each shoe a final inspection to ensure they satisfy Vintage's exacting standards.

Each outsole is trimmed precisely to fit the shoe.

Using carbide cutters, we trim the sole edge to a smooth designated shape. Once this process is completed the heel is attached.

The heel scouring machine is equipped with several types of sandpaper and wheels designed to roll and pound edges, giving each Vintage shoe and boot heel its distressed, time-worn look.

(from left) Jerry Caldwell, Mike Deyarmin, Chris Cox, Richard Kranik, Jonathan Weaver

7. Packing

Once the boxes are assembled with lightning-fast speed by our dexterous box maker, the shoes are wrapped in tissue and then placed into the boxes so they can be sent to the warehouse distribution center, where they are organized by style, size and width and ready to be shipped and sold.

Only the best rawhide and cotton laces are used in Vintage shoes. Over 689,000 pairs of laces were used in the factory in 2011.

Our box assembler can put together a shoe box every 20 seconds and assembles approximately 2,400 boxes per day.

(from left) Linda Yablonski, Ashley Childers, Brandie Holsinger, Jean Hollop, Michael Shaw

With appreciation for the 350 hardworking men and women of Vintage, whose dedication to the art and tradition of American shoemaking is the cornerstone of our legacy.