RIA infantry army boots of the 1908 model

Extremely rare boots on our market in excellent collectible condition. Since the 1870s, boots with long tops have been worn by military personnel of all types of weapons in a field uniform. Since 1881, high boots became the only footwear for all combatant lower ranks and remained in this capacity until the end of the old army. At the same time, until the 1910s, the lower ranks were supplied not with ready-made shoes, but with so–called "shoe goods" - cut-out blanks of tops, soles, soles and heels. Money was released to the troops for sewing boots. The boots themselves were made either in regimental workshops or by private contractors. At the same time, different parts of the boots had different service lives: leather soles and heel pads wore out much faster than the top, which is why they were released every few months, and the service life of the top (front and tops) could reach two years. Since the 1880s, the statutory cut of boots with the so-called double-seam tops, with side seams, and a union with a rounded cape protruding upwards has been established. However, this sample was not popular among the troops. Boots from untouchable stocks were issued for current wear, and the quality of the leather was low. One of his contemporaries in the 1890s wrote: "In most cases, boots are issued from untouchable stocks, stale, blackened, heels made of shavings are quickly trampled, - in wet weather these boots are for two or three weeks, no more." Therefore, few, as a rule, very poor soldiers, wore government boots.

The boots presented were introduced to be worn by army ranks in 1908. Sewn from leather. One-piece. The method of fastening heel pads with iron nails and soles with a wooden stiletto sole is typical for Russian boots of the early twentieth century. Well-placed birch studs, unlike brass nails, did not wear out the leather and therefore increased the service life of the soles and forefathers. In rainy weather, the wood swelled, so such a boot did not let water through. For sewing boots, linen cloth soaked in broth was used and had very high tensile strength and abrasion resistance. The classical sewing technology turned out to be so tenacious that it was finally abandoned only in the 1960s.

These boots are perfectly preserved. The seams are neatly stitched together with fine stitching. In general, thoroughness and accuracy of cutting and tailoring is one of the distinctive properties of pre-revolutionary boots compared to Soviet ones; the transition to mass-produced unsightly shoes occurred, according to our estimates, in the mid-1920s. Today this is the only original pair of soldier boots of the early twentieth century that we know of, offered for sale. The size is about 41. Guarantee of authenticity.