When Button Shoes Were Sold in Sandusky

In the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century, a popular style of shoe was the button shoe. An interesting article appearing in the Sandusky Star newspaper of January 27, 1899 recommended this handy shoe button bag to keep on hand for when a button came loose from your shoe.

Below is a picture of one of the pair of high button shoes that Miss Evangeline Vinton wore when she married former Sandusky Mayor Charles Bouton in 1871. They are now housed in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

W.O. Stubig sold button shoes in both kid and patent leather in 1904.

Local shoe stores sold button hooks to help their customers fasten the buttons of their shoes, like this one from the Leo A. Sacksteder store on East Market Street in Sandusky in the 1910s.

Mr. Sacksteder placed an advertisement in the January 1916 issue of the Fram, stating that “Shoes for graduation must have character and style and what Sacksteder says is so.” At that time Sandusky High School had a winter graduating class as well as a June graduating class.

You can see the buttons on the shoes of young Steen L. Parker in this picture of the toddler, taken by C.W. Platt about 1911.

The two younger Ebert children in this picture are also wearing button shoes.

After World War I, the popularity of button shoes declined, as more and more people purchased ready-to-wear clothing and footwear. But the fashion was remembered in a unique way: on October 9, 1947, the show High Button Shoes opened on Broadway. It was a musical comedy set in 1913, when high button shoes were still a popular fashion item.

Marcia Coburn of Southbridge, Massachusetts

In the holdings of the Archives Research Center of the Sandusky Library is an autograph album that originally belonged to Marcia Coburn of Southbridge, Massachusetts. The entries cover the years 1831 through 1833, and many are written by students of the Wilbraham Wesleyan Academy. Wilbraham was one of the oldest educational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The Vinton Memorial, available full text at Google Books, tells us that Marcia Coburn married George A. Vinton in 1838. They had four children before Marcia Coburn Vinton died at the age of 38 in Southbridge, June 25, 1854.

Here is a verse written from George Vinton to Marcia Coburn:

"Avoid contention, friendship cultivate,
Respect, but never fawn upon the great:
Aim not to make thy friends his thoughts reveal
With seeming openness they own conceal –
Speak peace where discord reigns, assuage the floods,
And for revenge, persist in doing good.
Let proper objects never want a tear;
Excuse mistakes - in friendship be sincere.
Be envy banished from they generous heart,
Tell not the secrets which they friends impart;
In speaking of thyself, nor praise, nor blame,
And dread to be a slave to common fame."

Yours in true Friendship.

George A. Vinton

Below is another entry which was written at Wesleyan Seminary in 1831.
One of Marcia Coburn Vinton’s daughters, Evan Vinton, was a pioneer resident of Sandusky, Ohio. In 1871 Evan Vinton married Charles E. Bouton, who was elected Mayor of Sandusky in 1895. Though specific details are not known, Marcia’s autograph album was passed down to Lucia McCune, an area resident. Lucia donated the autograph album of Marcia Coburn to the Sandusky Library in 1962.

This hand-tinted cabinet photograph was found inside the autograph book. We do not know who this person is; although it could be Marcia Coburn Vinton, it likely is not, because she died in 1854, before this style of photograph became popular. It could also be her daughter, Evan Vinton Bouton.