My Red Goose Shoes

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Do you remember Red Goose Shoes? These are my pink Red Goose sandals from when I was a toddler. I think I got a lot of wear from them :-) I keep them in our Amish made curio cabinet along with other treasures.

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Who knows why Mama saved these... and the box too!
Take a look at the price... $1.98!

They were bought in Tifton GA where we lived at the time.

For those of you that can't remember the Red Goose Shoes the following is a bit of history.

The Red Goose Shoe Company of St. Louis, Missouri, began selling shoes to pioneer families headed west in 1869. The company's name was originally Gieseke-D'Oench-Hayes, after its founders, but when the company became advertising conscious in the early 1900's, they changed the name. Gieseke is German slang for "goose" so the goose image came naturally. The red color came later when, during the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, some stock boys painted the goose on the cartons red. The head of the company liked the idea, and so Red Goose Shoes was trademarked in 1906.

As you can see on the shoe box the shoes were manufactured by International Shoe Company. I wish I could find a better history of the Red Goose Shoes.

The Founding of International Shoe Company

Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company was a footwear jobber organized in St. Louis in 1898 by Jackson Johnson, Oscar Johnson, Edgar E. Rand and John C. Roberts. Peters Shoe Company, originally formed in 1836 and organized under Missouri law in 1891 by Henry W. Peters, was engaged in manufacturing and wholesaling footwear. These two companies had been competitors, but their policies, ideals and business standards were so closely allied that they were drawn together by a wholesome mutual respect. Without submerging the individuality of either company, the two companies were merged in 1911 to form International Shoe Company under the laws of Missouri. In 1912, International Shoe Company purchased Friedman-Shelby Shoe Company, another St. Louis-based shoe manufacturer. It, too, became part of International Shoe Company without loss of identity and individuality.

On March 16, 1921, International Shoe Company was incorporated in Delaware as the successor to the Missouri corporation of like name. The stockholders of the 1911 Missouri corporation exchanged their stock for stock in the 1921 Delaware corporation. This is the corporation which exists today.

International Shoe Company was once the largest footwear manufacturer in the country, with such recognizable brand names as Red Goose and Poll Parrot. In 1953, International Shoe acquired substantially all of the common stock of Florsheim Shoe Company. This represented an investment of $24,980,246. A year later, the company acquired all of the common stock of Savage Shoes Ltd. of Canada. By 1961, the company’s 50th anniversary year, the company had grown to $294 million in sales, had 91 footwear manufacturing facilities, tanneries and warehouses in the United States and employed over 33,000 persons. The company's presence in St. Louis helped to identify that city as the home of “Shoes, Booze and Blues.”

The Red Goose Shoe Store was one of my favorite stores to visit. I only remember the one here in Albany. If you bought shoes you would get to pull the Red Goose's neck and a golden egg would be laid. Inside... if I remember correctly.. was a toy and maybe candy. I think that is where we got the little whistles. Seems like water was put in the whistle that looked like a pipe and had a bird shape somewhere on the pipe.... or maybe that was Cracker Jacks. My memory is fading fast!

On Sundays we would go downtown when the stores were all closed and window shopped. I would hope that soon it would be shoe shopping time.

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My niece, Marcy, seems to have her 'post comment' working. So hopefully now you can leave a comment on one of her wonderful cakes at Lady M's Cake Decor.