80 SORTS OF BOOTS & SHOES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 73, 3 July 1942, Page 6

80 SORTS OF BOOTS & SHOES

BRITAIN CUTS OUT MILLIONS OF PAIRS Hides not at present required by Britain's motor and upholstery trades will be used for the utility boots and slices which after June 1 will form probably one half of the footwear produced for the civilian population of Great Britain. The hides are at present being made into grain leathers, in a range suited to various tj r pes of shoes, from light walking to heavy industrial. Heavy grain hide leather will be turned into mining, agricultural and quarrying boots. Apart from such leathers developed by the tanning industry to meet special war-time needs, the new utility footwear will include most of the varieties already familiar to wearers. Extreme deeorativeness is of course barred to-day, but the utility scheme, includes over eighty different kinds of boots and shoes. There will, naturally, be drastic reductions in the peace time yearly supply of 105,000,000 pairs for the civilian population. Britain had already concentrated that total to 80,500,000 pairs, and further cuts of from ten to twenty per cent have already been announced to allow the industry to meet the first call upon i-t for boots and shoes for the 20.000,000 men and women who will soon be mobilised in the Services, Civil Defence and munition work.