c 1920s Vintage Keds Champion Sneakers High Top Canvas Mens Boys Gym Shoes

Description

These vintage Keds Champion high top sneakers are pretty early production. They’re made of a grayish brown colored canvas with black rubber soles. I’m not sure if the canvas was originally brown or if it was a black color that’s faded. They show very little wear, and the color is fairly uniform throughout.
They have a cream colored lining stamped with size 4 1/2. Given the dimensions, I believe these are boys’ or very small mens’ shoes. I wear a women’s 7 or 7 1/2, and the soles are just about the same size as some of my shoes.
Please note that I DO NOT recommend that anyone wear these! It would only damage them.
There is no Keds logo or markings on the canvas part of the shoes. The Keds name and Champion model are impressed in the rubber soles along with the fine tread pattern.
The laces have metal tips and appear to be original. Due to the fraying, I did not attempt to finish lacing the shoes to check the size. I left them as I found them.
My best guess is 1920s, though they could be from the teens or 1930s. I can’t find a photo of this exact model, but similar pairs are shown in 1920s Keds advertising and/or catalogs.
There’s an amazing 1928 Keds catalog on ebay now that shows models “Pinafore” and “Spor-tie” that appear to have the same tread pattern as these, and also the “Diana” model that has a very similar tread. The “Diana” model is also a very similar style overall to these, but it looks like it has a rubber toe cap, and it has 10 eyelets on each side for lacing, whereas these have 9.
A 1921 Keds shoe ad in “The Ladies Home Journal” shows a sneaker without the toe cap that’s very similar to these, but it has 12 eyelets.
The sneaker shown in a 1922 Keds ad is the closest I found. The proportions are right, and there are 9 spots on each side for lacing. However, it looks like the top four holes might have the eyelets with flat hooks attached for speed lacing.
The 1916 pair of Keds Champion sneakers in the amazing collection of the Bata Shoe Museum are similar, but they have 8 holes, with speed lacing eyelets on the top 4. The Keds name and Champion logo impression on theirs is similar to these, but not the same. Theirs also have a subtle heel that these don’t have.
approximate measurements (taken on the outside of the shoes):
10” long x 3.25” wide x 5.5” high
marked inside the tops-
“P 4 1/2 027”
impressed into the soles-
“U.S. Rubber Co. Keds Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. (Champion logo) Made in U.S.A.”
condition:
- light overall wear
- a couple of small nicks/pulled threads to the canvas
- spotting to the lining
- light wear to the rubber soles
- some small impressions and cracks to the rubber edges
- the soles are pliable, but I didn’t flex them much because I didn’t want to stress the rubber
- fraying to one end of each lace and rusting to the metal tips
Please look at all of the photos for details, as they are part of the description.
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