London Shoe Company (1891-1969)

London Shoe Company Catalogue, 1944. Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada. 

 

London Shoe Company was a long-standing shoe wholesaler and manufacturer in the city. The company sold men’s and women’s shoes in various fashions and cleaning supplies, like shoe polish. While London Shoe Company did not take its name until 1891, the owner John Pocock had been in business for twenty years. Beginning in 1871, he operated a shoe shop on Dundas Street. The company became a family business within three years as John’s brothers joined him. By 1890, the shoe business was beginning to resemble its future state and is known as London Boot & Shoe Company. The name was short-lived, as it was renamed the London Shoe Company within a year. The shoe wholesaler moved to 141 Carling Street, a small, unassuming brick building. Ten years later, a new larger location would open at 324-326 Richmond Street. London Shoe Company stayed in this location until 1931 when they moved again to 387-389 Clarence Street. During this period, the company produced a series of catalogues, including the one pictured above in 1944. By 1964, the wholesale company moved to Oxford and Industrial Road, where it would operate until the business closed in 1969. 

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron. We honour and respect the history, languages and culture of the diverse Indigenous people who call this territory home.

We acknowledge all the treaties that are specific to this area: the Two Row Wampum Belt Treaty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy/Silver Covenant Chain; the Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Haudenosaunee NANFAN Treaty of 1701; the McKee Treaty of 1790, the London Township Treaty of 1796, the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, with the Anishinaabeg, and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum of the Anishnaabek and Haudenosaunee.

The three Indigenous Nations that are neighbours to London are the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation; Oneida Nation of the Thames; and the Munsee-Delaware Nation who all continue to live as sovereign Nations with individual and unique languages, cultures, and customs.