February 10-16, 2005

mixpicks

Big Shoes To Fill

by A.D. Amorosi

exhibit

While Civil War buffs oil their sabers and wax their wide mustaches for the National Constitution Center's next major exhibit, "Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War" in June, I'll be polishing my best shoes for a far more important presidential display. To me, shoes are a far bigger deal than getting all worked up about Lincoln — unless it has something to do with him being gay. Then it's all trashy fun gossip and I need to know.

But I digress. After opening his shop in 1850 in Newark, N.J., master cobbler and shoemaker William J. Dudley, a British immigrant, created a luxury shoe market for both bespoken footwear and high-grade factory-made shoes and leather goods. No sooner had he opened shop than Dudley was crafting shoes for President Millard Fillmore. Dudley died in 1882, or only a few years after teaming with leather crafter James Johnston. Johnston then partnered with William H. Murphy, who renamed the company Johnston & Murphy. The company is now based in Nashville, Tenn. Their tradition of hand-crafting shoes for presidents has never ceased, as every chief up through the present one, George W. Bush, has worn the supple, sturdy leather that is the J&M trademark. Johnston & Murphy's "Presidential Shoe Display" showcases shoe leather for 12 of these famed feet — including Nixon, Reagan, Truman, Grant and Eisenhower. And yes, you can also check out Lincoln's shoe (pictured), see the size and start spreading some trashy gossip of your own.

Johnston & Murphy Presidential Shoe Display, Feb. 10-23, free, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6600, www.constitutioncenter.org.