-
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
boot color
- Thread starter Clark J
- Start date
1957 
If you need to read on about the ins and outs, that was when it all started. There was a move at around that time to standardise fatigue/utility uniform across the services . The Use by civilians of OD wool war surplus had been seen to be detrimental to soldiers from whom the scruffy civilians were less distinguishable than the government would like. The Army Green uniform (AG44, which now is more bottle green and polyester than the grey green wool of the same grade as the OD that it replaced.) was incompatible with brown footwear and at that time the black boot replaced the existing brown in the army and suede boondocker hi tops in the marines. This was slow to happen and Marines landing in Da Nang in 65 still had boondockers alongside black boots.
the USAF surrendered their shade 509 utilities and the Marines lost their herringbone although they retained a unique version of the OG107 uniform adopted by the other branches until about 1965.
The first boot was a straight black take on the brown toecapped boot introduced as a standard around Korea time and not dissimilar to the paratrooper boot of ww2. It was replaced by a capless boot in the early 60's when Robert Macnamara dispensed completely with many of the service specific quirks.
If you need to read on about the ins and outs, that was when it all started. There was a move at around that time to standardise fatigue/utility uniform across the services . The Use by civilians of OD wool war surplus had been seen to be detrimental to soldiers from whom the scruffy civilians were less distinguishable than the government would like. The Army Green uniform (AG44, which now is more bottle green and polyester than the grey green wool of the same grade as the OD that it replaced.) was incompatible with brown footwear and at that time the black boot replaced the existing brown in the army and suede boondocker hi tops in the marines. This was slow to happen and Marines landing in Da Nang in 65 still had boondockers alongside black boots.
the USAF surrendered their shade 509 utilities and the Marines lost their herringbone although they retained a unique version of the OG107 uniform adopted by the other branches until about 1965.
The first boot was a straight black take on the brown toecapped boot introduced as a standard around Korea time and not dissimilar to the paratrooper boot of ww2. It was replaced by a capless boot in the early 60's when Robert Macnamara dispensed completely with many of the service specific quirks.
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Nice job, Tim. Your explanation sums it up well. My impression has always been that many of the original captoed black boots were actually overdyed m48 russet combat boots. Have you seen any actual issued examples of black captoes? There would have been a gap of several years between the changeover to black and the introduction of the McNamara boot, and I'm not sure if captoed boots were manufactured in black or if the Army simply overdyed their existing stocks of M48s during this period.
As regulation dictated the use of black footwear production commenced.Regarding overdyeing brown boots in the inventory, I have heard a number of anecdotes of the onus being on the individual to comply . Now whether that is dyeing new issue upon commencement of training or changing over existing boots to meet regs (probably both).
Regardless, I have seen black toecapped, lets call them m48's, in deadstock condition. never owned any.
There is a surplus and adventure outfit that stocks just this boot, diamond grip soles the lot but I forget who. New manufacture.
I only realised the other day that the USAF used a black toecapped low quarter service shoe except for security types and honor guard. A vet from 63-65 stationed in the UK advised me of this when I was asking about blousing of pants legs.
Regardless, I have seen black toecapped, lets call them m48's, in deadstock condition. never owned any.
There is a surplus and adventure outfit that stocks just this boot, diamond grip soles the lot but I forget who. New manufacture.
I only realised the other day that the USAF used a black toecapped low quarter service shoe except for security types and honor guard. A vet from 63-65 stationed in the UK advised me of this when I was asking about blousing of pants legs.
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Yes, I actually have a pair of the USAF short boots. They strongly resemble the WW2 service shoe, but in black and with a full rubber sole. I think mine are dated 1962.
Getting back to the combat boots, I've been trying for some time to substantiate the notion that the captoed type were produced in black for Army issue. I'm not 100% sure of the particulars, but it appears that at the very least there was a captoed combat-style boot issued by the USAF. I saw an example of these with an Air Force grouping from the early 1960s, and I believe there was also a pair on Ebay awhile back. The Air Force would have decided on black footgear sometime prior to the Army, but this may or may not have any bearing on our discussion. Obviously there were plenty of privately purchased captoed boots such as Corcorans in active service, but I'd really like a bit more concrete information on the spec version. One would expect to find a ton of information on such a common item, but so far I haven't had much luck. At the very least Stanton appears silent on the issue. His Cold War and Vietnam War treatises discuss the mandate requiring the dyeing of russet footgear, then it's straight to the McNamara boot. However, I believe his Vietnam book depicts a field shoe-repair shop and the boot being worked on has a cap toe. There's no way of knowing if it's a private-purchase Corcoran, but by that era it would certainly have been produced in black.
Can anyone else weigh in on this?
Getting back to the combat boots, I've been trying for some time to substantiate the notion that the captoed type were produced in black for Army issue. I'm not 100% sure of the particulars, but it appears that at the very least there was a captoed combat-style boot issued by the USAF. I saw an example of these with an Air Force grouping from the early 1960s, and I believe there was also a pair on Ebay awhile back. The Air Force would have decided on black footgear sometime prior to the Army, but this may or may not have any bearing on our discussion. Obviously there were plenty of privately purchased captoed boots such as Corcorans in active service, but I'd really like a bit more concrete information on the spec version. One would expect to find a ton of information on such a common item, but so far I haven't had much luck. At the very least Stanton appears silent on the issue. His Cold War and Vietnam War treatises discuss the mandate requiring the dyeing of russet footgear, then it's straight to the McNamara boot. However, I believe his Vietnam book depicts a field shoe-repair shop and the boot being worked on has a cap toe. There's no way of knowing if it's a private-purchase Corcoran, but by that era it would certainly have been produced in black.
Can anyone else weigh in on this?
Happy Hooligan
Well-Known Member
here's a pair on ebay dated 1956 and they're black...
http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-Vintage-11...ltDomain_0?hash=item2c52c749c1#ht_7402wt_1120
http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-Vintage-11...ltDomain_0?hash=item2c52c749c1#ht_7402wt_1120
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Well, I'll be! Those are definitely the ones, although the production date is surprising given that the transition period would have just begun.
Vcruiser
Well-Known Member
I was in the Army(1970-72) and was issued non cap toed black combat boots in basic. However,cap toed black "Jump Boots" were available. I don't remember if they were reserved for only officers or NCOs but when I made DSGT at Ft Polk I picked up two pair of cap toed jump boots from supply. BTW..they looked very similar to those eBay boots...except for somewhat cleated composite(rubberish) soles.
Van
Van
flightmac
Member
According to a Background Paper on the Development of USAF Uniforms up to 1959 from the Air Force Enlisted Heritage Research Institute, in July 1952 "... black socks and shoes became mandatory wear with the uniform." One could suppose that also applied to boots, but I guess that's not a totally safe assumption.
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
flightmac said:
This was my thinking regarding the USAF, Pepe. What seems a bit less clear is precisely when black footgear began to be produced for the Army. Happy Hooligan's Ebay link shows conclusively that a standard combat boot was being produced in black as recently as early August 1956. On page 148 of Shelby Stanton's U.S. Army Uniforms of the Cold War, the author states that the Army began the transition to black footgear on 1 September 1956 and further mentions a DA circular dated 12 January 1958, which "provided instructions for applying commercial dye to the russet-colored combat boots for this purpose." I don't necessarily consider Stanton the sole authority on all things military, but at least he has attempted to summarize U.S. Army uniform development with citations to official regulations and various other sources. If we regard his work as authoritative, it seems to me that some effort would be required to explain an Army contract for black boots dated prior to the commencement of a transition period that apparently lasted for well over a year. In any case there's no question that by 1956 the Air Force had been issuing black footgear for several years.
What never ceases to amaze me is the scarcity of these boots. If in fact there were captoed black boots produced for the Army, I can only assume there would have been large numbers made. Where the hell are they? M48 russets are out there, as are McNamaras, jungle boots, and even the earlier M43 double-buckles and occasionally WW2 service shoes. I have examples of each of these in my collection, but aside from 2 Ebay listings (including Happy Hooligan's link) and the one pair I saw in an Air Force grouping there has been very little to prove the existence of issued captoed black combat boots--whichever branch of service they were produced for.
newenglandcliff
Active Member
I was surprised to learn that the USAF issued steel toed boots. I picked up an unused black pair from 1979, part# DLA 100-79-C-2321, dated 5 JANUARY 1979. Not just combat boots, but completely lined with tan glove soft leather throughout, having a Goodyear sole with white perimeter stitching and Biltrite heel. The toe has such a nice shape that the steel cap is unnoticeable. The seller was unaware they were steel toe. I'm hesitant to wear them....the USAF Colonel that wrote his name in them never did.
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
Cliff:
Is this the type with a seam running more or less parallel to the sole? I'm pretty sure you're referring to the standard-issue steel-toed work boot used by the Army as well as the Air Force. They're distinguishable from flight-line type boots, which I imagine you must have seen during your time in uniform. I have a pair around here somewhere that I wore in the Army. I didn't find the relatively thin soles all that comfortable for extended wear, especially if there was a lot of walking involved.
There's also an ankle-height version that seems especially popular with the Navy. The swabbies sometimes call them "boondockers," but they're a far cry from the roughout service shoes of that name from the WW2 period.
Is this the type with a seam running more or less parallel to the sole? I'm pretty sure you're referring to the standard-issue steel-toed work boot used by the Army as well as the Air Force. They're distinguishable from flight-line type boots, which I imagine you must have seen during your time in uniform. I have a pair around here somewhere that I wore in the Army. I didn't find the relatively thin soles all that comfortable for extended wear, especially if there was a lot of walking involved.
There's also an ankle-height version that seems especially popular with the Navy. The swabbies sometimes call them "boondockers," but they're a far cry from the roughout service shoes of that name from the WW2 period.
newenglandcliff
Active Member
Yes, the seam runs lengthwise, but the soles are pretty thick at 7/16" with a 1-1/16" heel. The sole is softer than my standard issue boots, but still pretty hardy by todays standards. Do you mean the insole? It looks like there's a full length insole of leather about 1/8" thick, plus another thinner greyish piece of leather glued over the heel section. It's not loud walking on a wood floor, and quite comfortable. Modern padded insoles placed inside would make them much nicer though.
newenglandcliff
Active Member
Nice pair of steel toes here, I missed $0.50. Well who knows, really.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0541025343
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0541025343
watchmanjimg
Well-Known Member
newenglandcliff said:
Those went a little crazy, didn't they? I won a near-mint '65-dated pair awhile back for around $45. Ironically, there was a recently dated receipt from Goodwill in one of the boots. The price? $9.95!
flightmac
Member
Re: boot color For what it's worth
Ran across this: http://www.ljmilitaria.com/geargeneral/footgear.htm#7740__brown_leather_flyer_s_boots_
I'll let you all decide where it fits in this discussion.
Ran across this: http://www.ljmilitaria.com/geargeneral/footgear.htm#7740__brown_leather_flyer_s_boots_
I'll let you all decide where it fits in this discussion.
