Original Item. Only One Available. This is a scarce set of WWI M1912 Russet Marching shoes, dated 1917. This model of shoe saw heavy service in the U.S. Army from 1912-1917 when they were replaced by the M1917 Marching shoe. However the Model 1912 were still heavily used and a great many of them made it overseas. This example being dated 1917 gives it a great chance of having seen service in the war. The pair of shoes are Size 7½. 

Both shoes retains their laces but both laces have some fraying as shown. There are a great many scuffs and small nicks in the leather on both shoes, meaning they both saw very heavy use. They both have markings that are very difficult to read:

7½E 13029 23
01.17.1917

Both shoes also retain their pull-up straps. The soles of both shoes show very heavy service use. The shoes have lost their form but the form could easily be brought back by stuffing the shoes. This is a fantastic set of shoes that would fit well in any WWI Display! Comes ready for further research and display.

The 1912 Russet Marching Shoe

The high, heavy marching shoe was not completely free of problems and they were noted in the “Annual Reports of the Secretary of War 1908” and the “Annual Reports of the Secretary of War 1910”, respectively,

“The high-top regulation marching shoe for infantry is not wholly satisfactory. The shoe is sufficiently heavy, but complaints are made that the stiff and high tops to the shoes cause blisters on and above the ankles. There seems to be an unnecessary amount of heavy leather in the tops of these shoes.”

“The shoes at present furnished the department and the troops in it, more especially those of recent pattern, seem to give entire satisfaction, and the only causes of complaints that have been heard during the past fiscal year concerning the black shoes have been remedied in recent specifications The shoes now used are very popular. The russet marching shoe, while entirely suitable for the purpose intended, is limited in its use. The russet garrison shoes are probably worn' four-fifths of the time, and many company commanders prefer for troops the garrison shoes, even for practice marches and for the ordinary routine work, to the russet marching shoes. It is recommended that all shoes manufactured prior to 1905 and now in the quartermaster's storehouse be turned over for the use of prisoners or be otherwise disposed of. These shoes have deteriorated on account of age, and are unfit for issue to soldiers.”

In 1908 an Army Shoe Board was convened at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Lieutenant Colonel Edward Munson was appointed as president and during his tenure the shoe board with the assistance of a radiograph (x-ray) machine and the 4,000 man garrison at Ft. Leavenworth hit on the idea of a shoe shaped like the soldier’s foot that provided stability, protection and support for the entire foot. The new design was christened the “Munson last” (last is the shape of the shoe) and was adopted in 1912 for all service shoes. The design was so successful that it was used exclusively on all subsequent military shoes through to the early 1960’s.

The new 1912 Russet Shoe was now made from vegetable tanned calfskin rather than chrome tanned, to allow the leather to breath, thus preventing the build up of moisture inside the shoe and it no longer had the box toe which had a tendency to warp and curve down when drying after it was exposed to water. The shoe was made as light as possible to prevent unnecessary fatigue on the soldier’s foot and leg and all the material that could be spared was cut away. This resulted in a field shoe that weighed only two and one half ounces more than the former garrison shoe. The tongue was reduced from a full bellows to a half bellows to prevent bunching. The quarters were cut lower from 8 to 6 ½ inches, requiring just six or seven pairs of eyelets (seven pairs were used on size 8 or larger) and the seams of the quarters were brought lower on the sides of the foot for better flexibility.