Throwback Thursday

[Rob Glasgow]

Sperry Topsiders, 1960 Austin Healey, Beach Boys singing Surfin' Safari on the radio....takes me back to UC Santa Barbara in 1964. What a wonderful time that was.

 

[nevets]

Nice picture. Topsiders are still my favorite driving shoe.

 

[CaptRandy]

No Ocean Pacific shirts or Hobie Surfboards?

 

[HealeyRick]

Funny, around here, those wouldn't be considered "topsiders." They'd be called boat shoes and I wore a ton of them in my early teens, usually Randy Boat Shoes, made in nearby Randolph, MA:

"Topsiders" are the leather shoe with white soles (so as not to mar the deck of the sailboat) and I've been wearing them for about 50 years (although now I go for the ones with dark soles because, honestly, I've never been a sailor. They are NEVER to be worn with socks, it's just not done. Here's mine, with appropriate sailor's barrel knots because the leather laces always come undone and it's just easier to slip them on that way.

 

[Rob Glasgow]

HealeyRick, Back in the 60' we actually called them surfer shoes. There were serval brands of canvas boat shoes with Sherry being the most expensive. Since I was a poor college student, I had to settle for the cheaper JC Penny version. Now that I can afford them, I treated myself to the real deal Sperry version. I do have to admit they aren't as comfortable as I remember them and certainly no where near as comfy as a pair of Merrell Moab's. But then style over comfort is why we drive a 50 year old classic and not a new version.

 

[RAC68]

Hi All,

My Healey was always HOT and, along with being a Beach Boys fan and body surfing on the Jersey Shore, my Summer Healey foot ware was Sandals. Yes, I did ware canvas boat shoes as well but in the car shorts and sandals were my Hot Ware.

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I know from personal experience that Sperry Topsiders have taken a nose dive in quality the last few years (do an internet search on 'sperry topsider quality').

 

[HealeyRick]

I know from personal experience that Sperry Topsiders have taken a nose dive in quality the last few years (do an internet search on 'sperry topsider quality').

Same old story, I'm afraid. Guess where they used to be made, guess where they're made now? Shoemaking in Massachusetts and Maine half a century ago was a thriving business and some of the best shoes in the world were made here. In the 60s and 70s overseas buyers were paying very good prices for antiquated shoe-making machinery in the US. The US manufacturers happily sold them off, thinking they got the better of the deal but soon learned shoes were now being made overseas on those same machines with lower-priced labor and cheaper materials. Soon the US companies couldn't compete and shuttered their factories. While not the best places to work, they did provide steady employment for the newly arrived and for those who did not have a technical school or college in their future. I knew many people growing up that quit school at 16, so they could work in the "shop" and worked there all their working lives. Try finding a US made boat shoe now. Quoddy still makes them in Maine, but they sell for almost $400 a pair. Tough to compete with the 100 buck version.

 

[CaptRandy]

I changed to Columbia PFG Sneakers with holes in bottom to drain water from the cockpit while fishing. Hate to have water slosh around with fish blood. Easier on the ladders as well.

 

[Deleted member 21150]

I go through a pair of Sperry's about every two years. I like the original leather Sahara's with leather laces. There a must if your an avid boater,they really keep you safe when on the deck.

 

[dougie]

If we're going "old School" footwear, how about about the penny lofer? This pic is my favorite.....

 

[Deleted member 19315]

What great picture. Only yesterday a sighnwiter was painting the number back grounds and Tow script on my car, we were discussing how at races in the 50 's a sign writer would be on he
And for those who couldn't or didn't want to do their own.

 

[CaptRandy]

I still have my penny/loafers w/o coins. Most comfortable shoes I own.

 

[Michael Oritt]

The sole of the Sperry Topsider is--or at least was--a totally different animal than that found on most other "boatshoes" including the one made by Randy and shown in the ad posted above. The sole of the original Topsider had grooves about 1/8" apart that opened and closed as the shoe flexed and provided a way for water to escape from under one's shoe, working much the same way as a good rain tire. Soles with big "lug" patterns--as shown--are more like the tread on a snow tire, perhaps giving grip in mud or soft dirt but not so great on a wet deck.

 

[steveg]

I used to wear the Sperry canvas topsiders in the '60s. Seems like they were around a few years before the leather ones came out.