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Le Cordonnier | The Shoemaker 

The cordonnier, or shoemaker (a cordwainer in England), was a craftsman who manufactured shoes, boots, and other types of footwear. He knew how to create, with his own hands, the entire shoe from the sole to the upper. He was the cutter, fitter, designer, and polisher.

The shoemaker sat on a little bench, with his leather apron, shirt-sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and the palms of his hands covered with a piece of leather to allow him to pull on the linen threads with force. He worked with a punch in his left hand, a hammer in his right, a mouth full of spikes or small nails, while banging on the sole.

Affixed to his bench was a locker in which all his tools were stored: hammers, pliers, wooden and steel dowels, knives, and sharpening stones. There was also linen thread, along with a piece of pitch to wax the thread and pig's bristles to stiffen the ends of the thread. There were also awls, pieces of glass, sandpaper, pots of glue and varnish, a piece of wood for polishing, and so on. On the ground next to the shoemaker was a bucket containing water to soak the leather for the sole, a post on which he set the shape of the shoe (either in wood or iron), and finally a strap looped beneath his foot to keep the shoe on his knee.

For the first step of the manufacturing process, the shoemaker cut the soles, heels and reinforcements. He would cut the upper and assemble its different pieces, sewing them on. Then, he mounted the upper onto the shape with a set of curved pliers. He subsequently molded the upper on the shape by affixing it with pegs that he inserted into a false sole.

Once the assembly was finished, the shoemaker set the sole, either by sewing or pegging it in. Then, armed with his awl and his linen thread, sewed the sole to the upper. Between this sole and the upper, he sometimes added a cork sole protect against moisture.

The last operation was the finish. Holding the shoe firmly against his chest, the shoemaker would trim the edge of the sole with his knife and shaved it down with a piece of glass or sandpaper to make it uniform. He varnished this edge black, and, with a hot iron, he gave it a shine. With his knife, he also finished the heels and polished them in the same way.

Some shoemakers sold their shoes to merchants, but the majority sold their own shoes, either from their workshop or by going door-to-door selling their wares. These travelling shoemakers were especially popular, because their product was in high demand, but also because many had a reputation for being entertaining storytellers.

Note: savetier is the old name given to cobblers. Until the eighteenth century, the job of the savetier or cobbler was to mend old shoes, while the job of the cordonnier, or shoemaker, was to make new shoes. Eventually, the two occupations became one and the same.

Here’s a fun take on a modern-day shoemaker. Jeff Churchill and his team at Jitterbug Boy in Toronto craft footwear for films and theatre.

Known persons who had the occupation of master shoemaker: Michel Barré, Jean-Baptiste Bourque dit Lachapelle, Charles Brassard, Benjamin Chassé, Paul Christin dit Saint-Amour, Jean Darsae/Darsac, Charles Davenne, Gabriel Davenne, Jean de Lasague, Joachim Demolier, Pierre Depoix dit Parisien, Bernard Dumouchel, Paul Dumouchel, Jean Dupuyau, Joachim Girard, Joseph Greenhill, Jean Guèvremont, Antoine Joyal dit Perrau, Jacques Larrivé(e), Gabriel Leber dit Yvon, Pierre Léger dit Lajeunesse, François Levitre, Jean Manuby dit Clermont, Louis Ménard, Nicolas Mongeon, Edme Moreau, Jacques Payan dit Saintonge/Saint-Onge, Joseph Plamondon, Joseph Poitevin, Charles Pouliot, Pierre Prudhomme dit Saint-Pierre, Jean Riday dit Beauceron, Gabriel Robidas dit Manseau, André Spénard, Jean Spénard, François Toussaint, Alexandre Wallace

Known persons who had the occupation of shoemaker: Casimir Arcouette, Pierre Barbereau dit Sanssousy, François Bariteau dit Lamarche, Michel Barré, Vincent Beaumont, Joseph Bériau, Jean Blachière, François Bleau dit Prêtaboire, Louis Bluteau dit Larabel, Jean Baptiste Bonnet, Pierre Bonnet, Jean Bours dit Lachapelle, Étienne Boyer, Joseph Brassard, Jean Brassard dit Bordet, Mathurin Brochu, Pierre Cardinal, Louis Chamberland, Louis Charland, Jean-Baptiste Chaussé, Isaac Christin dit Saint-Amour, Jean Christin dit Saint-Amour, John Clarke, Barthélemi Collet, Michel Coton, François de Chambre, Joanis de Poc(c)a, Joachim Demolier, Nicolas Déry, Joseph Descarreaux, Martin Descelles, Denis Desèvre, Jean-Baptiste Desèvre, Joseph Desèvre, Pierre Desèvre, Simon Didier, Jean Dorbé dit Lepicard, Charles Douillard, René Douillard, Toussaint Dubeau, Alexis Dubois, Pierre Dubois, Jean-Étienne Dubreuil, Pierre Duclos, Jacques Dugas, Joseph Dugas, Blaise Dumareil dit Lafranchise, Bernard Dumouchel, Paul Dumouchel, Charles Dupéré, Pierre Dupois dit Parisien, Jean Dupuyau dit Le Marquis, Jean Ferron dit Sancerre, Jacques Fortier, Jean Fourneau dit Brindamour, Pierre Gagnon, Pierre Gavarret, Jean-Baptiste Girard, Joachim Girard, Charles Giroux, Étienne Godère, Joseph Greenhill, Charles Gruet dit Lafleur, Joseph Guérin, Jean Houlet, Jean Journet, Louis Judic dit Rencontre, Pierre L'Enclu dit Lapierre, Jean-Baptiste Lachapelle, Jean Lacoste, Pierre Laforest, Charles Laigu dit LaNoüe, Jean Lalande, Antoine Lamarche, René Larivière, Jacques Larrivé(e), Jean Laurent dit Lortie, Joseph Le Maine, Joseph Lecomte, Pierre Lecomte, Jean Lecoq dit Saintonge, Pierre Léger dit Lajeunesse, Pierre Legrand, Claude Leheu, Noël Lesage dit Saint-Jean, Charles Lévesque, François Levitre, Thomas Loire, Jean Lortie, Jean-Baptiste Mallet, James Malony, Pierre Marchand, Claude Maurice, Charles Maurice dit Lafantaisie, Joseph Maurice dit Lafantaisie, Louis Ménard, Paul Ménard, Adrien Michelon, Jacques Michelon, Jean Moran(d), François Morard, Edme Moreau, Pierre Morin, Alexandre [Obscamp?], Maximilien Outrage, Louis Ouvrard dit Laperrière, Dominique Pampalon dit Labranche, Raymond Paré, François Paris, Louis Paris, Pierre Paris, Gilles Paris dit Lamadeleine, Jacques Payan dit Saint-Onge, Joseph Pépin, Pierre Petit, François Peumeja/Pemeja, Pierre Picard, Joseph Piquet, Pierre Prudhomme dit Saint-Pierre, Charles Rancour(t), Jean-Baptiste Rapin, Jacques Robidas dit Manseau, Charles Robidou(x), Louis Rousseau, Guillaume Roussel dit Sansoucy, Jacques Roussel dit Sansoucy, Laurent Roy, Pierre Roy, François Saint-Pierre, Jean-Baptiste Senéchal dit Pontoise, André Spénard, Jean Spénard, Paul Thibodeau, François Thomas, André Touché/Touchet dit Laroche, Gabriel Tougas, François Tranquille, Jacques Turet, Pierre Vallière(s), François Vaucel, Jean Viau, Jacques Viger, Jean Willis,

Sources:

• “Le cordonnier à Québec”, Histoire du Québec (http://histoire-du-quebec.ca).

• Jeanne Pomerleau, Métiers ambulants d'autrefois (Montréal, Québec: Guérin, 1990), 193-199