Stoutish walking shoe or sandal?

[Ric Gillespie]

Its all guessing what Gallagher meant, but one way is by a stamped heel.
A brand name like cats paw or wolverine stamped into a thickish heel would imply to even a novice to be geared to hard work, or hard walking.
I am sure that like today there was marketing geared towards women and woman activities, tennis, hiking, social, so a brand name gallagher associated with outdoors walking could have been present.

If Gallagher had found a stamped heel why would he say "Only part of sole remains." ?   

The bigger question for me is why would Gallagher associate Earhart with such a badly degraded shoe? All but the sole was gone apparently.
I realize he was young with not a lot of experience, but he seems to have little knowledge of shoes, leather, clothing, to fancy tough shoe leather evaporated in such a short time. Perhaps he was an Earhart fan and had a good imagination, and very much wished he alone had solved this perplexing world mystery.

You're making it way too complicated. Read the source material.  The sole was found with the castaway's bones. Gallagher was quite sure the sole was from a woman's shoe.  Earhart was the only shoe-wearing woman missing in that part of the world.  It's as simple as that.

The degradation and the lack of any plane contents found suggest to me this sole was from an earlier visitor than 1937.

Who?

I doubt canteens, shoes leather, tools, all disintegrated in 3 years by the time Gallagher searched in 1940.

What experience do you have with rates of degradation in that environment?  I've been visiting that place periodically for nigh on a quarter century now (ugh) and I'm constantly amazed at how fast things rust, rot and fall apart there. 

[Ric Gillespie]

I would agree as well that the photographic evidence, and the two statements we both cited from the same book are contradictory with each other.

Last Flight was heavily edited and embellished prior to publication and we've seen, repeatedly, that Earhart was occasionally more interested in telling a good story than in telling the truth.  The only reliable source for what shoes she had with her are the photos and they will only tell us what shoes she was photographed wearing.  If there was a pair of heavy hiking boots in the back of the plane that she was never photographed wearing, we won't know about them.

[Bob Lanz]

I would agree as well that the photographic evidence, and the two statements we both cited from the same book are contradictory with each other.

Last Flight was heavily edited and embellished prior to publication and we've seen, repeatedly, that Earhart was occasionally more interested in telling a good story than in telling the truth.  The only reliable source for what shoes she had with her are the photos and they will only tell us what shoes she was photographed wearing.  If there was a pair of heavy hiking boots in the back of the plane that she was never photographed wearing, we won't know about them.

Then would you agree Ric, that this is more representative of the shoes that Amelia was wearing on the World Flight.  There are other pictures of her shoes such as the one I posted earlier in my post 15 on this thread?

[Lauren Palmer]

It's the 98 cents that gets to me! Interesting ideas in this discussion......
-Lauren :-*

[Bob Lanz]

It's the 98 cents that gets to me! Interesting ideas in this discussion......
-Lauren :-*

It was two years after the Great Depression Lauren.  Everything was cheap uh, inexpensive then.  :o

[Ric Gillespie]

Then would you agree Ric, that this is more representative of the shoes that Amelia was wearing on the World Flight.  There are other pictures of her shoes such as the one I posted earlier in my post 15 on this thread?

If you're going to use photos to establish what shoes AE is known to have had with her on the world flight you have to cite the date of the photo and where it was taken.  Your post 15 of this thread, for example, shows AE in Burbank prior to the first attempt.  Not useful.  The other photo you just posted looks like it might be from her arrival in Lae. If so, it's a reliable indication of one pair of shoes she had with her on the world flight.

[Bob Lanz]

Then would you agree Ric, that this is more representative of the shoes that Amelia was wearing on the World Flight.  There are other pictures of her shoes such as the one I posted earlier in my post 15 on this thread?

If you're going to use photos to establish what shoes AE is known to have had with her on the world flight you have to cite the date of the photo and where it was taken.  Your post 15 of this thread, for example, shows AE in Burbank prior to the first attempt.  Not useful.  The other photo you just posted looks like it might be from her arrival in Lae. If so, it's a reliable indication of one pair of shoes she had with her on the world flight.

Ric, the picture came from this site.  Notice that she is wearing the same plaid shirt.  Not sure if it was in Miami before she left or arrival in Lea.  Someone here indicated sometime back, that it was in the hanger in Miami, others say Lea.  Point being this is most likely what she was wearing and the normal style she wore and being in this collage of pictures I would say Miami.  Second picture down looks like the same shoes while she was packing for the trip in 1937.

[Ric Gillespie]

As Gallagher only said 'sole' are we ruling out heels? or is there a case for a generic 'sole' that includes the sole and heel element of the underside of the footwear.

It seems reasonable to me that if Gallagher had found just a heel he would say "I found a heel." If he found a heel nailed on to part of a sole he might say "I found part of a sole" and not mention the heel, but if he found a heel nailed on to a sole I don't know why he would think that it came from a "stoutish walking shoe or heavy sandal."  What makes sense to me is that he found part of a molded rubber sole that included the molded-in heel that is typical of stoutish walking shoes or heavy sandals.

[Dan Kelly]

The question is - was the water bag photo taken prior to the first or the second world flight attempt?  What clues does the photo offer?

Well that photo tells me, if I am seeing it correctly, is that the water bag has no stopper of any kind but appears to me to be suited to a screw type top. Certainly that would be a more secure way of carrying a large bag of water in an aircraft. 

[Ric Gillespie]

Well that photo tells me, if I am seeing it correctly, is that the water bag has no stopper of any kind but appears to me to be suited to a screw type top. Certainly that would be a more secure way of carrying a large bag of water in an aircraft.

I agree on both points.  I think it's fair to say that the water bag in the photo is probably not the source of the corks on brass chains found by Gallagher.

That said, the photo does suggest that AE, at some point, considered water bags for storing water. 

[Dan Swift]

BTW, here's the desert waterbag you asked for.  Unfortunately no stopper is visible.  We're not sure where or when this photo was taken.  The mechanic's coveralls seem to say (something) Canyon Airlines.  This could be the stop in Tucson on the way to Miami for the second attempt.
[/quote]

Of interest is mention of Scenic Airways painted on the front of a hangar. Scenic Airways was an air tour company based out of Phoenix, AZ. It was founded by Register pilot J. Parker Van Zandt, and it is still in business to this day.

The first commercial air tour of Grand Canyon was on October 3, 1927, predating this reference by four years. Shortly, the Great Depression took its toll on the Scenic Airways operation. Van Zandt sold the company and assets to some local Arizona pilots ("Air Investor's" mentioned in the description?). 

The company was changed to Grand Canyon Air Lines (note, two words). A short while later the name was simplified and changed to Grand Canyon Airlines.
Dan

[Patrick Dickson]

"What could there possibly be about part of the sole of stoutish walking shoe or heavy sandal that would tell Gallagher that it was a woman's shoe?"

Maybe Gallagher just compared the found sole part with his own shoe, and based on the proportions of length to width, determined that it was likely a woman's shoe ?

The "toe box" portion of a woman's shoe is considerably narrower than a man's shoe of same relative length. I'm no expert, but do have some experience with shoes....been wearing them fo a few years.

[Bob Lanz]

I'm no expert, but do have some experience with shoes....been wearing them fo a few years.

Then, you are obviously not from Alabama!  ;D

[C.W. Herndon]

I have done some further research on the shoes that AE may have taken on the second flight attempt and found the first two pictures below of AE's "saddle shoes". Neither of these photos, #1
here nor #2 here gives a location for where the photo was taken. However, picture #3, here showing AE wearing the same shoes, says it was made in Java in 1937. Could the remains of the "stoutish walking shoe or sandal" that Gallagher found have come from one of these shoes?

[Alan Harris]

Could the remains of the "stoutish walking shoe or sandal" that Gallagher found have come from one of these shoes?

That, of course, was first speculated nearly 9 years ago, see the last section of this Research Bulletin.