In loving memory of Bob Guccione 
Little over a month ago I was walking west to the Capsule show in a sleet like rain that was as cold as it was annoying. I thought. Within three or four blocks of the venue I began to see them. Slowly at first and then it was like a Paul Bunyan convention. They were everywhere. Suddenly Manhattan looked like Minocqua, Wisconsin. Either that or there was a pancake house nearby.
I carelessly left my camera in an outside coat pocket and that's why the first picture looks like I shot it through a Bob Guccione stocking. The condensation finally lifted though the pictures don't do any justice to these shoes. Made in Maine by a third generation family owned company, Eastland Shoe is authentic enough to be the real deal.
The Made in Maine Collection is hip enough for Paul Bunyan wannabes and classic enough for old guys and gals. This kind of heritage does not come cheap. You knew that, right? Shoes start at $275 and that hurts. Like a lotta old guys, I live to run prices through the inflation calculator. Back in 19 and 83, when I was in college, that Camp Mocc was $32.75 or $73 bucks today. Even my beloved Ray Ban Aviators sold in the same Summer 1983 L.L. Bean catalog for $29 bucks or $64 today.
What are you gonna do? I search out the best I can find, look for good value and buy what connects to me. Like pornography, it's hard to describe but I always know it when I see it --especially when it's shot through a stocking.
Why do guys sporting the Paul Bunyon style look like they need Charles Atlas to build them up?
ReplyDeleteEnquiring minds want to know
Sean- Pancakes and maple syrup. Carb city.
ReplyDelete$275 is ridiculous. I wonder if they'll actually sell at those prices - I'd love to buy the Camden but it's about double the price I'd expect.
ReplyDeleteI recently bought a pair of Bean blucher moccs new for $69.00, pretty damn close to the price in your old inflation calculator.
ReplyDeleteI paid for this by settling for shoes that were made in a place far, far from Maine of much lower quality leather.
Like you said, heartbreaking, but what are you gonna do? A fella's got to eat too, you know?
I mean the hipster Paul Bunyons look like they need some sand kicked in their faces. Hipsters look malnourished.
ReplyDeleteIn my day it was Old Style. Work clothes have always been popular with Bohos. It's the prices and the unwashed jeggings that differentiate them from their PBR drinking, short sleeved western shirt wearing bearded I'm in a band cousins. I did see a trio of plump boho lumberjacks the other day; wearing jeggings.
ReplyDeleteP.S.
In honor of Bob Guccione i have unbuttoned the first three buttons of my shirt have already smoked 4 packs of cigarettes today. I have also rubbed a vaseline border around the edges of my specs. Now everyone's a Pet.
$275 dollars for boots? That's about 2 weeks worth of Blatz for the average Minoquan.
ReplyDeleteDo they still make Blatz?!
ReplyDeleteAfter a long time owning a pair of Bluchers I realized I didn't care for the style because, like the Prius, they're neither fish nor foul (gas only nor electric only, oxford only nor moccasin only). Just my own design/form-meets-function bias. Otherwise, they're perfectly fine shoes for anybody, I just like moccasins better. And the Bucks.
ReplyDelete-DB
Attractive stuff....but I would not fork over that kind of cash for 'em....
ReplyDeleteI bet the smell of leather was pungent and pleasant at that venue...
The Justice Potter quote you mutiliated was regarding obscenity - not pornography.
ReplyDeleteFor example - your posting yesterday was an obscenity.
I bought a pair of LL Blucher's from their Signature Collection. They're slightly nicer than the regular catalog version, with a pebblier texture. Very happy with them, and at almost 2 bones less than these, I'm plenty satisfied.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your perspective regarding the protracted decline in quality and increase in prices of the subject Bean and Ray Ban products since we were mere collegians.
ReplyDeleteIrony is those products are now exclusively made in obscure Third World locales that lack indoor plumbing, paved roads and a reasonable level of public safety instead of Maine and Rochester, NY and its environs.
Anon-
ReplyDeleteThe Justice's name you mutilated was Potter Stewart and his quote in fact did refer to to "hard-core porn", the case itself Miller v. California was about obscenity and its protection under the First Amendment.
Tin Tin,
ReplyDeleteIf you feel guilty about the inflation rate of quality, US-made goods since the 80's, consider this.
HP scientific calculators were over $100 in 1980. That computing power today is given away in Happy Meal toys.
Consider it a trade-off and invest in a beautiful pair of Eastlands!
I'd love a pair of the Penobscot's. I checked out the website and did not see them listed. Are these a prototype last or will they be coming out soon?
ReplyDeletebmack- Sorry. Fall 2011.
ReplyDeleteToo bad, but at least there's something to look forward to after the passing of summer.
ReplyDeleteCan I order a pair of the Eastland kennebunk from you. I cannot find them nowhere nomore.i need them
ReplyDeleteWhere could I get these
ReplyDelete