Buford and the Business of Shoes

I've written before about Buford's history as The Leather City and the decades long impact the Bona Allen Tannery and other Allen family business enterprises had on the economic well being of the town. This week I'm focusing on one aspect of that history in particular--the manufacture and promotion of Bona Allen Shoes.

The Bona Allen Shoe Factory:

Just prior to the 1920s, the Bona Allen tannery, which had long been providing material for horse collars, saddles and other products, found a new outlet for its scrap leather -- shoes. A separate factory for shoe production was built in 1919, increasing both employment for the town, and profit for the Allens. During the 1920s and '30s the Bona Allen Shoe Factory produced over 3,000 pairs of shoes daily, which were sold and shipped all over the country. Although the factory produced some military and everyday footwear, it also branched out and made men's dress shoes. The factory prospered for two decades, including the depression years.

In 1940 the Blue Book of the Leather and Shoe Industry reported that Bona Allen Shoes had a Capital and Surplus of $2,000,000, a daily output of 4,000 shoes, and even had a branch office in New York City. Shoes included men's, women's, and youth's medium welts and nailed shoes; misses welts; also children's and infants stitchdowns. Trademark shoes included the "Bona Allen Shoe," "The Victor Five," and the "Bobby Burns." 

In the early 1940s a spate of  bitter labor disputes and a falling off of profits resulted in the closing of the factory. After six months, the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps. reopened the plant to repair military shoes, and within a year the factory was again fully operational. Seven hundred and ninety five civilian employees (including a large percentage of females) were refurbishing approximately 6,000 pair of military shoes per day. After the war the operation closed, and eventually the  building was used for other businesses. Since the 1990s the former shoe factory has been the home of the Tannery Row Artists Colony. 

In the late 1960s the Tandy Company bought out what remained of the Allen leather goods industry, eventually moving that aspect of the business to Sweet Home, Texas. Tandy continued to make saddles and cowboy boots under the Bona Allen name for several years. These days it's rare to find authentic, Georgia produced Bona Allen shoes or boots for sale anywhere, even on the most dedicated of vintage clothing sites.

The Victor 5 Quintet:

The Victor 5 Quintet was a popular  vocal and instrumental group in Buford  from the 1930s through the 1950s. They were best known for their many promotional appearances for Bona Allen shoes on Atlanta radio station WSB, singing the catchy jingle that began "Bona Allen shoes are red hot...(red hot, red hot)...they're Georgia made...." The quintet also frequently provided the musical entertainment for Allen family parties and many of the city's social gatherings.

In a 1980s interview with  Bobby Lancaster, quintet member, Cleve Harris, recounted that the Victor 5 had traveled frequently to perform at Shoemaker baseball games, and had sung over the loudspeakers at the semi-pro tournaments in Wichita, Kansas in the late 1930s. "We always  looked real sharp," he remembered. "We wore white jackets, white shirts and green ties. And we got all the shoes we wanted for free.We'd just go down to the factory and they'd give them to us."  The Bona Allen dress shoe called the "Victor Five"  was in part named after the group (there was also a Bona Four model).

Grace, Cleve Harris's wife, was well known and respected in Buford in her own right, and was honored by the City for her civic contributions in both 1989 and 1990. More on Grace Harris in a future post.

The Big Shoe:

The "Big Shoe" was exactly that--an enormous shoe on wheels that was used in promotional campaigns for Bona Allen shoes. In 1935 the first Big Shoe was designed and constructed by Loyce Moore, an employee of the Bona Allen Shoe Factory. He made a large shoe out of cardboard and mounted it over the chassis of an Austin (the mini-car of it's day) and drove it in one of Buford's annual parades. The shoe was such a big hit with the Allen family that they commissioned Moore to create a larger, metal version, with plans to have it driven around the Southeast as an advertising gimmick. This second shoe was much larger, made from sheet metal and built on a 1932 Chevrolet chassis. The driver sat on a tall stool and used specially designed controls to guide the car...er..shoe. This first shoe was painted a plain black, but a later version, built over a Chevy Pickup truck, was black and white and was reported to be a replica of the Victor Five dress shoe. The Big Shoe, which was driven to every Shoemaker baseball game in the southeast, was equipped with a public address system over which the driver or passenger would announce "Buy Bona Allen Shoes, They Do More For You!"

When  Bona Allen shoe factory closed in the 1940s The Big Shoe was no longer utilized. It was sold to a shoe repair shop in Griffin, Georgia where it was used as a rooftop advertisement for many years. Eventually the Shoe was scrapped and destroyed.

Loyce Moore's son, McHoyt Moore, paid homage to the shoe and to his father, in a charming and nostalgic booklet, The Big Shoe, As I Remember It, written in 2007. The booklet, which contains more information about the specifics of the shoe and it's drivers,  is also a look back at the simple pleasures of growing up in 1930s Buford. The Big Shoe, As I Remember It, can be purchased at the Museum of Buford for $10.00. 

Rebecca