| The shoe last was a wooden form carved in the basic shape of a foot, over which pieces of leather would be shaped and attached together to create a shoe or boot. During the colonial period there was no distinction between left and right shoes, so a single last would be used for both. The shoemaker would maintain a number of lasts to cover various sizes. Notice the holes in the bottom of the last, which resulted from the shoemaker tacking the leather onto it. This last measures eight (8) inches in length and two and one-eighth (2-1/8) inches in width. |
