240 YEARS OF LADIES SHOES
We welcome visitors to come and view our latest exhibition: “240 Years of Women’s Footwear.” Items will be on display though the Skirmish on June 7, 2025. Each pair of shoes featured in the exhibition is accompanied by historical and educational information. The parts of a shoe and a shoe style timeline are among the topics explained on the exhibition boards. You’ll also learn about trades using leather and what a shoe “last” is.
The earliest example on display is a pair of shoes from approximately 1740, believed to be calamanco slippers. Few people today have heard of calamanco slippers, but if you were a well-to-do woman living in British America around the time of the Revolution, you probably owned a pair of them. That’s because calamancos were the practical go-to footwear of early American life, like sneaker are today, according to Kimberly Alexander in What It Means to Be American, a publication from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and Arizona State University.
The American-made slippers featured a worsted wool textile—called calamanco—that came from Norfolk, England, and was finished with a glossy, glazed surface created by forcing the cloth through hot rollers, Alexander notes. She adds that calamanco shoes were available in a variety of colors and favored for being warm and durable, as the glazed fabric could be surface cleaned, so it was less likely to be ruined by a little mud or rainy weather.
*Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday from 1pm to 4pm and by appointment. Please contact the HSH office for parties larger than 5. [email protected] or (856) 429-7375.
2025 Candlelight Dinner – March 19, 2025, starting at 6pm – SAVE THE DATE!
Join us for our upcoming 102nd Annual Candlelight Dinner on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at Tavistock Country Club. Cocktails start at 6 pm, and our featured speakers starts a little after 7 pm. This is one of our largest fundraisers, and we hope you will come and enjoy the evening in support the Historical Society of Haddonfield. All are welcome: You do not need to be a member of HSH to attend. To buy tickets download this form and mail it in to 343 Kings’ Highway East. You can pay online with credit card as well. Any questions please reach out to the office at [email protected]
Virtual Book Discussion March 25 at 7pm
The Glass Universe by Dava Sobel
Mark your calendar for our upcoming virtual book discussion on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 starting at 7pm.
Please email the office at [email protected] for the Zoom discussion link.