Old Town Shoemakers' Hand-Stitching Bench [1930s-1960s]
Utilitarian Object
Identifier:
OBJ.N.2022.19
Description
A wooden workbench, half woven leather seat and half flat workspace. It was made by Edward Joseph "Bidou" Le Bretton Sr. when he worked as a maintenance manager for Old Town Shoe and other Penobscot Shoe Company workshops in the area. "Bidou" handwove the seat from leather scraps and offcuts left over from the shoe production and built the wooden framing from materials to hand. He would have made multiple of these benches for Old Town Shoe hand stitchers, like for example his wife Lillian "Cite" Le Bretton. Old Town Shoe ceased operations in the 1960s, though Penobscot Shoe Company remained in business until Phoenix Footwear Group bought them in 2000. The Main Street building that had been Old Town Shoe was renovated into residences in 1980 and exists today under the name River House.