Restoring Vintage L.L. Bean Maine Hunting Shoes-
You just never know when you'll run into something you been wanting! I'd been on the lookout for a used pair of L.L. Bean boots. They're pretty iconic, all made in the U.S., old school technology that still works. I gave up ever finding a pair in a thrift store or cheap on eBay. We were in a thrift store recently, I happened to go over to the shoe rack and saw this label-
I looked at them, stopped and thought, wait a minute! Maine? I took the boots off the shelf, looked inside and saw this-
I thought these were L.L. Bean "Boots", but they were Maine Bean Hunting Shoes! These are the very first, original design, not Bean "boots". More flexible, thinner soles, more like a moccasin. Info here Wikipedia.org L.L. Bean They were a Men's eight (runs big), so I tried them on. They fit perfect. I didn't see a sticker on the boots and they were on a shelf that said $3 for all shoes, unless otherwise marked. I wandered around for a few other things and took them up to the front desk to pay for them. The woman clerk was upset at the register and said several times they weren't supposed to be out on the floor. She also asked if there was a sticker on them for another price and I said no. I kind of waited for her to veto this purchase but she said okay you're getting them for three bucks. She was not happy. It was obvious somebody made a big mistake there. So I bought them and took them home along with a couple of other things. Here's the before shots-
The first thing I did was remove the laces, the insoles and took a good look. Next I cleaned the leather with saddle soap. I washed the rubber on the boots with warm soapy water. I let them dry overnight, here with wet leather-
Next I bought some Boot Guard leather conditioner that I had used years ago. The leather was really, really dry and stiff. I folded up a paper towel and started liberally applying it on all of the leather. I had to use my fingers to get in between the gusset under the laces. The gusset is what keeps all the water out of the boots, which is great!
This next picture shows the difference after applying half of the conditioner on the leather-
So both of the boots were done. I waited about an hour and added a second coat. A little later I touched up a few other spots with my fingertips
The leather softened up quite a bit! Buffed, came out with a nice patina!!!
The insoles were shot, stitched leather with something on top that looked like burlap-
I bought some black sheepskin liners, with a foam arch support. Fit perfect, warm and cozy!
Got new laces, similar to what's used on the L.L. Bean boots. I found out the traditional laces on the Hunting Shoes are plain brown, but I like them! I emailed L.L. Bean and found out these are probably from the 70's /early 80's. I may get them re-done at some point. I could get the whole rubber bottom replaced for about $40.00 Not a big priority right now. The leather might also not be intact enough to re-do anyway. All done, the products I used are listed on the left sidebar. Ready for snow and rain!!! Apparently they are also big for preppy style, who knew?
Thrifting Find-
When we were checking out with the boots, and a little flatware rack, I spotted this! It was in the glass case, for $4.00! It has multi-color LED lights that rotate the colors. It's about 6" long. My one Grandson love trains so I got it for our house for him to see. We love trains too however! It's very bright, the photo was hard to pick that up. Just too cute to pass on! The lights go blue, red, dark pink and green-
