A shoe museum that showcases used and old shoes!
(Published on 3 July 2007 in 'Women at Work' - W @ W - a supplement of the Daily Mirror, Colombo, Sri Lanka)
I just love travelling, pets… and that’s really how I gather all my information. My visit to Toronto had me standing in front of a building that looked uncannily like a shoe box. The signpost read – Bata. We all know that Bata is connected with shoes… no prizes for guessing that but what had me curious was that the building actually housed the Bata Shoe Museum.
If you thought that the Bata Shoe Museum housed samples of all the footwear that the Bata Company has ever produced - you are totally wrong. Although the name is synonymous with the giant shoe empire, there are less than a dozen Bata shoes in the entire collection. Created by Sonja Bata, the wife of the founder of the Bata Shoe Company, the museum has a massive collection of shoes spanning 4,500 years. On display are shoes ranging from beautiful Egyptian sandals and Chinese bound foot shoes, to celebrity footwear including Elton John's platforms and Napoleon’s socks.
The Bata Shoe Museum opened its doors in 1995. The five-storey building, designed by Moriyama and Teshima Architects, is truly unique. It is in the form of a huge shoe box with the lid laid across the top. The collection contains 10,000 varieties of footwear and showcases changing fashions, and highlights the craft and sociology of making shoes.
It all began as a hobby, when Mrs Sonja Bata started collecting shoes as she travelled around the globe. The fascination grew into a huge collection. As per Mrs. Bata, shoes are a personal artefact that tells about the owner’s social status, habits, culture and religion. Shoes, more than any other personal item, reflect the living habits, the work and the customs of the people who wore them. A visit to the museum is truly a visit down history. A pair of Egyptian footwear lies alongside the late Princess Diana’s rich burgundy dress shoes. In another display, Queen Victoria’s ballroom slippers lie alongside the ceremonial shoes of Pope Leo the III.
Hundreds of fascinating shoes from famous feet and from some unknown owners, whose names have been lost to history are on display. Pressurised sky-diving boots to iron-spiked shoes used for crushing chestnuts are among the items on exhibit. Rock stars, sports heroes, musicians, artists, film legends...they’re all there.
Viewed chronologically, shoes trace a path through technological development. The museum is a powerhouse of information. Today, if I know where the boots worn by Neil Armstrong for his famous first walk on the moon in 1969 are, it’s because of my visit to the museum. The answer will blow your mind away for Neil Armstrong’s shoes are currently floating in space as they were jettisoned before he returned to earth in case of contamination.
I further learnt that my foot has 18 muscles and that approximately 25% percent of all the bones in my body are found in the foot. I left the museum with a new found respect for my feet. I’ll head off for a foot massage and a pedicure at the earliest given opportunity – which is once I return to my home country. Until then I’ll just soak my feet in warm water… after all a dollar saved is a dollar gained.
Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com
I just love travelling, pets… and that’s really how I gather all my information. My visit to Toronto had me standing in front of a building that looked uncannily like a shoe box. The signpost read – Bata. We all know that Bata is connected with shoes… no prizes for guessing that but what had me curious was that the building actually housed the Bata Shoe Museum.
If you thought that the Bata Shoe Museum housed samples of all the footwear that the Bata Company has ever produced - you are totally wrong. Although the name is synonymous with the giant shoe empire, there are less than a dozen Bata shoes in the entire collection. Created by Sonja Bata, the wife of the founder of the Bata Shoe Company, the museum has a massive collection of shoes spanning 4,500 years. On display are shoes ranging from beautiful Egyptian sandals and Chinese bound foot shoes, to celebrity footwear including Elton John's platforms and Napoleon’s socks.
The Bata Shoe Museum opened its doors in 1995. The five-storey building, designed by Moriyama and Teshima Architects, is truly unique. It is in the form of a huge shoe box with the lid laid across the top. The collection contains 10,000 varieties of footwear and showcases changing fashions, and highlights the craft and sociology of making shoes.
It all began as a hobby, when Mrs Sonja Bata started collecting shoes as she travelled around the globe. The fascination grew into a huge collection. As per Mrs. Bata, shoes are a personal artefact that tells about the owner’s social status, habits, culture and religion. Shoes, more than any other personal item, reflect the living habits, the work and the customs of the people who wore them. A visit to the museum is truly a visit down history. A pair of Egyptian footwear lies alongside the late Princess Diana’s rich burgundy dress shoes. In another display, Queen Victoria’s ballroom slippers lie alongside the ceremonial shoes of Pope Leo the III.
Hundreds of fascinating shoes from famous feet and from some unknown owners, whose names have been lost to history are on display. Pressurised sky-diving boots to iron-spiked shoes used for crushing chestnuts are among the items on exhibit. Rock stars, sports heroes, musicians, artists, film legends...they’re all there.
Viewed chronologically, shoes trace a path through technological development. The museum is a powerhouse of information. Today, if I know where the boots worn by Neil Armstrong for his famous first walk on the moon in 1969 are, it’s because of my visit to the museum. The answer will blow your mind away for Neil Armstrong’s shoes are currently floating in space as they were jettisoned before he returned to earth in case of contamination.
I further learnt that my foot has 18 muscles and that approximately 25% percent of all the bones in my body are found in the foot. I left the museum with a new found respect for my feet. I’ll head off for a foot massage and a pedicure at the earliest given opportunity – which is once I return to my home country. Until then I’ll just soak my feet in warm water… after all a dollar saved is a dollar gained.
Miss Know-All
miss.know.all@gmail.com
Labels: Miss Know All, Sangeeta Rana
posted by Sangeeta Rana @ 8:40 AM
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