vayank54
Silver Member
I've seen a lot of interest on the history of the brass heel plates with the heart design. I dug one recently that measured 1-1/2" by 1-1/2" A fellow sent me several emails about them. the first I must have deleted but He said that a friend of his collected them and an elderly lady who had been in the "business" saw them and wanted to buy them he wouldn't sell them but she told him about them. I've copied the other two emails
Email 1
The size of the heel will give you an idea when the plate was made as fashion changes, so does heel size. But these heels are designed with a slight taper on the edge of the heart so dirt won't collect as easy, leaving little "Hearts of Sand" (That was the name of a paper I did on early Prostitution in America). Most people from the area knew where the bawdy houses were, but for the new to town, it was still rude to walk up to a woman and proposition her, plus you could get arrested for the act, so, if an attractive Woman crosses the street, you would look for her "Calling Card" in the dirt
By the looks of this one, it was never used, which got me to thinking that a Blacksmith may be close by as they were commissioned for the task of making the plates.
Email 2
You will see the heart on several Military pieces which are not Unit significant, such as the
Saddle Strap that goes around the front of a Cavalry Horse. Where the straps come together in the center there is a fist sized brass heart. However, with these "Shoe Hearts".....(Do you see where "Hearts of Sand" would work so much better?) the size dictates a Woman's foot, not a Soldier. As for soldiers wearing cleats on their shoes, "Yes, absolutely", they kept the heals from washing over, but in this incidence, the Hearts are not for anti wear purposes as much as for advertisement. What soldier is going to place a pair of these on his heels? All of the men walking behind him would be following the little hearts enroute to the Battle Field then be overwhelmed by a sudden need to compose prose..... It would ruin the whole flow of the war.
I should mention that not all the brass heel plates are civil war some are later. The one I dug dates from the late 1860's to early 1870s's
Email 1
The size of the heel will give you an idea when the plate was made as fashion changes, so does heel size. But these heels are designed with a slight taper on the edge of the heart so dirt won't collect as easy, leaving little "Hearts of Sand" (That was the name of a paper I did on early Prostitution in America). Most people from the area knew where the bawdy houses were, but for the new to town, it was still rude to walk up to a woman and proposition her, plus you could get arrested for the act, so, if an attractive Woman crosses the street, you would look for her "Calling Card" in the dirt
By the looks of this one, it was never used, which got me to thinking that a Blacksmith may be close by as they were commissioned for the task of making the plates.
Email 2
You will see the heart on several Military pieces which are not Unit significant, such as the
Saddle Strap that goes around the front of a Cavalry Horse. Where the straps come together in the center there is a fist sized brass heart. However, with these "Shoe Hearts".....(Do you see where "Hearts of Sand" would work so much better?) the size dictates a Woman's foot, not a Soldier. As for soldiers wearing cleats on their shoes, "Yes, absolutely", they kept the heals from washing over, but in this incidence, the Hearts are not for anti wear purposes as much as for advertisement. What soldier is going to place a pair of these on his heels? All of the men walking behind him would be following the little hearts enroute to the Battle Field then be overwhelmed by a sudden need to compose prose..... It would ruin the whole flow of the war.
I should mention that not all the brass heel plates are civil war some are later. The one I dug dates from the late 1860's to early 1870s's
I've never seen one like your's before. I had never heard about the cavalry using them like that and that explanation could fit in with where I dug mine. I think mine was to small to be a man's though.
