Over thinking it or gasket plate?

[OFRRD777]

I dug this today from old farmland. Could be a gasket plate from farm machinery but would like a few other opinions if possible. Google reverse image search is little help.

 

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[Noah_D]

Heel plate?

 

[Noah_D]

I just googled it and found an exact match: https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d...-boot-heel-plate-dug-port-royal-virginia.html

 

[OFRRD777]

I just googled it and found an exact match: https://www.antiquesnavigator.com/d...-boot-heel-plate-dug-port-royal-virginia.html

No kidding. Thought it was too small for a heel plat?

 

[Noah_D]

Now that I think about it it is pretty small... I wonder if it could be a child's shoe?

 

[Yak1366]

Cool find, congrats!!

 

[OFRRD777]

Now that I think about it it is pretty small... I wonder if it could be a child's shoe?

I’m thinking it might be a woman’s heel plate from the Victorian era. I grabbed a few pairs of my wife’s heeled boots and it’s about the right size.

 

[Noah_D]

I’m thinking it might be a woman’s heel plate from the Victorian era. I grabbed a few pairs of my wife’s heeled boots and it’s about the right size.

I guess I don't have any experience with women's shoes haha.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Yes, my vote would have been for heel plate as well.
Nice find!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Noah D. wrote:
> Now that I think about it it is pretty small... I wonder if it could be a child's shoe?

Just providing confirmation of OFRRD777's (correct) answer... its small size in comparison to a Men's shoe heel means it is a heelplate from a Ladies shoe.

Ebay sellers claimed for decades that the ones with a heart-shaped cutout (or 5-point star, or club, and other cutout shapes) were civil war soldiers' heelplates... and of course, they were Confederate. But here's one which was dug still on the Ladies high-top shoe in an 1880s town dump in Colorado. Note the small size of the heel on these purely Ladies shoes.

 

[OFRRD777]

Cannonball, thanks for the info. Do you think the one I dug is from Victorian era?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

OFRRD777 wrote:
> Do you think the one I dug is from Victorian era?

Yes, the "latter period" (1880s/90s) of the Victorian Era. These thick sheetbrass Ladies heelplates with a heart, club, shield, Maltese-cross, or octagonal cutout (see the photo below) are not very common, so I think they were made by just one or two manufacturers, and its popularity did not last long.

The fact that 4 of the cutout shapes are yankee army Corps Badge shapes suggested they were from the civil war. But since we now know with certainty that they are not from civil war soldier shoes, my best guess is that they are postwar Veteran related... perhaps worn on the shoes of Union Veteran's wife or daughters. We know of other "patriotic" wearables made for use by civil war Veterans' wives -- such as the 1880s-90s Ladies Military Button-Belt.

 

[OFRRD777]

OFRRD777 wrote:
> Do you think the one I dug is from Victorian era?

Yes, the "latter period" (1880s/90s) of the Victorian Era. These thick sheetbrass Ladies heelplates with a heart, club, shield, Maltese-cross, or octagonal cutout (see the photo below) are not very common, so I think they were made by just one or two manufacturers, and its popularity did not last long.

The fact that 4 of the cutout shapes are yankee army Corps Badge shapes suggested they were from the civil war. But since we now know with certainty that they are not from civil war soldier shoes, my best guess is that they are postwar Veteran related... perhaps worn on the shoes of Union Veteran's wife or daughters. We know of other "patriotic" wearables made for use by civil war Veterans' wives -- such as the 1880s-90s Ladies Military Button-Belt.

I’m from MA so I’ll be researching to see if any MA regiments had that particular shaped badge. You’re a wealth of info.