Construction & Materials
Upper: Black leather (likely calf or kid)
Closure: Cloth uppers with white porcelain/glass buttons
Sole: Leather, stitched and pegged
Interior: Textile lining
Toe shape: Rounded child’s last
Heel: Minimal, appropriate for early walkers
These are early 20th-century children’s button shoes, designed for toddlers or very young children. The use of fabric uppers with leather soles is typical for children’s footwear of this period—lighter, flexible, and economical.
Made/Created
Artist
Chicago Mail Order Company
Date made
circa 1910 - circa 1918
Time Period
20th Century
Label/Inscription/Signature
Printed lid: “Mother Nature Footwear for Children”
Slogan:
“Scientifically Designed and Carefully Built to Guide the Tender Feet in the Way They Should Grow”
Advertising insert for C.M.O. (Chicago Mail Order Co.) paints
Company founded 1889
Clear mail-order catalog era graphics
General Notes
Note Type
Description
Note
Children’s Shoes with Original Box
United States, c. 1910–1918
Leather, textile, glass buttons, printed cardboard
These early twentieth-century children’s shoes were sold through mail-order catalogs by the Chicago Mail Order Company under the “Mother Nature” brand. Marketed as “scientifically designed” to support healthy foot development, such shoes reflect Progressive Era concerns with childhood welfare and modern parenting. The survival of both the shoes and their original retail box is exceptionally rare, offering valuable insight into early consumer culture and children’s everyday dress.
