Shoemaker's tool - Clickers awl

Object/Artifact

-

Waterperry Museum

Shoemaker's tool - Clickers awl

Shoemaker's tool - Clickers awl

Name/Title

Shoemaker's tool - Clickers awl

Entry/Object ID

2025.1.819

Description

Wooden handle with curved end to a metal spike.

Context

The tool has some charring around the handle which could indicate it was heated before use. The clicker is the person who cuts out the component parts of the upper. The straight tapered blade is characteristic of a general purpose awl for both marking out and stabbing. The clicker would mark out the guide-points of the 'closer' (the one who prepares, fits and stitches the shoe) to use as a guide. Ref: R. A. Salaman, Dictionary of Leather-working Tools C1700 - 1950. Allen. & Unwin, 1989. Many thanks to Rebecca Shawcross, curator, The Shoe Museum, Jan. 2026.

Cataloged By

Felix Lam

Category

Saddlers, Shoemakers, Cobblers

Acquisition

Accession

2025.1

Source or Donor

Gordon Dempster

Acquisition Method

Transfer

Dimensions

Length

180 mm

Weight

39 g

Material

Wood - Beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Web Links and URLs

The Shoe Museum, Northampton, UK

General Notes

Note

Thanks to Dr Adam Bowett, furniture historian, for wood identification