In this wooded department that is the Dordogne, farmers in the countryside were wearing clogs until the beginning of the 20th century. Villages without clogs were rare. All woods were suitable for clogs, but in Périgord, walnut was the most sought-after. From the wooden logs, the clog maker would erect them and log them to eliminate the superfluous material, then the clogs would appear, giving them their shape, digging out the inside and finally sanding them.
At the end of the 19th century, clog machines appeared in Périgord. A factory in Périgueux installed an industrial clog machine and about ten small machines for craftsmen were scattered throughout the department.
At the same time, galoshes with wooden soles, « invented » at the beginning of the 19th century, competed with clogs for their comfort. Here again, the galoshes industry was established in the Dordogne with two walnut sole factories in Périgueux.
Clogs and galoshes were swept away by cheap shoes and rubber boots between 1920 and 1950.
Illustrations :
– Photo-card of the shoemaker-shoemaker’s shop in Ribérac in the 1920s (SHAP’s icon library).