By Christine Lynch
Looking for a fixer-upper some years back, my daughter and son-in-law were drawn to a farmhouse they knew they wanted to make their home. Built circa 1870, the place had lots of character and “good bones.” It also displayed several attempts to update the rooms, such as late 20th-century renovations that resulted in improved fenestration (a plus) and drop ceilings (not a plus).
At the time of purchase, the house required major TLC.
When they were able to start improvements, they hired a skilled finish carpenter. While working in the living room, he cut into one of the walls. Instead of finding only beams, plaster and horsehair, he was surprised to behold a worn black leather shoe. He cut into more sections, curious to see what else might be there, but nothing more was revealed. Only one sole (pun intended) piece of footwear, about a size 9. Perhaps this had been a brother’s prank, hiding his sibling’s only good shoe? Or was it an April Fool’s joke? It turns out there may have been more to this discovery.
This shoe’s placement, tucked near a window, jibes with a superstition dating back to the 1500s, possibly before. Thousands of shoes have been located hidden within walls dating back to the 16th century. Several websites mention that purposely placed shoes have been inserted into the walls of structures, both small and large, throughout the British Isles for many centuries. The custom then crossed the Atlantic as settlers arrived in Canada and on our shores. The majority of shoes were found in 19th century structures, with the trend tapering off through the 1920s into the 1930s.
This research trail eventually led to learning about the unique Hidden Shoe Index maintained by Britain’s Northampton Museum & Art Gallery. A visit to this informative site (www.northamptonmuseums.com) offers striking examples of found shoes. In some cases, only the outline of a shoe was discovered. Although much is mentioned about the superstition of hiding footwear, perhaps we never will know the real reason many of them were placed. Some scholars have speculated that it might have been a whim of the builders, doing it for a lark albeit an expensive one. During those early times, a shoe cost a good proportion of a person’s income and was considered highly valuable. That could explain why just one was used.
Evidently, the footwear was placed close to an opening in the structure—a window or door—in order to block access into the home. But why use a shoe? The belief was that footwear molded to the wearer’s foot, and thus was a close approximation to the owner’s essence. That alone was supposed to be enough to ward off evil elements that happened to be lingering near the place.
Curious about the shoe and its possible owner, my daughter checked the historical background on her home. The house was built circa 1870 for one Alfred Vaughn and family. When the home’s first coat of paint was just drying, the Cape Cod Canal was still 44 years in the future. While his home was being built, Mr. Vaughn—or someone else—made sure it would be filled with good luck. Following the timeworn tradition, a genuine leather shoe was placed into the northern wall of the front parlor.
Since uncovering the shoe, the couple wondered if other good luck wards might be concealed? Well, yes, as luck would have it. Another treasure was dislodged when my son-in-law pulled apart the kitchen’s drop ceiling, exposing solid wooden beams. He noticed something tucked into one of them: a small bag of silver dollars, dating from the 1880s. This small cache of coins may have been tucked into a kitchen ceiling beam when they were newly minted. Both the shoe and coins sat undisturbed for 150-odd years until my daughter and son-in-law refurbished their fixer-upper.
As with the shoe, it’s fun to speculate about this money. Might these have been carefully hidden away by a household member wanting to save some egg money? That would have purchased a lot of eggs. Another possible explanation is taken from the ancient belief that silver was deemed pure and therefore a protection from evil. Tradition also mentions tucking silver around the hearth area, which is where these coins were placed, to bring good fortune to the cookery.
People have used many protections for their homes. These include hanging a horseshoe over a door, attaching large barn stars or Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs to the house front and even painting the ceiling of the front porch light blue. That is a fascinating custom, more common in coastal southern areas. Whatever it takes to feel safeguarded.
Inquiring about other historical discoveries made in the area, I asked Deborah Rich, town archivist and reference librarian with the Sandwich Public Library, about similar finds. Ms. Rich commented, “The only other instance of this that I’ve personally heard of is the discovery of a child’s dress, which was found within the wall at the Sand Hill School [built in 1885] during its recent renovation.” Ms. Rich believes the school plans to have it framed and hung in the building.
Although the contractor who found the Vaughn house shoe had years of experience, he never had such a discovery. So I contacted Capizzi Home Improvement, a company that’s been doing renovation work since 1976. Demonstrating how unique the shoe encounter was, no one on the Capizzi staff had found one. One carpenter with Capizzi Home Improvement, Matt Figuerido, has done his share of renovation work. “I’ve been in the trade 30 years now,” he said. Through those decades “yes, we’ve all come across history. It could be a Coke bottle cap from the ’50s. Money, inspections, newspapers, letters and life.”
He went on to say, “I do have some cool newspaper pieces I pulled out of a floor 16 years ago. It was being used as insulation. Gas and food prices [were] pennies. New car was today’s rent.”
Coincidentally, in the Vaughn house, a few days after he found the shoe, my daughter’s contractor also uncovered yellowed newspaper pages stuffed into a kitchen wall. These were more recent than both the shoe and coins, dated January 7, 1947. The edition of The Standard Times of New Bedford included articles linking former premier Hideki Tojo to war crimes and a story about a Celtics loss. The pages likely were used as extra insulation against the wintry Cape winds that year.
Ages ago, Alfred Vaughn was laid to rest in a small cemetery just down the street from his farmhouse. My daughter and son-in-law paid a visit, offering him silent gratitude for putting such care into their shared residence. Without realizing it, my daughter and her family found a home that has been protected from its earliest days.
As for the shoe found in the Shore Road house: what does a good contractor do when he finds a shoe in a wall? He puts it back. Hoping that no charms were broken by disturbing it, he returned the shoe to its original place. One day, it could be registered in the Hidden Shoe Index.