Sharon Raymond This video shows an ingenious Jamaican man making leather shoes with apparently natural crepe rubber soles – I’m puzzled by this, as natural crepe is quite expensive here, and I can’t find information online that productive rubber trees grow in Jamaica..Another mystery is “cheese”. Apparently “cheese” is natural rubber – so he’s making shoe cement from natural rubber and gasoline?
He’s using the standard fully-lasted shoemaking process, in which the upper material is pulled under the topsole and nailed with clinching nails, then a bottom sole is cemented on. I was impressed with how he could neatly cut excess soling off with a sharp knife – but he says that he’s been making these shoes for 50 years, so he’s had a bit of experience.
Enjoy!
