| Rob Wright Shoemaker - Taken in 1946. Most of the shoes pictured would have been manufactured pre-war as new shoes were hard to come by during the war. [Fiji in the Forties and Fifties, pl. 26] 1946 Book illustration, based on gelatin silver print Private collection of Ginnie Marlow Used with the kind permission of Ginnie Marlow and Thomson Pacific Ltd. LL/20231 This photograph is included in the book "Fiji in the Forties and Fifties" Photography by Rob Wright, Text by Sir Ian Thomson, Edited by Peter Thomson (Thomson Pacific Ltd., 1994, ISBN: 0473027402)
Accompanying text in book:
"Prior to the 2nd World War, it was commonplace in Fiji to see people walking barefoot everywhere. Even in the main towns, wearers of shoes were in the minority. Fijians who served in the FMF during the war became accustomed to wearing boots and perhaps the trend to shoe wearing began then. The migration from countryside to town by people seeking wage-earning jobs also changed many attitudes and habits. The wearing of sandals in towns became the fashion, and a local footwear industry gradually developed."
Further comment by Ginnie Marlow (May 2007):
FMF (Fiji Military Forces)
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