It’s not news that women have a special relationship with shoes – most are crazy about them. Shoes, sandals, boots: women love them all and can’t seem to ever have enough.
Lois Mill loves shoes too – yes, the usual kind she wears out and about, but not just those. She’s also a collector of miniature shoes of every variety – singles and pairs in ceramic, metal and leather – and has even devoted a spare bedroom in her Grandin-area home to display the nearly 150 miniature pincushions, shoe horns, wine stoppers and bottle openers – mini shoes each one – with a hobby that she said seems to have taken on a life of its own.
“I’ve been collecting about 15 years. I don’t go out to look for shoes, but if something catches my eye, I’ll get it,” said 79-year-old Mill.
Her daughter Shannon LaRose has also gotten in on the act, picking up a shoe to add to the collection whenever she comes across it.
“There’s a lot out there,” laughed LaRose. “I find them at gift stores or antique shops. I know Mom enjoys it and it’s fun to find ones she doesn’t have.”
An active senior who is a member of the St. Albert 50+ Club and even a group called Lois Club International (for people named Lois, naturally), Mill said she rarely pays much for the shoes – usually $10 to $20.
The collection began when her own mom gave her a silver pincushion shoe and pink crocheted pincushion shoe from her own assortment.
“People think, are you nuts? But it’s not like I’m dusting them every week. It’s a little embarrassing, but all my friends know about the shoes, so they’ll call if they see one I don’t have,” Mill said. “I think this is probably enough.”
Probably not. Mill has a shoe calendar, shoe Christmas ornaments and, this year, a book in her stocking on the Wonderful World of Shoes. Mill said she had to have Princess Diana’s wedding shoe from the recent exhibit at West Edmonton Mall, and has once shopped on eBay for a Warner Brothers authentic pair of Dorothy’s red slippers from the Wizard of Oz – miniature, of course.
Some favourites in Mill’s collection include a pair of Elvis’ blue suede shoes, a glittery high-heeled purple sandal given to her by daughter LaRose, and a tiny Finnish shoe she found on vacation.
“There’s memories with some, and history with many of these shoes and boots,” she said.
A popular spot for finding mini shoes is the Old Strathcona Antique Mall, where co-owner Betty Reitan said such collectibles move in and out regularly.
“Mini shoes and boots have been around since people made real shoes. They were probably most collectible in the late 1800s, most coming from England. Today, buyers are usually women looking to decorate or accent a vanity,” said Reitan, who points to companies like Raine that still make miniature shoes.
“Most today are resin, but there are wooden, ceramic, silver and glass ones too.”
Mill said she’ll probably pass her collection on to her daughter someday.
“She kind of gets a kick out of it.”
