Salesman Sample Shoe and Boot Collection, with Boxes, as Found handpainted japanese tea tin as a key hanger

as a key hanger

7 1/8" across by 5 5/8" tall x 1/4" d

perhaps with a plane ticket rolled up inside

which appears to me to be wove--relatively thin but quite strong and durable

done by a young Emil Gottlieb--with a card tucked in from a teacher (seems perhaps from Sunday school or similar) assigning him a verse to memorize about the importance of cleanliness in body and mind

Salesman Sample Shoe and Boot Collection, with Boxes, as Found handpainted japanese tea tin as a key hangerFelt like Christmas finding the whole lot of these together the other day at an antiques shop on the New Hampshire coast. I think the two pairs of rubber boots and three pairs of galoshes are the oldest of the lot, with the tall rubber boots, and one pair of galoshes marked Candee, which places them late 19th early 20th century. Then an array of hard plastic mens dress shoes in a spectrum of colors and with a variety of labels, some pairs and some