Boys Shoes With A Compass In !

[mikey4444]

We have just had a very animated conversation about some shoes that I had as a boy.

When I was a lad in the 60's, I nagged my poor Mum for some Clarks shoes, that had a compass hidden in the heel. All the boys at school had them and
I desperately wanted a pair as well. My 13 year old nephew thinks they are the silliest idea that he ever heard of and accuses me of making things up ! This is rich coming from someone who has never had to learn to tie a shoe lace and uses velcro instead !

Can anybody remember what these shoes were called ?

[emeritus]

Clarks Pathfinder springs to mind

[FrogNog]

Clark's Commandos?
There were also Tuff Wayfarers

[SlackAlice]

https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/historical-places-in-thurrock/wayfinder-shoes-made-at-bata-east-tilbury

[mikey4444]

Thanks emeritus !

http://www.action-transfers.com/html/a_articles/bata.shtml

[SlackAlice]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22326055@N06/3611153831/in/photostream/

[lcg]

wow....people ask the weirdest things. but the really, really weird thing is that others on this site know the answer! i love you all really......x ;-)

[Svejk]

I remember the ones with the animal track soles.

[mikey4444]

AB is the Number One site on the 'net, for finding out everything Icg !

I shall print out a few pages here and thrust them in front of my nephew. He might know how to program my video-recorder, and he awfully good when it comes to itunes, but he doesn't know everything it would seem !

[lankeela]

Wayfinders were the in thing when I was at school (for the boys that is!).

[Old_Geezer]

I had a pair of those. No don't recall the name but I'm sure the Net (from the Clarke's site maybe) would know.

[RATTER15]

I had a pair, I think mine wee "Tuff" It always amused me that you had to actually take your shoe off to see which way to walk Lol.

[aelmpvw]

wish i'd heard of them at the time ... i wore plimsolls and kept my compass in my shorts

[mikey4444]

I had forgotten the link between these shoes and the Scouting movement !

[stuey]

Talking about "neat" things way back when, I remember having a flashlight/torch that was the size and shape of a large cigarette pack. On the front it had a sort of slide thing with three different colored lenses that you could move and have a white beam of light, or a red, or a green. Why? I don't know:)...Remember those?

[janbee]

I've never heard of these shoes but I just KNOW that I would've loved a pair,

[jomifl]

For signaling to German bobmers?

[whiskeryron]

The shoes with the compass hidden in the heel were very good for making sure that boys were guided in life in the right direction.

[woofgang]

They weren't just for boys. I have got very wide feet and when i was a child, they were almost square! Girl's winter shoes were much to narrow for my feet so I had Trackers. Both the boys and girls at school were very jealous.

About four years ago my great niece had shoes with a doll hidden in the heel.

[stuey]

Jomifl, maybe they were for train spotters on bridges. You could stop the train with the red lens; read the number with the white; and send it off again with the green:)

[Hopkirk]

Very useful for escaped POWs.

Not so useful for schholboys.