Written by: Nicole Roller
“Our son has had his eye on my husband’s double-sole mocs that he received from my parents 25 years ago. The mocs are still in great shape after all this time. We’ll often find William wearing them when they are by the door and the temptation is too great.
“William received a pair for Christmas from my mother this year. Now, my husband doesn’t have to search for his borrowed mocs. We’re a 2 generation moc household.”
—Orvis customer Ladyglenanne, from Austin, TX
It’s always great to hear that a product has stood the test of time and the test of generations—though we can’t claim to be surprised by this reviewer’s experience with Gokey Classic Double-Sole Mocs. Everyone says they don’t make things like they did in the “old days,” but Gokey’s classic shoes are the exception. Do you know what a “cordwainer” is? I didn’t either, but they have them at Gokey’s Tipton, Missouri shoe factory.
Cordwainer is a term that dates all the way back to the year 1100 in England, and it means “a shoemaker who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles.” The word originally referred to “cordwain” or “cordovan,” the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. (You remember that Bob Dylan song “Boots of Spanish Leather”? That’s the stuff.)
The reason the folks at Gokey continue to use such an antiquated term is that they’ve been making classic shoes by hand for the last one hundred and fifty years. That sense of history is apparent in the way that veteran shoemaker Jerry Doss has passed down his knowledge to his son, Stacy. They continue to keep the old cordwainer’s art alive with every hand-cut, hand-lasted, and hand-sewn pair of shoes that they produce. They wear the title “Cordwainer” as a badge of honor.
One of my moc’s have worn a hole almost thru the bottom, how do I get it repaired.
Mike.