Dating S.O.S

(photo credit: Bata Shoe Museum/Hal Roth)

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. And a whole lot of history.

That’s what you’ll find at the Bata Shoe Museum, located in downtown Toronto at St. George and Bloor, right on the subway line.

This unique five-storey, 39,000 square foot building is home to over 10,0000 shoes!

The museum was established by the Bata family as “a centre of knowledge about the role of footwear in the social and cultural life of mankind.” Now, if only those shoes could talk!

Special collections include:

The Walk of Fame: Footwear worn by film stars, artists, performers, politicians, and sports figures.

Ethnological: Footwear from Africa, Latin America, Korea, Japan, India, China, and the Middle East.

Circumpolar: Footwear from the coldest regions of the world, such as Alaska, Greenland, Lapland, the Canadian Arctic, and Siberia.

The History of Western Fashion: Beginning with footwear dating back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, followed by Gothic, Tudor, and Renaissance fashions, to shoes from the 17^th, 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries.

An entire collection devoted to the North American Indian: Showcasing moccasins, snowshoes, and mukluks.

And that’s not all!

Check out their website for special events, guided tours, lectures and smaller exhibits.

For instance, this Friday, August 3, 2007 from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m., they’ll be presenting a guided tour of “Shoes with Jobs: Special Purpose Footwear.” Since most of you have jobs, you’ll likely have to take this one in on your lunch hour. But, for those on vacation or with non-traditional work hours, why not make it a date?

The Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1W7
phone: 416-979-7799
website: www.batashoemuseum.com