Sunday, October 17, 2010

Blakey's





Back in the 70's when I was at school there was always fads coming and going, some got banned from the halls of learning, Clackers being one of them (more on those at another time) and Blakey's were another. Blakey's are heel caps which had these spikes so you could fix them to the heel of your shoes to extend their life. We used to get the "horse shoe" ones that went all the way around the heel. They made a lot of noise when you walked, and you could run and do these super long slides in the school corridor. They only usually stayed on for a few days 'cos of all the abuse. The posh kids would get them fitted by a cobbler, those stayed on forever. The not so bright kids tried to fit them to their Doc Martens and would end up puncturing the soles. These things have been in production since the early 1900's and amazingly you can still buy Blakey's, right H?E?R?E

9 comments:

  1. Aaahh! sweet memories of a kindle past!

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  2. Six overlapping drawing pins would work temporary if you were a cheapskate.

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  3. We used to call then segs up in geordie land...

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  4. Blakeys... What an skinhead classic.

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  5. Man i used to have them on me Brogues !! ah Crombies, staypress, bring back those days !!


    Clackers ?? we used to call um Kernackers south of the River , still can see my swollen knuckles !! the birds were always better.

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  6. When I was a lad and had a milk round before school I used to deliver milk to the Blakey's factory in Armley, Leeds. It stank. The factory, not the milk. G
    PS Before that though, I was one of the not so bright kids who punctured a pair of Doc shoes.

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  7. As a kid they made you sound big, when you are big they make you fall off your bike at the lights.

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  8. the cobbler used to cut the heel down and fit them flush thats why they stayed on , god that's a long time ago

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  9. We used to kick the pavement with your heel.............sparks!

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