Going a different direction with Forty Rod's question, I've seen photos of both townies and ranch hands wearing lace-up ankle boots that look a lot like modern lace-up ropers. The ones I'm thinking of have appeared in photos from at least the 1880's and later, and don't look like the heavy brogans I see in Civil War photos. On a practical level, do you think modern Justin lace-up ropers would pass, or are there significant construction details between the Victorian working boot lace-ups and the modern ones that my modern Justins wouldn't fly for re-enactment? I love learning from this forum, so if anyone would care to elaborate on differences, I'd love to hear it.
Also, I'd dearly love to read an account of PBJ's as Victorian gourmet food! Way off the original topic, but maybe one post in reply wouldn't be completely out of order? Delmonico, can you give us a reading list? Or maybe a new thread on the subject?