How many pairs of shoes did Imelda Marcos have in her collection? Which famous secret agent had a telephone built into his shoe? It's all here, at the Bata Shoe Museum!
If you're interested in shoes and fashion history then this is the place to visit. The Bata Shoe Museum is one of Toronto's newer museums, housing over 10,000 shoes and shoe-related objects, including the personal collection of the Bata family. The collections cover some 4,500 years of history.
Before you enter the museum just take a couple of minutes to stand on the opposite side of the road and survey this unusual building. It was designed by Raymond Moriyama who received a City of Toronto Urban Design Award in 1995. Moriyama's futuristic five-story structure resembles a lidded shoebox. It is more like a large sculpture than a building.
The museum's permanent exhibition - All About Shoes - examines 4,500 years of footwear history: early methods of manufacture, how footwear developed and its place in society. The exhibit includes an impressive selection of Chinese silk shoes, haute couture pumps as well as an animated display of celebrity shoes in the "Star Turns" miniature theatre.
The hands-on exhibition is popular with all visitors, young and old alike. Interactive displays explore the history of shoe and boot making, including a comprehensive feature on the role of shoes in weddings, funerals and religious ceremonies from virtually every culture in the world.
The "Footprints in the Past" display is almost creepy! What was our planet like 4 million years BC? Who lived here? How did they live? You can see a plaster cast of the first human footprints discovered in Africa. It is believed to date back to 4 million years BC.
As you explore the museum the question will arise: Why have generations of Chinese women chosen to bind their feet?
This temporary exhibition (running through to 14 January 2002) honours the Year of the Snake. It explores the lives of Chinese women, showing the tools and accessories for making shoes and binding feet, together with the beautiful, tiny Lotus Shoes.
Shoes belonging to the rich and famous enjoy a very special pride of place. Queen Victoria's satin shoes with matching gloves and silk stockings, reminders of a bygone age, compete for your attention with John Lennon's Beatle boot and Elvis Presley's blue and white patent leather loafers, to name but a few.
Native American footwear is particularly well represented with examples gathered from Lapland, the Northwest Territories, Siberia, Greenland, Alaska and Labrador. The history of Canadian shoe-making is explored through a collection that includes moccasins, fancy dress, working shoes, military boots, in all a selection of over 200 items.