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A fudge wheel, a shoemaker's tool with a serrated cylindrical head which is rolled over a welt, either to imitate hand-stitching or to tighten the stitches. This wheel belonged to Wilfred E. Perry, a boot and shoe maker and repairer in Bradfield Southend, Berkshire, who retired in 1974.

fudge wheel: metal, wood

MERL miscellaneous note – ‘Collection of shoe making and repairing tools from the workshop of Wilfred E. Perry. Mid 20th c. // W. E. Perry died 1992. He was a boot & shoe maker/repairer at Bradfield from the 1930s through to 1974. The Workshop was in a separate wooden hut behind the house. // W. E. Perry remembered his father, William Thomas Perry, who had set up business making & repairing boots & shoes in 1892. The original premises were elsewhere in Bradfield. The move to Bon Air occurred in the 1940s. W. T. Perry had a club foot and so was unsuited for farm or other labouring work – this is why he turned to shoe repairing. Typical village trade serving the needs of the local community. Business continued until 1974 when W. E. Perry retired. // House was being sold in late 1992, following Mr Perry’s death, hence the workshop was cleared.’, R. A. Salaman, 1986, ‘Dictionary of leather-working tools, c.1700-1950: and the tools of allied trades’, p.121.

Metal, Wood