History – The true story of Nikolaus Tuczek

Nikolaus Tuczek is one of the most acclaimed shoemakers in history, with an almost mythical gloria around him. Wrongly so. The Tuczek story is not about one brilliant man, it’s about several generations of a hard working family who had to fight and overcome many challenges, until a pair of slippers finally took them down. Bespoke shoemaker and shoe historian at his leisure William Efe Laborde is here to unveil the truth in an ambitious attempt at documenting a history of that great and misunderstood firm, in this guest article that also includes some unique photos.

 

This article is written by William Efe Laborde, who runs the bespoke and MTO shoemaking firm under the name Efe Laborde. He has a has a huge interest in old shoes, tools and leathers and shoe history, something he also talks about in this episode of the Shoegazing Podcast. He has for a long time done research on the topic of Tuczek, which he brings forward in this article.

 

If the name “Nikolaus Tuczek” has ever escaped your lips in reverent tones, followed perhaps by the suite of words the great / the master / the late lamented / the distinguished / the legendary / the eponymous shoemaker; then it is with regret that I inform you – you have been perpetuating a common misconception.

It is not the use of the superlative which I challenge in the statement – in that, we share similar admirations. Rather, it is the use of the singular person which has bothered me for some years. That terrible itch first appeared when browsing the internet and finding the name attached to dates loosely bracketed 1853 and 1969.

Even the most basic arithmeticians amongst you dear readers, even with a rudimentary understanding of numbers, should find this chronology suspicious. Still it continues to be spread unchallenged nowadays, so let’s be clear: such a generous time span could hardly be the providence of a single man.

Instead, what if I informed you the name ‘Nikolaus Tuczek’ had been borne by not one but three people, all dedicating a life to the same occupation of bootmaking. Nikolaus Anton, Nikolaus Christopher and Nikolaus Francis; But let’s not rush too far ahead, there’s a lot to unfold.

 

The letters N.Tuczek

The N.Tuczek seal which finds so much admiration and has generated so much conjecture, gold embossed inside the sock of those withered leather relics you oggle behind your computer screen, or tucked away in some shoebox gathering dust, do not refer to a man. They refer to an entire lineage of shoemakers, spanning at least three generations and six proprietors.

The genitor of this great line was a man named Wenzel Tuczek, said to come from Englesbrunn, a town nestled in the center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which, after some considerable geopolitical reshuffling, in time became known as Fântânele and finds itself part of the Banat region of Romania. Wenzel’s occupation in the records are illegible. Nevertheless, it is unequivocally from this still mysterious figure that sprang a family whose name would be entwined with the finest shoes and boots in London.

 

The founder

Nikolaus Anton Tuczek (1823-1893)

Wenzel’s son, the first Nikolaus Anton Tuczek was also of Austro-Hungarian nationality. He traveled to England in 1846, possibly alongside his father. Three years after his landing on the island, aged 26, he married an English girl called Amelia Iddiols in the Parish of St James, Westminster on the 30th December.

In 1853, within just seven years of his arrival, the firm N. Tuczek was founded. A traditional apprenticeship in one of the three shoemaking specialties requiring at minimum five to seven years, we can only assume based on these dates, that Nikolaus Anton arrived in England as a journeyman shoemaker, trained in the fine traditions of Austro-Hungarian bootmaking. The firm began humbly on satellite streets, but rapidly prospered, securing an address on New Bond Street (1862) and then moving to Old Bond Street (1887), historically the highest ranked shopping avenue of London.

In those early years, Nikolaus seems to have surrounded himself with a reliable workforce. The 1861 census for London records that he is sharing the family house with his brother in law and his family, Thomas Iddiols, also a bootmaker. The firm would have specialized in dress boots of the finest caliber — Hessian boots and Wellington boots in particular. No models of the Bond Street period seem to exist in the public record, although we know these styles were house specialties as they continued to be made into the early 20th century even past the prime of their respective fashions.

In 1875, he pledged the Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria and naturalised a British subject. In the space of 16 years therefore, Nikolaus Anton Tuczek, the journeyman shoemaker from Austro-Hungary, had adapted into foreign society, married an English woman, founded a family and opened a business on the most prestigious shopping street in London. Efficiency indeed!

Nikolaus Anton, ever fertile in his pursuits and faithful to his century, had no fewer than seven children, namely two boys who survived infancy, Wenzel and Nikolaus, thus securing the future of the family business.

 

The Bond Street period and the second generation

Wenzel Francis Tuczek (1859-1933) and
The second Nikolaus: Nikolaus Christopher Tuczek (1865-1916)

What can be referred to as the Bond Street period, beginning in 1862 and lasting 41 years corresponds to a period of anchorage for the N.Tuczek firm. Operated by Nikolaus Senior and likely in partnership with his brother in law Thomas Iddiols, the firm was located at 109 New Bond Street and subsequently 39 Old Bond Street until 1903, by which time a further three Tuczek men had aged into active involvement with the workshop.

This is decisive for the firm’s success. The mid to end 19th century period was the zenith of shoemaking craft and competition was running at its highest. London was replete with some of the finest work in Europe and competing with Paris for the status of capital of shoe making. To be holding a business for 40 years at the center of all this effervescent activity informs us that N.Tuczek were defending a strong offer.

By now, the second generation of Tuczek bootmakers, Nikolaus Christoper Tuczek (the second) and his eldest brother Wenzel, had been brought up and trained in the most propitious bootmaking surroundings. The boys grew up in Hammersmith, their father running a successful shop on the capital’s most prestigious street. They entered the family business in their late adolescence/early 20s.

The Bond Street period began to draw to a close with the death of Nikolaus Senior in 1893, aged 70. Tasked with leading the firm on their father’s death, Wenzel and Nikolaus Christopher were in their mid and early 40s respectively, both ranked Master Bootmakers. They held onto the Old Bond Street premises for a further 10 yrs before the N.Tuczek firm made a decisive move around the corner to 15b Clifford Street, this in 1904.

 

The Clifford Street period

It is not possible to give the reasons for this move. It may be the landlord’s pressures, it may be a conscious decision or simply the effect of providence. But here somehow lies much element of the future mystic the firm would acquire and marks a signpost for the direction it will take.

Clifford street, unlike Bond Street, is not a main avenue. In the Londoner’s psyche, it is a discrete connection on Mayfair’s grid, linking Savile Row (elegance) and Bond Street (opulence). It is not a main destination, where the unknowing Tom, Dick & Harry will stumble in the assurance of buying the best. Clifford Street is the connoisseur’s destination, soon to be home to other such equally discrete destinations as the Buck’s Club.

The street would remain the firm’s home for over 62 years, addressed at 15b and later 17, and from which some of the most impressive models began to appear. The firm continued to produce Balmoral boots and button boots, officer’s dress boots, Wellingtons in particular. Their trade card for 15b advertised “Military, Hunting & Walking Boot Maker”. Mainly now shoes though – in the Oxford style, came out of the workshop. Interestingly the rakish co-respondent style, made of white buckskin and contrasting box calf was a house style at 15b.

In other words, N.Tuczek was catering on one hand to the military establishment as well as to more dandified customers, unafraid of wearing the latest flamboyant fashions. The connecting thread between all of this footwear was a certain panache which the house knew how to confer to their work, through high grade materials, elegant lines and a consistent refinement in execution.

By 1911, the second generation Tuczeks were probably no longer considered Austro-Hungarian immigrants but a family firmly settled into the London middle class. Nikolaus Christopher (the second) resided at 35 Loftus Road, Shepherd’s Bush, and maintained a holiday house at Herne Bay. With four children and a maid, their domestic life mirrored the success of the firm. Of those four children, three would later go on to join the family firm – something not entirely planned.

 

Third generation

The third Nikolaus: Nikolaus Francis Tuczek (1894-1927)
Constance Hope Tuczek (1891-1980)
Anton Neville Tuczek (1901-1946)

Aged 17, the eldest of the third generation, Nikolaus Francis Tuczek (the third) had entered the firm working from 15b on Clifford Street, registered in the 1911 London census records under the occupation of Cutter Bootmaker. His 10yr old brother Anton, would be soon to follow.

“When troubles come, they come not single spies but in battalions”
– William Shakespeare

The first of a series of major disasters struck in 1916 when the father Nikolaus Christopher (the second) suddenly passed away, believed to have contracted Spanish Flu. The First World War was in full swing and it is suggested Nikolaus was buried in haste with no identifiable tombstone, aged 47. He was succeeded by his eldest brother Wenzel remaining at the helm, with his sons Nikolaus Francis (22) and the young Anton (15) now expected to take on more prominent roles.

Just a decade later, further disaster struck. In 1927, at the age of 33 and together on the same day as his wife, the last Nikolaus Tuczek – Nikolaus Francis (the third) died of pneumonia. This tragic event left behind four children at a young age – none of whom would continue in the family tradition.

We should point out from this event, that from 1927 onwards – no shoes can be claimed to have been made by Nikolaus Tuczek himself, laying to rest one of the most important falsehoods promoted about the firm.

A further six years on from this tragedy, the firm would lose its longest serving member. Undoubtedly a pillar in the workshop, having run operations in both the Bond Street and Clifford Street period workshops; the eldest brother Wenzel Tuczek, having served his entire life, died aged 73 in 1933. In the space of 17 yrs therefore and despite its successful operations, the N.Tuczek firm traversed a thunderous period both in world events and its own history, with the loss of three family master bootmakers.

The sole remaining shoemaker in the family, young Anton Neville Tuczek, would be left to take ownership of the firm. Anton would be at the helm of the firm for the following 19 years, and N.Tuczek flourished at his hands. The firm moved from 15B to the far more generously sized premises at 17 Clifford Street (the site now occupied by the Anderson & Sheppard haberdashery).

It seems fortuitous at this stage to introduce the shoemaker George Cleverley, who joined a few years preceding these events and would eventually become much intertwined with the Tuczek story. According to the GJ Cleverley website, Mr Cleverley would have joined the firm in 1920 at the age of 22, signifying he would have joined at the height of Tuczek operations, under the tutelage of Wenzel and the last Nikolaus Tuczek for seven years. This informs us that the bulk of Cleverley’s Tuczek influence came not from the last Nikolaus Tuczek as has been suggested ad nauseam, but from Anton Tuczek; putting to rest another point which has been much discussed and speculated upon. The considerable bulk of Cleverley’s career would have been alongside Anton Tuczek, for a period of 26 years.

Out of this timeline, a significant fact emerges: Wenzel Francis Tuczek, with a life’s worth of service and later Anton Francis Tuczek – had both become forgotten due to their names; despite being pillars of the Tuczek firm and remain unrecognised master shoemakers of their generation.

Still, the most exciting part of the firm’s story was yet to come. Under Anton Tuczek’s direction, shoes bearing the stamp 17 Clifford Street, N.Tuczek produced its most important gift to the shoe world, the emergence of the eponymous “suspiciously square” and “chiseled” toe shapes.

Most iconic of all, two models held in the Aubercy Paris collection. A Quarter Oxford and a Full-Brogued Quarter Oxford in reddish/chestnut brown – embodying the principles of the newly created chiseled toe style: sharp square lines to the last, emboldened by a close welt construction and softened volumes in the vamp converging towards a very sharp edge and pinched square corners.

Such a radically shaped toe box was completely unseen in men’s shoes until this time. This novel shaping likely took root in lady’s work, which the firm also offered, and most likely combined with European influence. An excellent example towards this theory can be found in Pierre Yantorny’s work, kept in the MET Museum. The style was quickly adopted by many Tuczek patrons, namely the Baron de Redé, with a pair of Crocodile Tassel loafers, now part of the MET museum collection.

The ‘suspiciously square’ toe style was another declination of the house: exemplified below with a pair of co-respondent loafers in white buckskin and reddish chestnut brown baby calf. Again, sharp square lines to the last, a close welt construction and softened lines in the vamp. This time, all sharp corners are brushed out in the making – the result are shoes of the most definite square shape but terrifically pleasing soft appearance.

Unfortunately, despite the house’s continued upwards trend in work and reputation since the move to 17 Clifford Street, N.Tuczek was struck again by a fatal loss. Anton Tuczek died an untimely death at the age of 45, of causes unknown. This left the benefactor of Anton’s probate, their sister Constance Hope Tuczek (1891-1980) as the last member of the Tuczek family to run the business.

It appears Constance had no training in the craft of shoemaking. One relative suggests she held a position as Post Office clerk and being 5th in line to head the family firm for the majority of her life, she would not have been prepped for the role. It is from this factor that George Cleverley eventually took prominence in the Tuczek story. Despite the odds, Constance ran the N.Tuczek business with verve and by all accounts with success for the next 23 year period. Descendents of the family share memories of a very generous aunt, hinting at an economically comfortable life and by deduction a functioning business.

Cleverley had worked in the N.Tuczek workshops for 26 yrs by this stage and was of a similar age to Anton Tuczek at the time of his passing. It is thus possible to assume that he quickly occupied a prominent role within the operations, as workshop foreman. He left in 1958 – twelve years or so before the demise of the firm.

 

The slippers that brought the house down

The reason for George Clevreley’s departure has never been very clear until recently, explained by the family and confirmed by a newspaper clipping. Astoundingly, the reason of his leaving involved none other than the most famous Tuczek patron by which the firm is celebrated, Sir Winston Churchill.

The events unfold in the following letter by one of the Tuczek descendents:
“Regarding Churchill’s slippers, Tuczek’s had a regular order for the monogrammed velvet slippers. Until Mr Cleverly, the head boot maker had himself photographed with them and featured in a newspaper. The Churchills were incandescent and cancelled all further dealings with Tuczek. Con[stance], with a fine disregard for the consequence of losing her irreplaceable craftsman, fired Mr Cleverly, thus precipitating the firm’s decline.”

The text in the article reads:
“These exotic slippers are nearly ready to wear. The feet that will be slipped into them? Mr. Winston Churchill’s. They are made of midnight-blue velvet and, so Mr Churchill won’t lose them, have his initials embroidered in gold. Mr George Cleverley, with the nearly-finished slippers.”

What would pass as an almost benign move nowadays, was still in 1958 one of the greatest taboos in West End craft trades and indeed English business etiquette as a whole: breaking client confidentiality. By having a photo taken of himself with those shoes, Cleverley broke the number one rule. He revealed publicly a Tuczek customer – and by doing so, ended up bringing the whole house down.

Cleverley was dismissed immediately. Being the head bootmaker, he would have led away some of his most loyal workforce with him. And not just any workforce, but the best to be found, that which had produced the finest work and made the Tuczek renown.

John Braby, an outworker for the West End recalls on a web forum:
“I worked for about six years in a workshop in Meard St., Soho, next to Tom Symonds, who had been at Tuczek, and was then (mid to late 70’s) working only for George Cleverly (“Mr. Cleverly” to us, and indeed to Tom too.) Mr. Cleverly once told me (out of his hearing) that Tom Symonds was “one of the best three shoemakers in the world. He would I think, have known where the other two were.”

Here lies a piece at the heart of the intrigue. From 1946 onwards, the N.Tuczek firm continued to operate under family control, but no longer conceivably had a Tuczek craftsman guiding the workforce through knowledge and skill. How could it have continued to develop and innovate as N.Tuczek is so noted for doing?

The answer lies in the employment of talented, headstrong and irreverent craftsmen, a kind the West End tradition specialised in producing: the Cleverleys, the Symonds – which under the leadership of Constance Tuczek who brought the business, undoubtedly still found legroom in the workshop for their ideas.

One of my masters, the late Jason Amesbury exemplified it best through this anecdote from our correspondence:
“My teacher Tom Simmons often used this technique for ladies high heel shoes (whatever the ticket said.) In fact the first thing he showed me was to read the work ticket very carefully, and then with a flourish he would throw it away, (meaning no fitter was going to tell him how to make a pair of shoes.) Eric Lobb once handed Tom a pair of lasts and rough stuff for the Duke of Edinburgh with the words: ‘It’s a great honour for you Tom’. The famous reply: ‘Great honour for him you mean Eric.'”

It’s no wonder then, with characters such as this, that Cleverley felt the freedom and took the largess of allowing himself to be photographed with an important customer’s shoes – unknowingly triggering historical consequences. Finally, in 1970 the business was sold to John Lobb Ltd. – the last proprietor of the N.Tuczek firm. What was the fatal blow one asks? Arnold Gingrich, customer and founder of Esquire magazine provides the answer in his 1966 memoirs “Toys of a Lifetime”:
“N.Tuczek, of Clifford Street, in London. He’s long dead, and his daughter, who was running the place, is now retired.”

Constance Tuczek, now 75, with her best craftsmen gone, no heir to take the reins, sold the business on. Nevertheless, the high mystic the company had acquired was firmly alive, and its customers spoke in almost superstitious terms of the high service and product they had received:
“I’ve never even been in their shop, though I’ve been in and out of London more times than I can remember, in the years since they first began making me shoes. All I do is send them a check […] and telling them to make me another pair like such and such a pair [..] only this time please make them up in “a brown the color of espresso coffee” or maybe “this time I’d like the color of vintage port” or perhaps “that light almost natural shade that I think you call Coaching color […] and back come the shoes, coloured to perfection, looking neither new nor old, fitting better than the skin on the back of my hand. […] Do you wonder […] After all these years, no matter how often I might be in London, I would hesitate to go near the place, for fear that in some way I might break the pumpkin-coach kind of charm its product has for me? I can’t help thinking that, if I should drop in […] I am afraid that the relationship may be of that precious kind that can only be spoiled by improvement.”

 

A final note

I have attempted here to delineate the broad strokes of what has been for so long and so unfairly misunderstood one of the most revered houses producing shoes in the West End tradition. I am under no illusion that the events above, which I have endeavoured to put forward in the most thorough and factual manner, will be refined, challenged and updated by future enquirers in the firm’s history. My first wish was simply to end the hyperbolly surrounding the shoes, the fanciful belief they were made by only one man over the course of 120 years, to bring sense back to the conversation and further the interest in the history of West End shoemaking. I encourage anyone reading this article to engage critically with the information, and not take every last word for gospel.

N.TUCZEK
24 Arthur Street, Oxford Street 1853-1855
24 High Street, St Giles’s 1856-1861
109 New Bond Street 1862-1886
39 Old Bond Street 1887-1903
15B Clifford Street 1904-1937
17 Clifford Street 1938-1966
21 Jermyn Street 1966-1969

A special thanks to Siân Georgiadis and Sheelagh Pilkington, descendants of the Tuczek family, for generously sharing their memories, anecdotes and family photos.

 

For more about the author of this article, bespoke shoemaker William Efe Laborde, see the Shoegazing archive with articles and podcasts that he has been featured in here.