Historical information

These boots were manufactured by Oliver Stevens in Ballarat to the Forests Commission's own specification.
Safety boots were a bit "hit and miss" back in 1981.
As well as the steel toe caps these boots had a screwed, glued and stitched Sherpa-pattern rubber nitrile sole. The sole was oil resistant and didn't melt on hot coals.
The yellow heels signified safety boots. There were two styles with different leather and staff were all personally fitted and given their choice of style.
The only thing that has fundamentally changed over 40 years is there is much more choice and comfort in boots today.
These boots proved to be the catalyst for boot manufacturers realising there was a market outside of the armed forces not being served. Ankle injuries along with elastic sided boots were virtually eliminated by these boots.
The iconic Tasmanian company, Blundstone, had a work boot called "Forester" at the time. It had won an Australian Design Award and had a bonded Sherpa sole. Unfortunately, the soles tended to separate from the boot under field test conditions. Eventually they perfected the process
Oliver Stevens' main issue was not being able to recruit enough workers to meet the increased demand.
Info: Trevor Brown.

Significance

First safety boots issued to Victorian forest firefighters

Physical description

Yellow Back safety boots with leather laces.

Inscriptions & markings

FCV marked on the heel