Growing Up in a Shoe Factory – Life Behind Mandic Shoes

When I last wrote about gradually winding down Mandic Shoes after more than 60 years, I said I'd like to share some of the stories and memories behind the business.

It got me thinking about what it was actually like growing up in a shoe factory.

For us, it was completely normal.

A Pretty Good Place to Play

Some of my earliest memories are of playing amongst the huge bales of wool and sheepskins at the factory.

There were always lots of boxes, so my sisters and I would use them to make amazing cubby houses with tunnels and lots of places to hide. There was always something around the factory that we kids could turn into whatever we happened to be playing at the time.

Leather, sheepskins, boxes and all the great people who worked with Mum and Dad making shoes – these were simply the things we grew up around.

Looking back now, it probably wasn't a very conventional playground, but we loved it.

Minto Was Very Different Then

When Dad built the factory at Minto in the mid-1970s, the Macarthur-Campbelltown region was only just beginning to develop.

Dad, being the visionary that he was, took the plunge and moved the business out there – and many of our loyal staff came with us.

A lot of people in the shoe trade thought he was crazy for doing it!

But if you know Minto and the Macarthur region today, you'll know what a huge industrial area it has become. Looking back, it was a very smart move.

Campbelltown Macarthur area in the 1970s showing open paddocks and early development

We were one of the early factories in the area and were surrounded by paddocks, with cows grazing nearby. A very different view from Minto today.

There were no buses near our house then, so Dad would drive us to the factory every morning and we'd catch the train from Minto to school in Campbelltown.

At the end of the school day we'd get the train back to the factory, where we'd stay until Mum and Dad had finished work and were ready to go home.

That was simply our routine.

Homework First – Then There Was Always Something to Do

We'd sit at the factory and do our homework, and then we'd help.

There was always something that needed doing, and it was fun learning all the different stages involved in making a pair of shoes or slippers.

We glued soles, packed shoes, helped clean up around the factory and also served customers in the factory shop.

As we got older, we started learning more and more about how shoes and boots were actually made.

This is where we learnt the craft that would set us up for the future.

We didn't sit down one day and decide we were going to learn the footwear business. We learnt it simply by being there.

We Didn't Realise We Were Learning a Trade

Those afternoons, weekends and school holidays in the factory gave us an education that you couldn't really get from a book.

We learnt about leather and sheepskin. We learnt how footwear was cut, stitched, lasted, soled and finished. We learnt about quality and we learnt customer service.

And probably most importantly, we learnt how much work went into making a pair of shoes.

As children, of course, we didn't appreciate any of that.

It was just where Mum and Dad worked.

It was where we did our homework.

And quite often, it was where we played.

Bozo (Bill) Mandic representing Mandic Shoes at a footwear trade fair, in the 1980s.

More Mandic Memories to Come

As we gradually wind down Mandic Shoes, I've realised there are a lot of these memories I'd like to record and share.

There are also plenty of old Mandic shoe styles, photographs and stories I've almost forgotten about until I start looking back through everything.

So I'll share some of those over the coming months – including some of the shoes and boots that became Mandic favourites over the years.

For now, this is just a little glimpse of what it was like growing up behind the scenes of an Australian family shoe business.

And looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Julie & Anita
Mandic Shoes