Gaynor Minden Europa Pointe Shoes

Details

Descriptive Terms

shoes (footwear)
satin
leather
suede
acrylic (plastic)
cotton (textile)
toe shoes
ballet
ballerinas
ballet dancers
footwear
Shoe
Slipper, Ballet
Slipper, Ballet

Label

In the 1990s, Gaynor Minden and Cardinal Shoes revolutionized the ballet industry with their new industrially engineered flexible, molded toe boxes and shanks. Since the nineteenth century, pointe shoes were made with layers of paper and paste to produce interior form of ballet shoes. Because of this, these conventionally made shoes require a great deal of breaking in by dancers and also wear down quickly-often able to be worn only for one performance. By comparison, Gaynor Minden pointe shoes require less work before they are ready to be worn, last three to five times longer, and better support the dancer’s foot. This pair was custom ordered for Boston Ballet Second Soloist, Diana Albrecht and made by Cardinal Shoes in Lawrence, Massachusetts-one of the last shoe factories in operation in the Merrimac Valley. Cardinal Shoes closed in 2021 when production moved to Europe.

Inscription

"HANDMADE IN THE USA" above a monogram within a circle (Stamped in gold / stamped in brown)
"G.M" (Stamped in gold within a squared box with rounded corners and with a flourish mark above the letters.)
SK-9M4HDL/294968/Made Expressly For/ D. Albrecht" (Last two lines in script font / dark brown ink)
"GAYNOR MINDEN / NEW YORK" (In gold ink with a flourish above )

Additional Identification Number

TR2917.1
1484

Maker

Gaynor Minden (Designer)
Cardinal Shoe Corporation (Manufacturer)

Location of Origin

Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States

Dimensions

2 7/8 x 3 1/4 (HxW) (inches)

Credit Line

Gift of Boston Ballet care of Kathleen Mitchell, 2025

Accession Number

2025.35.1AB

Date

ca. 2011-2018 (These are the years Diana Albrecht danced for the Boston Ballet.)