It was in Przemyśl, a small Galician city situated today in Poland near the Ukrainian border, that I first discovered what a boot scraper was and where my love for these remnants of the past began. I had first seen these odd metal objects in Lviv, but hadn’t given them […]
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Many years ago I started noticing strange-looking metal objects near certain doors in Lviv. I didn’t give them much thought until I saw one in Przemyśl, Poland, and my friend told me what it was: a boot scraper. Little did I know that this was the start of a new […]
In addition to its abundance of beautiful architecture, famous colleges and courtyards, spires, museums, and canals, Oxford also has its fair share of lovely boot scrapers. In a quiet residential area, I stumbled across a long street filled with boot scrapers — almost every one with a unique shape. But they […]
Serbia’s capital changed hands dozens of times in the past few centuries: Ottoman/Austrian rule 16th–19th centuries Ottoman/Serbian rule 1804–1878 Serbian rule 1878–1914 Austro-Hungarian/Serbian rule 1914–18 Kingdom of Serbia 1918 Yugoslav Kingdom 1918–1941 Nazi/Croatian rule 1941–1944 Yugoslav Republic 1944–1991 I found some relics from Austrian rule, namely antique roller shutters made […]
An interesting type of book scraper which I haven’t seen before hese are hinged so they can be kept upright and out of the way when not being used Chained to the corner of the door
Boot Scrapers Conscriptions Numbers Guard Stones Various
Traces of the past in Klosterneuburg, an ancient town right outside of Vienna. Boot Scraper Guard Stones Hoisting Beam for Lifting Goods Building Number and Conscription Number Metal Shutter
Two types of forgotten methods of urban sanitation:
Annapolis is chock-full of boot scrapers! Annapolis, Maryland, a historic city situated on the Chesapeake Bay, was founded in 1649. It has the highest concentration of 18th-century brick Georgian architecture in the United States and lots of period metal boot scrapers. One article reads, “Old brick and wood, working shutters on […]
Lehedzyne I spent a weekend visiting a friend in Lehedzyne, a village near Uman. I found two interesting boot scrapers. One extra wide one (for several people to scrape at the same time) near the village store, and then another large one with a handle attached to it in Baba […]
