Small Shoe, 1882. Big Shoe, 1926.

When I purchased this unused real photo postcard at a postcard show a few years ago, I thought it would be a straightforward matter to determine whose shoes these were.

My first thought was that they belonged to someone like Robert Wadlow (1918-1940), who at 8 feet 11.1 inches "was the tallest person in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence." But since Wadlow was born in 1918, the smaller shoe from 1882 couldn't be his, and the larger shoe from 1926 dates to when Wadlow was 8 years old. Surely he wasn't wearing shoes that large at such a young age!