How a royal round in Jamaica led to an extraordinary order for the Hartt Shoe Company.
On February 3, 1931, the Prince of Wales and his younger brother, Prince George, arrived in Kingston, Jamaica, during a tour of South America and the Caribbean.
Their itinerary included the formal opening of the new Constant Spring golf course, designed by celebrated Canadian architect Stanley Thompson. The official match paired the Prince of Wales with Viscount Ednam against Prince George and J. C. Frost.
Also accompanying the royal party was George Cumming, the veteran professional of the Toronto Golf Club, who was spending the winter at Constant Spring. Cumming and his assistant served as professional caddies, with Cumming offering the princes advice on their games.
It was during a pause in play that the Prince of Wales noticed Cumming’s shoes.
“Could I get a pair like them?”
Cumming was wearing distinctive black-and-white Hartt golf brogues.
According to a contemporary account, the Prince remarked:
“That’s an unusual set of brogues. Could I get a pair like them?”
Prince George overheard the exchange and made the same request.
Cumming explained that the Hartt shoes were comfortable, durable and not readily available in England. He promised to arrange an order for both princes. The following day, before the royal party left Jamaica, Cumming visited their hotel and personally measured their feet.
In April 1931, Cumming wrote directly to the Hartt Shoe Company in Fredericton:
“They took a great fancy to these particular shoes and requested me to have you make and send forward to them at St. James Palace, London, England, two pair each.”
Cumming enclosed charts he had drawn of the princes’ feet and noted that both preferred an easy fit.
His final instruction was clear:
“Please do not make any mistake about the colour, Black and White, and without any side straps. (2) pair each.”
The princes had not simply requested golf shoes. They wanted the particular Hartt style they had seen Cumming wearing on the course.
From Fredericton to St. James’s Palace
On May 27, 1931, G. Howard Ferguson, Canada’s High Commissioner in London, wrote to Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey at St. James’s Palace. The letter confirmed that the princes had ordered Hartt golf shoes during their visit to Jamaica and he had supplied them with the required foot measurements.
What began as a conversation on a Jamaican golf course had become a custom order involving foot charts, international cables and correspondence between Fredericton and St. James’s Palace.
Sold at Simpson’s
On April 25, 1931, the Robert Simpson Company advertised the same Hartt style in The Globe:
“These shoes are identical with those worn by George Cumming. Made by Hartt’s and sold by Simpsons."
The advertisement provides a rare contemporary image of the black-and-white brogues that caught the princes’ attention.
It also reflects Hartt’s stature at the time: shoes made in Fredericton, worn by one of Canada’s leading golf professionals and ordered by two members of the Royal Family were being sold through one of the country’s most prominent retailers.
A distinctly Canadian story
The course was designed by Stanley Thompson. The professional was George Cumming of the Toronto Golf Club. The shoes were made by Hartt in Fredericton and sold nationally through Simpson’s.
More than 90 years later, the surviving letters and newspaper accounts preserve the remarkable journey of a pair of Canadian golf shoes, from Constant Spring in Jamaica to St. James’s Palace in London.