old, new shoes?

All of my previous vintage shoes have been used, however, I recently purchased a pair of 30's, never worn shoes. My used shoes have always gone in to the cobbler for a tune-up prior to their first wearing, but I didn't take the new pair in. The first time I wore them, the hard rubber on the heel cracked and broke off in chunks. I had to be careful about not letting the nails sticking out of the heel scrap the hard wood floors at the home of Dh's CFO, who was hosting the company Christmas party. Is this just from age? In the future, should I take all vintage shoes in for a tune-up before wearing, no matter what state they're in?

kamikat

Probably not a bad idea for ladies shoes with small heel tips. Rubber and plastics break down and dry out due to ozone and other chemicals in the atmosphere. That's why they cracked on you.

Kami, this isn't all that unusual. About 15 yrs ago I found a pair that the soles completely split the first time I wore them. Fortunately, I was at a vintage clothing show in Seattle at the time so I went shopping again to make the day.

Well there are several factors that contribute to the condition of a pair of shoes. How and where they were stored is important.
I try to bend the shoes a bit to guage the dryness. Most of the time it means that I treat the soles with Lexol to condition the leather and moisturize the dryness. Yep, that means even the soles get an application. I have even applied it three times on some pairs of shoes that sucked it up like water. The whole shoe really needs it because the uppers can develop cracks int eh leather too. No need to mess up a good pair of shoes when a bit of time can make a lot of difference.
On rubber like those heels, it is best to just have them replaced because time has gotten to them for sure. I wouldn't drive on fifty year old tires and we should expect no less from rubber heels.

Regards to all,

J