Wooden shoe production 
The agricultural land in the Ry region is of a mixed quality, mainly sandy heathy earth. It has therefore always been necessary for people to have an extra source of income to feed their families. The large wooded areas in the region have quite naturally provided the basis for developing other sources of income based on wood. As far back as the Middle Ages there has been a tradition for the production of wooden utensils and at some point a niche production of wooden shoes has been developed.
In 1781 a group of 6 farmers joined together and they bought an area of woodland in Rye Sønder Wood which at that time belonged to the Frijsenborg Estate. The intention was to secure the supply of wood for shoe production, an important activity in the area at this point in time. It is said that there was a wooden shoemaker in every house in the town. There were independent shoemakers and journey men who found employment on one of the farms. The shoemakers could buy standing timber in the wood. The owner could also deliver the wood to them, but they then could only keep every fourth or fifth pair of shoes for themselves.
One wooden shoemaker could produce 4-5 pairs of shoes in a day.
The pay was good – double the amount earned by a day labourer. Where shoemakers were to be found there was always good days and much festivity!
The wooden shoes were sold locally or to traders who then exported the to other parts of the country.
During the middle of the 19th Century the local innkeeper, Peter Laursen, organized the sale of wooden shoes systematically which had a marked effect on the business. He arranged for the shoes to be distributed in large towns and cities like Aalborg and Copenhagen. The shoemakers now were able to concentrate their energies on only the production of shoes.
In the Wooden Shoe Museum it is possible to see how the shoes were made.
The tallow horse was used to pin the shoe fast while it was formed and clamped in the chipping block the wooden block was hollowed out using different augers.
The newly made wooden shoes were smoked in the oven’s chimney which was fired using wet wood chips to prevent the fresh wood from cracking as the shoes dried out.
The shoes could be fitted with metal fittings finished with wooden chocks and lined with leather on the instep, all dependent on what they would be used for.
Each shoemaker had his own symbol which he engraved on the instep of each shoe.
At the beginning of the 20th Century industrialization came to the area and a wooden shoe factory was opened in Ry where wooden shoes were produced using a copy milling machine. By 1915 the number of wooden shoemakers in Gl. Rye had fallen to 11 and within a few years the craft had completely disappeared from the area.
