THE QUARTERBOARD
Week two. Issue No. 1 profiled a factory that has survived since 1933 by never stopping. This week's maker started from zero in 2020 and chose the old way anyway.
On the board this week: Easymoc, Lewiston, Maine 🇺🇸
Most of the makers on this board are holdouts, names that survived because they never stopped. Easymoc is the rarer thing. Greg Cordeiro founded it in 2020, in Lewiston, in the middle of Maine's old shoe country, at a moment when handsewing here was supposed to be finished for good. He opened a handsewn moccasin shop anyway. Every pair is sewn start to finish, in one small Maine workshop, by hand.
And "handsewn" here isn't marketing. The vamp leather gets wrapped fully under the foot and closed with a true moccasin seam. The plug is sewn to the toe, the kicker to the heel, with an awl, a needle, and waxed thread, and basically nothing else. It is a way of building a shoe that has all but disappeared in this country. It's slow, it's mostly made to order, and that's why a pair takes what it takes.
The one to know them for is the Camp Moc in Horween Chromexcel. It's Chicago-tanned pull-up leather that scuffs and burnishes into something better, on a gum rubber Vibram camp sole, $350. Not cheap, not trying to be. Most pairs are made to order and ship in two to six weeks, and there's a Factory Outlet with seconds if you want in lower. This is what a shop that decided to keep Maine handsewing alive actually looks like: no century of dust, just the same awl-and-thread work, on purpose.
Buy first: Camp Moc in Horween Chromexcel, $350 → easymocs.com
This week's picks: built for deep summer
🇺🇸 Heavyweight Tee by Goodwear USA, Essex, MA ($56). The original heavyweight tee, made since 1988: 8-ounce cotton jersey knit as a tube, so no side seams, cut and sewn in Massachusetts. Customers report wearing theirs for 20 and 30 years. The July uniform. → goodwear.com
🇺🇸 USA National Team 1956 Wool Ballcap by Ebbets Field Flannels, Seattle, WA ($68). A faithful replica of the cap the US wore at the 1956 Melbourne Games demonstration match, wool broadcloth, made in the USA. Ballpark season is not over. → ebbets.com
🇺🇸 Chelsea Tote by Steele Canvas, Wilmington, MA ($69.95, down from $89.95). Industrial canvas sewers since 1921; this is the civilian version, natural canvas with vegetable-tanned leather grips. Farmers market to ferry deck. → steelecanvas.com
🇺🇸 James Court Lo, 250th Anniversary by Opie Way, Landrum, SC ($448). A handmade court sneaker from the factory that rebuilt itself after Hurricane Helene took the Asheville original in 2024. This edition ships in about two weeks instead of the usual eight-week preorder. → opieway.com
🇺🇸 American Classic Sailor's Knot Bracelet by Kiel James Patrick, Pawtucket, RI ($28). Hand-knotted in Rhode Island from locally twisted cotton cord, brass anchor. The $28 way to look like you own a boat. → kieljamespatrick.com
Where the deals went
The Sale Wire lives in Friday's issue now. The Shop lands every Friday: one seasonal buying guide, plus every verified small-maker sale, seconds page, and outlet worth your time. Catch up on the first one → The Shop: On the Water
Worth knowing
Read the Quoddy label twice. Quoddy's in-stock shoes now carry the line "Handmade in Maine using globally sourced materials," and their own About page says in-stock pairs are made "both in our Lewiston workshop, and elsewhere to our exact specifications." A verified buyer on the in-stock blucher page put it less gently: "NOT made in Maine." Their made-to-order work is still true Lewiston handsewing, so if Lewiston is what you're paying for, order made to order. We're putting the question of where that line falls to Quoddy directly, and we'll print their answer.
Arrow Moccasin is gone. The one-family handsewn shop in Hudson, Massachusetts wound down after maker Paul Ouellette passed; the name was sold, and "Arrow" now appears on boat shoes made in Portugal. The label outlived the maker. Knowing the difference is the whole reason this newsletter exists.
Every item above was verified for country of origin this week, July 14, 2026. No brand paid to appear. Some links may become affiliate links; that never changes what gets picked.
P.S. Whose name should go up on the board next? Reply and tell me. The most requested maker gets the full profile.
Until next time,
quarterboard.co · @quarterboardco