If you have ever wanted to see a pair of old tennis shoes from communist Czechoslovakia, then you’re in luck. At Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center, some items are occasionally on display from the Allen Ginsberg Papers collection. There’s everything from his personal correspondence and childhood diaries to first editions of his works and tens of thousands of photos. Bill Morgan, Ginsberg’s personal archivist, said “Allen never let anything go…[he] saved everything since he was a little boy because he knew he’d be famous one day.” Items include a letter from Lawrence Ferlinghetti, co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, some of Ginsberg’s own beard clippings, his various passports and…of course those poorly made sneakers. The shoes were bought in then-communist Czechoslovakia in 1965, and although brand new at the time, they were already tattered. Ginsberg saved them to illustrate the harsh realities of communism. So now you know what 50-year-old communist shoes look like!
Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center
