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The Big Boot that walked through Brisbane history

By Chris Currie | 13 November 2026

Do you remember the Big Boot? 

To celebrate our free exhibition Big Things, we're retracing the steps of Brisbane's Big Boot. While The River City may not have as many “Big Things” as regional Queensland, one unlikely survivor has been kicking around the city for generations – a giant boot that has served as a signpost, landmark, advertisement ... and even a drinking glass!

An old, sepia-toned photograph of a large, multi-story industrial brick factory building, featuring numerous multi-pane windows lining the upper floors and a clerestory roof with a row of ventilation windows. A wooden fence runs along the front of the property, with a dirt road in the foreground and a utility pole rising on the left side.

F T Morris’s Boot Factory, Latrobe Street, Paddington, c,1925. Photo courtesy of David Loosemore's family stories.

The Big Boot story begins with a real footwear business. The Morris family established R. Morris and Sons on Latrobe Terrace in Paddington in 1888, eventually moving into a purpose-built factory on the corner of Caxton and Hale streets in 1930.

The company grew into a substantial manufacturer, producing everything from cane-cutters' boots to dancing shoes, military footwear to sandals. T. C. Dixon & Sons bought the business in 1967 and continued manufacturing there until 1973.

An eye-level, close-up shot of a clear, glass drinking vessel in the shape of a boot. Printed in maroon on the side of the glass boot is “THE BOOT FACTORY” in a stylized, bold, and capital font with a simple line illustration of a brown boot with white laces and a gold border around the logo. The glass boot sits on a light grey-brown wooden surface in front of a grey-blue background with a damask-like pattern.

Many Queenslanders still own an iconic Spaghetti Emporium glass like this one. 

Only then did Brisbane's enormous boot enter the picture. The former factory reopened as The Spaghetti Emporium in 1976. Playful reminders of the building's industrial past included beer served in boot-shaped glasses, tables made from old pedal sewing machines and ... a giant fibreglass boot on the roof.

The restaurant closed in 1979 and was transformed into the popular Brisbane Underground nightclub, still with the Big Boot sitting atop it. When the building was demolished in 1990 as part of the widening of Hale Street, the boot – or so popular legend says – once again escaped the wrecking ball. 

An archival, black-and-white photograph shows a large roadside novelty sign in the shape of a boot. The boot has a rounded toe and laces tied in a bow. It sits on top of a sign reading, “Boots DISCOUNT camping,” which is mounted on the roof of a low, flat building. The facade of the building has a larger sign reading, “Jayco SALES & SERVICE HIRE.”

The Big Boot at Boots Camping, Chermside.

It headed north to Chermside, where it sat atop Boots Camping store on the corner of Gympie and Rode Roads. Over the following decades, the oversized brown boot became a familiar northside landmark, even as the businesses below it changed identities (at various stages, Cheapie's, Solver Paints and finally The Car Mine car yard). 

In 2019, historians proposed returning the Big Boot to its original location (now a skate park opposite Suncorp Stadium), but their efforts went unrewarded. 

An oversized blue boot is perched high above the ground on two black metal poles. The boot has a red stripe running along its black sole, a black tongue and laces, and white dashed road markings running along its sides. The words "The CAR MINE" are written in white cursive letters on the black heel of the shoe. The shoe is set against a cloudy, blue sky.

The Big Boot today. Image courtesy The Holiday and Travel Magazine.

The boot – looking worse for wear – was taken down for "a quick shine” in 2020, coinciding with a proposed redevelopment of The Car Mine site.  

A few years later the boot reappeared, at The Car Mine’s new location in Deagon. Its old brown exterior had been replaced by a striking blue finish. It still stands there to this day. 

The question of whether it has been the same boot all along is still subject to conjecture. Whatever the truth, the Big Boot has stayed a step ahead of a city undergoing significant change and remains to this day a beloved icon for generations of Brisbane residents. 

Big things (5)Big Boot (1)Paddington history (1)Paddington (9)Chermside (3)Bootmakers (2)Boots (3)Thomas Dixon (6)T.C. Dixon & Sons (1)R. Morris and Sons (1)The Spaghetti Emporium (1)Brisbane Underground (1)

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