Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-09-08
Shoes in the Confederacy.

people 10 all SOTtS OF SrOLeSque eXpcOl-
ents. Sole leather especially, owing TO
the difficulty which the small tanneries
experienced in its production, was ex-
tremely scarce. Wood, which had long
been worn to a very limited extent by
the slaves in some localities, now came
into general use in the making of shoes.
A wooden shoe was among the very first
inventions patented under the Confcd-
crate government. In the beginning a
considerable variety of shapes prevailed.
Some could do no better than dig out
rude wooden receptacle for the foot,
a travesty on the sodot worn by the
French peasants; a strip of leather be-
ing attached to the top, by means OF
which the clog was secured to the ankle.
But by far the best and most comfort
able style, and one which was adopted
whenever the additional leather required
was to be had, was simple sole of ASH
willow, or some light wood, to which
full leathern uppcrs were fastened with
tacks. At first these were made so
thick, in order to insure durability, that
among their various other effects WAS
that of adding very scnsibly to the stat
ure of the community. Lr'cr on it wa
found better to make tho so!es thinner,
and protect them from Wear by naI;n5
on their bottoms light irons. similar IN
shape to horsehocs. Thcy were ncces-
sarily the noisiest shoes ever worn al
ways announcing the approach Of their
wearers at a good round distance. When
the air was clear and the grounl frozen.
one was by this means kept well APP
prised of the movements of his imn,cdi-
ate nei ghbors. Especially did their tell
tale CHATTER make them tho alb ,mina.ion
of the negro in his nocturnal rnmb!c>
The dismay of nervous people and care
full housewives, their effect indoors WAS
indeed something terrific. though after
irons came into vogue ard lcs,cnc.l the
impacting surface, the CHATTER WAS toned
down to something under the tramp of
a horse. Nor were they much less de-
structivc to floors, while carpets simply
did not exist in their wake. Despite
the scrubbings and scourings of quar-
ter century, their marks are yet to be
seen in some houses.
The use of wooden bottoms for shoes
was by no means confined to the negroes.
They were worn by the majority of Ia
boring people, as we'll as by many of
both sexes who had been reared in afflu-
ence. The scarcity of the last winter
of the war drove whole families into
them, except tho little feet which could
not be trusted to steer such craft, but
bore their shares of martyrlom by being
imprisoned indoors throughout the live
long dreary months.
Great skill and caution were requisite
to keep afoot in wooden bottoms ut all.
A queer spectacle it was, too, to see ones
fellow-bcings stepping gingerly around,
as it there were universal misgivings us
to the safeness of the earth's crust. One
may forget his first feat with firearms
and even his first exploit on skates, but
never his first fight on-or, to be accu-
rate. his first abduction by-wooden bot
toms. If the soles. which in clumsy
attempt to fit the foot were shaped like
rockers, were once set in motion, they
persisted in inexorably fitting one for
ward, especially if descending hill, till
volition was utterly lost, and nothing
short of an ascent or a fall could arrest
them. However, in time they became
comparatively manageable. one getting
able to choose his own path, as we'll as
to have some small voice in stoppages.
Uppers were made of such random
pieces of leather, or of anything bearing
the faintest semblance of leather, that
could be lighted on. Carriage curtains
and buggy tops were acceptable. In
some cases old morocco pocket-books
were converted, into clildren's shoes;
while many ladies managed to fashion
themselves a sort of moccasn out of the
most heterogeneous and unpromising
materials Woe to tho careless wight
who suffered his saddled horse to stand
out near church, store, or post-otlice af-
ter nightfall! The chances were that
when he went to mount he would find
that some one had appropriated his sad
die skirts for sole leather, unless indeed
he had forestalled such an act by appro-
priating them to that end himself
David Dodge, in August atlantic: