Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-03-11
PASSING OF CowHIDE BOOTS.
Came to New England with the Pilgrims,
and Famous Men Have Worn Them.

The sturdy boot Of cowI Idle. the pride
and comfort of our New England grand
fathers, is disappearing from shop and
store. 1t may still be seen here and
there upon the farm. but il has no place
upon the polished parlor floor nor in the
trolley or cab of the city.
The boot came TO these rocky New Eng
land shores with the Pilgrims Ii broke
the brush of the virgin forest for the
hardy pioneers, and IT trod down the
seed OF many Il harvest upon the home
Steads,
Gloyer's men of Marblehead marched
off to follow Washington in Is wearing
high fishing boots, shiny with oil from
the cod and salt from the spray OF The
sea. Whittier, the Quaker poet, ham-
mered upon thick boot soles to the meas
ures OF his rhymeS, and Henry Wilson.
the NatiCk cobber,' pondered on uHes-
tons OF state as he pulled his good waNed
ends taut, ANA dreamed of future great
ness.
Walt Whitman tucked his trousers legs
inside his high boots and went out and
made frcLIs with the hoatmen and clam
diggerS. Politicians donucd boots char
betOkened toll at lection time, just as
the otiiceseeker Of today puts on a glad
smile and puts out his glad hand. \ clcr-
gymau of high fame attributed early sue
cesses to his coWhide boots, which he
NNlt III MS pulpit 50 4Al8k MS tOlSltAA-
ton would feel that ne was one of them
The sChooboy of times gone by
dreamed of the shiny red topped, copper
toed shoes that he would find in his stock
4 ing Christmas morning, and the Harvard
/ boy felt himself man indeed when he
/ could 20 TO the cordwaiuer and have a
1 pair of boots nodded to his feet and legs.
/ or course, he might break the hootjack
/ yanking them off, but that would be n
! tnssx- IN tbA SAuSslA-s hH.f io..l harm
4 to his vanity.
/ Everett Dunbar, who still makes boot,
/ by hand down in Lynn, has the weddins
| boots OF Il now prominent Lynner. worn
/ twenty-five years ago. The Lynner wor,
1 them only 10 his wedding, though hs
paid SIG for them. He wouldn't dare
1 70 wear them today. though they are 4
| splendid specimen Of boomaking, f0
they have a comfortable broad toe, an,
crimp tops, and are made of cowhidc
all OF which are decidedly out Of fashi0l
for full evening dress today.
\ few grandtathcrs of today still cal
for their high boots, considering them
sovereign preventive of rheumatic, pneu
mony and other peSky ills, especially i
worn with the trouser legs tucked int
the boot top, so that the cold and damp
ness cannot creep beneath the CLOTHING
and reach the body.
Even from rough mining camps, an
the trail and the ranch of the west. tn
boot II disappearing. College boys strue
y western camps with heads full of idea
4 and feet in laced high ankle boots, lik
the storm boots seen in Boston today
'Dudes in WALLER boots" shifted the vel
eran miners. but it wasn't long beror
fhe veterans themselves found the snug
fitting laced high boots of much value i
supporting the ankles and in keeping ou
stones. And hunters and cowboys an
ranchmen learned the same thing. too.
So the sturdy boot of cowhide is pas,
ing aud civilization is marching onwar
in lighter and more scientific footwear
Boston Globe.