New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-23
WONEN'S FEET LARGER
Shoe Dealers Say Small Sizes
Find Few WearerS.
Lightly she iripycd in days - yoro.
For small and dainty wcro her feet,
Bat now she walks Ike a tar ashore.

IIt now she walks Ike a tar ashore,
FOR big and clumsy are her feet.
lEytract from sho. dealer ode 20 Women
Feet"
oh. horrors, Womcn's feet are growing
larger.
That dainty feminine foot that once
graced a 40. shoe has about vanished
Long have women been aware that they
were slowly losing one Of their chici
charms, but they have carefully guarded
this intelligence as a deep secret
Now the secret is ont. This distressing
information about the growing size OF
womcn's feet has not been disseminated 10y
the human anatomlst. nor even by tn,
chiropodist, but hy the shoe manufacturers
and dealers. who are holding their nft!l
national fair in Boston.
There is no other body Of human beings
moro qualified To- speak on tho size OF
womcu's foot than the shoe men, said 4
prominent Western shoe manufacturer.
Feet are our speciality. and womcn's feet
arc the cause OF our trlbulations. 70,
years we have had to wrcstle with the
problem of nttins shoes 10 womcn's feet.
The women uf this generation have larger
feet than tine women of the last. Yet In
spite OF this TACT the woman OF to-day
wishes 90 follow thc standard In sizes Of
past generations
Tho So. o. size in womou's shoes has
practically Disappeared said VI. T.. Mcr-
rIil. D,lrui, shoe doIlc. Fl venture 10
Say that only ono out of tweu'y '.tlil deal
,,s handles this size. There has been a
marked decrease in the manufacture and
..l, uf shoes OF tuc smaller sizes.
Sow. ! am not prepared to say that the
polite pu with the small foot is 'isap-
p.srIne. and that there is a. general ton
dcury for the larger physical growth of the
whole f,miu.L. soN TN. women of the
leisure classes arr DO, ones Who are most
likely io l..e small .,cl Women who
work and arr continually ON th,ir feet can
not expect To- hay" very small feet
The only way THAT 7 can account Tor the
crowin. slzc of the feet 81 women ot the
aristocrucy is tho!r increasing tendency Ia
take up athletics When they Wear COM
Portable footwear for some time. such as is
the ease iu athletics. they lind trouble in
getting back into their light -ho's.'
\ canvass of opinions among 81 number
of shoe men brought out tine fact that thc
average size OF shoes that women wear to-
DAY las from 8 To- o.. whereas about twenty
years ago tho average size was from 10 %.
81 think" said q. q. Hlar.c,n. OF Tho
Shoe and Leather Journal" Of toronto.
that the conditions under which our girls
are working are largely responsible tor the
growing size of their feet. How many
girls are employed in department stores as
s1lcswomcu. or in restaurants as waitress
cs. In factories. operating machinery I'm a
standing position? 40 wonder their feet
grow larger.
About thNty years ago, when our indus
trial system VAS not SO far developed, girls
stayed at home and had plenty + oppor-
tunlty TO sit down. Hence the average girl
Of past generations had smaller feet than
the average girl of this generation
Women como into our stores. said am
other retail dealer. and demand No.
shoe. when they perhaps need No. i. If
YOU give "a woman a shoe that Its her and
tell her it's No q she will leave the
store and 80 to the noXt dealer. VINO will
sell her 30. and tell her it's a No. 1.
They used to mark the number of the
shoe AT the bottom. beneath the arch OF
course, women constantly consulted this
number. and you couldn't sell them any
shoe width or size larger than the one
they had set their minds on buying.
However, there is being used now Il
code of numbers inside the shoe, which
only the dealer knows This system en-
ablcs the dealer To practise little dcccp-
ton After he las found a shoe that VIII
ut. he can inform the woman that it is of
the desired number. Not being able to In
tcrprct the code of numbers, she walks off
with the happy thought that she is wear
ing a No. 4 shoe. whereas in reality she
has a No, 6"--Boston Post.