Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-01-31
Some Facts About Shoes.

Nobody knows who was the lrs'
shoemaker. There must have been a
time when everybody went barefooted,
and the first shoes were probably maze
of woven reeds or skins. The original
shoemaker doubtless sought comfort
more than style. The Celt, who at
times wandered over moor and moraSs,
at others over stony mountains, invent
ed a shoe that suited his purpose.
A sole of heavy hides protected his
feet from sharp stones, while uppers
or legs of lighter skin protected his
ankles and legs from thorns and BUSH
es. The buskin was so constructed
that the water exuded from it as soon
as the foot ceased to be immersed. In
the modern shoe the idea is that water
be kept out, not let out.
The Celtic buskin was tough and
elastic, and could be replaced wher-
ever there were untanned skins at
hand. Every Celt was his own shoe
maker. With the Norman conquest
came the introduction into the British
Isles of tanned leather, which had long
been in use in Normandy, where 1t
had been introduced by the Romans.
Shoes then began to take on style, and
the STYLES have never been duplicated
in later days. From close-fittlng
shoes fashion went to long, pointed
toes. which in time grew so long that
they had to be fastened to the wear
er's knees.
Shoes we're gorgeous affairs in the
middle ages. King Richard, the lion
hearted, had his boots stamped with
gold. John Lakeland, his brother,
wore boots with golden circles, while
Henry III. wore boots checkered with
golden lines, every square OF which
was enriched with lion. Cardinal
WolSey's shoes were
"Of gold and stone precious,
Costing many a thousand pounds"
Sir Walter Raleigh wore shoes stud
ded with diamonds, said to have cost
$4,000. The gallants in Charles
lis time wore their high top boots,
turned down to the ankles to show the
gorgeous lace with which they were
lined
High-heeled boots were worn by la
dies for three parts of the eighteenth
century. They raised their fair wear
erS some inches, rendering walking
difficult, and running impossible.
But these fashions were confined
to the rich. The poor wore shoes OF
wood, reeds and untanned leather.
The Highlander made brogans out of
untanned deerhde, and the Southern
nations wore cloth sandals and slip
pers. 1t was not until the year 1900
that an Englishman invented rights
and lefts." Before that time both
shoes were shaped exactly alike. So
far as we can discover, the aboriginal
tribes of America never went bare
footed. They always made and wore
moccasins, the easiest shoe ever in
vented.
On the other hand, the Australian
natives knew nothing OF SHOES, and
the natives of Africa are in the same
box to this day. The Chinese make
their shoes of wood and paper and
cannot remember when they began tc
make them. A Chinese shoe is COO
in summer and warm in winter, and
always easy to the foot.
Superstition has busted herself a
great deal about shoes but it is no
worth while to cite all the silly say
ings about them. There is no signif
icance about the way people wear thei>
shoes, either at the heel, toe or side
although untidy footgear is doubt
less some indication of carelessness
See that you have comfortable shoe
keep it tidy, and bad luck will neve
bother you.
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