The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-13
M E N, w o M E N
 AND T H 1 N c s

welcome the members of the style committee of the Southeastern Shoe Retailers association, splendid body of forward looking men, which con- vened at the Tutwiler hotel on Mon- day, I got interested in the history of shoes and in studying the subject was well repaid.
 The word shoe" appears in the Teutonic languages in various forms, as German "schuh," Swedish and Dan ish ''sko," sometimes supposed to come from an unknown root ska" kor 'sku." cover, a covering for the foot. Clothing for the feet, whether in tine form of sandals or shoes, has been in use in every country aspiring to civilization in ancient and modern times.
 The simplest foot protector is the sandal, which consists of a sole at. tached to the foot, usually by leather thongs. The use of this can be traced back to a very early period; and the sandal of plaited grass palm fronds, leather or other material still con tlnues to be the most common foot covering among oriental races. In Egypt the ordinary material Is papyrus interwoven like mat.
 Where climate demanded greater protection for the foot, the primitive races shaped a rude< <shoe out of single piece of untanned hide. This was laced with a thong, and so made a complete covering. Out of these two elements-sole without upper and upper without sole-arose the per fected shoe and boot, consisting of combination of both the boot proper differing from the shoe in reaching to the knee.
 The shoe frequently referred to in the Old Testament was a sandal. The sandal was the ordinary shoe of the ancient Greeks, as shoes were worn only in exceptional circumstances.
 
 Sandals were the everyday wear of the Roman populace; the patricians wore shoes of black leather; red leather shoes being reserved for the senators. The streets of Rome were encountered with stalls of shoemakers in the reign of Domitian. and paint ,ings on the walls in Thebes evidenced the fact that shoemaking formed a 1 distinct trade in the reign of Thothmes III, 1495 B. C., or about the l time of the flight of the Israelites.
 l have been interested in studying prints of ancient, medieval and mod ern sandals, shoes and boots. Prob l ably the most noted collection illus trating the numerous forms and val rieties of foot covering is the one formed by Jules Jacque art, which is | now in the Cluny museum in Paris. It | is interesting to see with what inge- nuity the sandal has been fastened, but the one which gave me the greatest | pleasure was the method of fastening | the latchet or thong by lacing it be- | tween the big toe and tying it back of the ankle.
 If the sandal of plaited grass or straw worn to this day by multitudes | in Central Asia, India China and Ja- pan is evidence of oriental customs, | ha 1f of largely used throuyhout Europe, is the wooden shoe (sabot), made from | single pieceT of wood roughly cut into the form. of a shoe. l can re- member with what very great sur prise used to watch the day boarders | at the private school I attended in | Paris, when the lads kicked off their | wooden shoes before entering the | classrooms in their heavy stockings. |
 Analogous to the wooden shoe of l the continent is the clog of the mid-, land counties of England. Clogs, | known also as pattens, are wooden | soles to which shoe or boot uppers are | attached. Sole and heel are made of | one piece from a, block of maple or ash two inches thick, and a little long, CT and broader than the desired size of the shoe. The outer side of the sole and the heel are fashioned with a long chiseled instrument, called the clog gers knife or stock. They are then | grooved and shaped, ready for the leather. The clogs are greatly ap- preciated for workers in damp places, | as they keep the feet dry.
 The introduction of the boot and | shoe industry in America is almost | coincident with the first settlement | of New England, for it is matter of | history that in the year 1929 a-shoe- maker by the name of Thomas Beard, | with<a suply of hides, arrived on the | Mayflower. The pioneer of the Amer ican boot and shoe trade was accred- ited to the governor of the colony, by l the company in London. at salary [ of $50 per annum and grant of 50 acres of land, upon which he sAould | settle.
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