<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I originally thought the title of this FTV was a ripoff of a Steve Martin book, but I was mixed up.\u00a0 Martin\u2019s book was called <\/span>Cruel Shoes<\/span><\/i> (Steve Martin – 1980 – Grand Central Publishing ).\u00a0 If you have actually read the <\/span>Sensible Shoes <\/span><\/i>series by Sharon Garlough Brown and thought of those books when you read the title, you are very observant.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you much more about either title (Martin\u2019s or Brown\u2019s) because I have not gotten around to reading either of them, but that is actually irrelevant for this <\/span>FTV<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0 For some odd reason, <\/span>Cruel Shoes<\/span><\/i> has stuck with me since it first appeared and it was an incident with the WOAS West Coast Bureau that morphed the word \u2018<\/span>Cruel\u2019 <\/span><\/i>into \u2018<\/span>Sensible\u2019<\/span><\/i> in my mind (more on this later).\u00a0 If you are already thinking, \u201cOkay, bub, why are you talking about the titles of books that you have never read?” Please bear with me.\u00a0 This title just pops in my head anytime my thoughts turn to shoes.\u00a0 Like today.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It came to me again while I was checking out the extended Weather Channel coverage of the late August 2022 flooding disaster in Mississippi.\u00a0 As the correspondent (whose name I didn\u2019t catch) was explaining the confluence of conditions that triggered the flooding, I could not help but notice her shoes.\u00a0 Her male counterpart was sporting what looked to be comfortable rubber soled \u2018Sketcher\u2019 type loafers while she was balancing on barely there strapped on spike heels.\u00a0 My first thought was, \u2018Oh, those don\u2019t look like sensible shoes.\u201d\u00a0 On a hunch, I started flipping channels and a pattern began to emerge.\u00a0 Over on ESPN\u2019s <\/span>SportsCenter<\/span><\/i>, there was another male\/female duo running down the highlights from Hawaii\u2019s Little League World Series win.\u00a0 Sure enough, he had on what looked to be comfortable, flat bottom slip on shoes.\u00a0 His female broadcast partner was similarly shod as the Weather Channel reporter, only her spike heels were even higher and thinner than her WC counterpart.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cBut,\u201d you say, \u201cyou are not a woman.\u00a0 You just do not understand women’s fashions.\u201d\u00a0 Both of these statements are true enough, so perhaps someone on the other side of the gender ledger will explain it to me:\u00a0 Why do the men on TV get to sport what appear to be comfortable, sensible shoes while the women wear these spiky looking clogs that force their heels high in the air?\u00a0 How comfortable is it to essentially be toddering around on about 25 percent of their feet?\u00a0 Perhaps there is a very logical reason for this \u2018sensible shoe\u2019 disparity so don\u2019t send me angry messages about me bringing gender bias into the shoe world.\u00a0 As soon as they are off air, do they get to kick off the spikes and slip on something else between takes?\u00a0 As they used to say on <\/span>The X-Files<\/span><\/i>, \u201cthe truth is out there.\u201d\u00a0 I am sure if the networks made women wear them, it would be big news and internet memes about reporters being forced to wear cruel shoe styles would abound.\u00a0 Am I wrong to think that this is a fashion choice made by the woman involved?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On two of my visits to the WOAS-FM West Coast Bureau in Oregon, I spent some time roaming the displays at the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History.\u00a0 It is located about a half a block from the main entrance of the equally historical (and now totally remodeled) Hayward Field, the site of 2022\u2019s World Track Championships. \u00a0 One of the most interesting displays there is all about what they say might be the earliest example of human footwear.\u00a0 Luther Cressman began the excavation of dry cave sites in Oregon\u2019s Northern Great Basin in 1930.\u00a0 Among the artifacts recovered from these caves were well-preserved sandals woven from sagebrush bark and other fibers.\u00a0 The sandals were sandwiched between ash layers deposited by the explosion of Mount Mazama 7600 years ago (the end result of this explosive eruption being one of Oregon\u2019s iconic attractions, Crater Lake).\u00a0 When carbon dated in the 1950s, they found the true age of the footwear – more than 10,000 years old!\u00a0 As they say on the Museum\u2019s virtual tour page, \u201cThe results show that Fort Rock-style sandals were made from approximately 10,200 to 9,200 years ago (BP) – the oldest directly-dated shoes in the world!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ah, yes, but were they sensible shoes?\u00a0 There are several ways to answer the question, \u201cWhat, exactly, dictates what \u2018sensible\u2019 would look like for historic footwear?\u201d\u00a0 First off, we should point out that there are plenty of places in the modern world where going barefoot is still\u00a0 the norm.\u00a0 Going \u2018foot commando\u2019(barefoot), so to speak, is okay under some circumstances today.\u00a0 Some even swear that it is much healthier.\u00a0 If so, what compelled ancient people to invent footwear to begin with?\u00a0 In tropical areas, trodding the ground where there are uncountable numbers of stinging, biting, and poisonous creepy-crawly things to navigate through, a protective layer may have been called for.\u00a0 I won\u2019t even get into the certain types of parasites that can make their way onboard a human host via unshod feet.\u00a0 In the northern climes, the creepy-crawly and parasitic organisms are not as big a problem as frozen toes would be.\u00a0 When native Hawiian\u2019s named the sharp chunky pieces of volcanic material in some lava flows \u2018aa aa\u2019, they had an explanation for the name:\u00a0 it came from the sound one makes when walking barefoot on it.\u00a0 So yes, the earliest forms of footwear might look primitive to us, but to the inventors, they were extremely \u2018sensible\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In a slightly tangential notion, there has been much debate over recent years about the number of indigenous groups that inhabited the Americas before European \u2018discovery\u2019 of these same areas.\u00a0 Some suggest all of the populations from the southern tip of South America to the \u2018top\u2019 of North America came across the post-glacial landbridge that existed between Asia and Alaska.\u00a0 Others point out that if this is true, there is no way tropical parasites could have made it to these shores from the Asian-Pacific Ocean region. These hitchhiking parasites could not have arrived here without a significant number of people also arriving by water routes.\u00a0 Some of these parasites spend part of their life cycle in the ground before they infect human hosts, therefore, they could not have survived a many year migration across the frozen north via the landbridge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As long as we are talking about migration, what about footwear?\u00a0 Can we document migratory patterns via footwear?\u00a0 The Chippewa people (also known as the Ojibwa or Ojibwe) were named for their particular footwear.\u00a0 The name translates as \u2018the puckered moccasin people\u2019 taken from the way the stitching on their footwear gave the tops a wrinkled look.\u00a0 The discussion of moccasins will usually stir up the old adage, \u201cDo not judge someone until you have walked a mile in their moccasins.\u201d\u00a0 The style of footwear is decidedly Native American, but alas, the old saying originated from a 1895 poem by the white poet and suffragist, Mary T. Lathrap.<\/span><\/p>\n The word itself (moccasin) comes from the Algonquian language Powhatan.\u00a0 Even though there are many kinds of Native American sewn footward designs, the term has been generalized to describe all of them.\u00a0 The differences between the seams and soles were subtle, but different enough that one could identify fellow tribe members by their footwear.\u00a0 It just turned out that the Chippewa (and Blackfoot) were named for their particular style of moccasin.\u00a0 I found a map in a piece called <\/span>The Complicated History of the Moccasin <\/span><\/i>by Albert Muzquiz (2018) that noted more than 40 moccasin styles for tribes across the U.S. and Canada alone.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The other thing I noticed in the various styles was the degree of decoration present.\u00a0 Some were of a more plain variety, perhaps the everyday work styles, while others were festooned with elaborate bead patterns similar to what one sees worn at modern day Native American festivities.<\/span><\/p>\n In the colder climates, the Inuit type Mukluk was created to protect against the brutally intense cold conditions they lived with.\u00a0 Unlike the Ugg-shaped boots commonly marketed today, the true Mukluks usually came in three parts: \u00a0 a low cut, slipper like boot which is slid into a higher middle boot and finally, a fur lined outer-shoe.\u00a0 These northern aboriginal peoples certainly get the full credit for inventing footwear with the most \u2018sensible\u2019 feature being the ability to keep their feet warm.\u00a0 The greatest similarity in the North-Eastern moccasins was the gathered toe – it was this puckered, U-shaped detail above the toes that gave the Chippewa their name and was what marked them as true \u2018moccasins\u2019.\u00a0 Some have gone farther and noted how the Sami people of the European countries crossed by the Arctic Circle use a similar design.\u00a0 This, along with some physical traits and common linguistic patterns, is used as further evidence that shoe types can possibly help archaeologists trace migration patterns around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 1936, G.H.Bass\u2019s Weejun shoes became an American fashion \u2018must have\u2019.\u00a0 The slip-on design was comfortable and featured a puckered toe that resembled classic indigenous American footwear.\u00a0 The Weejun name, however, was not taken from some unknown tribe, but was a shortened version of \u2018Norwegian\u2019.\u00a0 They claimed the style was a revived form of a forgotten Scandinavian design (see the note about the Sami people above).\u00a0 In truth, a similar shoe known as the \u2018Tese Shoe\u2019 had been worn in Norway since the early 1800s and it had actually been based on a classic Iroquois design.\u00a0 G.H.Bass tried their best to not dwell on the similarity of their product to the earlier indigenous styles. but the origins were still quite obvious.\u00a0 The modern day penny loafer was clearly based on Native American footwear.\u00a0 I have been a dedicated wearer of penny loafers from my high school days but had never given much thought about their origins.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My own shoe choices over the years have come in both varieties:\u00a0 Sensible and not-so-sensible.\u00a0 I do not remember much about my so-called \u2018dress shoes\u2019 in elementary school, but I was always excited to get a new pair of sneakers for gym.\u00a0 Who can forget their first pair of genuine Red Ball Jets?\u00a0 Tennis shoes, gym shoes, or whatever you called them back in the day, were always a sure sign that school was about to start.\u00a0 One could NOT play in the gym without them.\u00a0 Usually it meant a trip downtown to the Washington Shoe Store.\u00a0 When I got tall enough to jump and touch the ceiling at home, I would strap on my new shoes and tear around making fingerprints on the ceiling.\u00a0 That is, until I had to get the step-stool and clean them off.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At some point in high school, I began buying Converse Canvas All Stars.\u00a0 They were cheap and my group of friends just kind of gravitated to them.\u00a0 In another bizarre turn of events, we spent a good deal of our senior year wearing them without socks.\u00a0 Perhaps it was in retaliation for the three previous years of mandatory white socks in gym class or just some dumb fad.\u00a0 We used to go to the Hedgecock Fieldhouse during NMU\u2019s Christmas break to play basketball and swim.\u00a0 My sockless phase ended after I made the mistake of playing full court basketball in canvas shoes with no socks.\u00a0 When my blisters healed, I vowed to never make that mistake again.\u00a0 I continued to sport the Converse All Stars for everything:\u00a0 basketball, tennis, kicking and punting footballs, and hiking in the woods and hills.\u00a0 More recently, Converse All Stars have become trendy again and it makes me chuckle when I see someone wearing them;\u00a0 do they know exactly how old school they are going?<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I started playing tennis with my fellow bus boy John at the Huron Mountain Club, I noticed he wore a particular type of white shoe all the time.\u00a0 He told me they were Jack Purcells and were the most comfortable shoes he had ever worn.\u00a0 John had very wide feet and explained the Purcells were the only shoe he could get in extra wide sizes.\u00a0 The original model was invented in 1935, targeted for badminton players, and marketed as Converse Jack Purcells (Jack Purcell was a world champion in that sport).\u00a0 They were originally made by the B.F.Goodrich company and when Nike purchased Converse in 2003, they became part of that brand.\u00a0 I went to Johnson\u2019s Sport Shop and promptly became a JP wearer myself for the rest of my college days.\u00a0 I can not quite remember why I stopped wearing Purcells.\u00a0 The market for specialized basketball shoes was just starting to rev up when I started teaching so I just kind of gravitated to the next new model.\u00a0 I may check them out again as they are still marketed by Nike.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Remember the fad called Earth Shoes?\u00a0 They were also known as Kalso Earth Shoes for their inventor, Danish yoga instructor Anna Kalso who came up with the design in 1957.\u00a0 It had a \u2018negative heel\u2019 design where the sole slanted upward so the toes were higher than the heel.\u00a0 Walking in Earth Shoes felt very much like walking on beach sand with the heel sinking deeper than the ball of the foot.\u00a0 Eleanor and Raymond Jacobs introduced their Earth Shoes in New York City three weeks before the first Earth Day in 1970 and they soon became the\u00a0 counterculture symbol of the decade.\u00a0 Various experts gave different opinions about them being good or bad for one\u2019s feet, but sales still reached $14 million by 1976.\u00a0 Because they could not keep up with the demand for the shoes, the company dissolved in 1977.\u00a0 The brand resurfaced in 2002 after the rights had been purchased by Meynard Designs and as of 2020, the shoes have been taken over by a company called Windsong.\u00a0 The Earth Shoe should not be confused with \u2018Earthing Shoes\u2019 which are said to channel electromagnetic energy into the body via the shoe\/earth interface.\u00a0 Nor should the original Earth Shoes be confused with a similarly named brand sold at Walmart.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So, how did I come to replace \u2018cruel\u2019 with \u2018sensible\u2019 shoes in my mind?\u00a0 It actually involves another footwear design that we began calling \u2018cripplers\u2019.\u00a0 Before the West Coast Bureau was fully located in the west, Elizabeth, Todd, and our Upper Michigan contributing member Brian traveled from Lansing to Cincinnati to catch a concert by Oasis.\u00a0 Not being that familiar with the concert location in the city, they ended up walking farther than they had originally planned.\u00a0 Elizabeth had picked a stylish pair of boots to wear and by the time they made it back to the car after the show, her feet were in agony.\u00a0 She vowed to, \u201cNever wear those crippler boots again,\u201d to which I responded, \u201cYes, you must be sure to wear sensible shoes when you need to do that much walking.\u201d\u00a0 Since then, my main descriptions for footwear have been \u2018sensible\u2019, \u2018cruel\u2019, and\u00a0 \u2018cripplers\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My last observation on the topic for now is the popularity of Dr. Martens boots (aka:\u00a0 \u2018Docs\u2019 or \u2018DMs\u2019).\u00a0 They first appeared on April 1, 1960 but I didn\u2019t know much about them until they became the go-to accessory for certain hip fashion crowds.\u00a0 Their popularity seems to come and go when certain musicians and celebrities are seen wearing them, they become vogue again.\u00a0 Someone who has actually worn a pair will have to fill me in on the sensibility factor for Docs – are they comfortable or just good looking?\u00a0 I do not know as I have never tried on a pair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Someday we will have to examine how my mother made me a fashion trend setter by putting me in what are known as \u2018Chukka boots\u2019 in 1967, but as I tend to always promise, \u201cThat is another story for another day.\u201d\u00a0 Remember, happy feet make a human happy.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece Video:\u00a0 Yes, The Beatles sing about the OLD BROWN SHOE, but was it sensible?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I originally thought the title of this FTV was a ripoff of a Steve Martin book, but I was mixed up.\u00a0 Martin\u2019s book was called Cruel Shoes (Steve Martin – 1980 – Grand Central Publishing ).\u00a0 If you have actually read the Sensible Shoes series by Sharon Garlough Brown and thought of those books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,8,12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bands-musicians","category-education","category-from-the-vaults","category-humor","category-woas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2683"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2686,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683\/revisions\/2686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}