Shoes

“ Oh, so many shoes, and such beautiful ones! Where did all the people live who could want so many! Great green things, that she found afterward were boxes, had shoes and slippers hanging and dangling to them; and then, away up by the top of the shelf were boots,—oh, as big as Ben’s!—and all around the little dingy room were rubbers, shoes, and slippers wherever there was a spot big enough to contain them. ”

“ Let firm well-hammer'd soles protect thy feet
Through freezing snows, and rains, and soaking sleet.
Should the big last extend the shoe too wide,35
Each stone will wrench th' unwary step aside;
The sudden turn may stretch the swelling vein,
Thy cracking joint unhinge, or ancle sprain:
And when too short the modish shoes are worn,
You'll judge the seasons by your shooting corn.40
Nor should it prove thy less important care,
To choose a proper coat for winter's wear. ”

“ A miserable consciousness of her shoes also oppressed her, for they were English-made and serviceable, and contrasted painfully with the fairy-like foot-gear, high-heeled and highly decorated, of the other ladies. ”

“ The click-clack of the hundreds of wooden shoes of all sizes and intensities, rapidly “getting by,” is something that can never be imagined. As these articles of apparel are seldom of a snug fit in the region of the heel, there is a peculiar introduction to each grand step. ”

“ Figure 11 shows a lady’s shoe richly painted with small flowers. In front is a knob of brilliant color, divided into segments to imitate the petals of a flower, and at every step the wearer takes she presses a spring [10] concealed under the sole, which causes the petals to alternately open and close. One can easily imagine the sensation such a shoe would cause, seen promenading along any of our prominent thoroughfares for the first time.
The shoes worn by the wealthy are of the richest description, being overlaid with gold and silver, and embroidered with precious stones. ”

“ RED SHOES AND BLACK SHOES.
Which must I have, little black shoes or red shoes,
Little thick shoes or thin shoes, which shall be mine?
In winter 'tis wet, and the roads are all dirt,
In summer 'tis dry, and the weather is fine. ”

“ The shoe is regarded as constituting possession, nor is this idea unknown to ourselves, in being conveyed in the homely proverbial expression by which one man is said to “stand in the shoes of another,” and the vulgar idea of “throwing an old shoe after you for luck,” is typical of a wish, that temporal gifts or good fortune may follow you. ”

“ The high heels of shoes add to the evil effects of the pointed toes, and a copy of a drawing from an advertisement figured by Sir William Flower recalls strongly the stunted foot of a Chinese woman which the wearer of the shoe would be one of the first probably to anathematize. ”

“ In addition to the matter in the second London edition, we have subjoined a History of Boots and Shoes in the United States, showing the changes of fashion in this indispensable article of dress; also, numerous biographical sketches of individuals, who, having learned the art of shoemaking, have afterward distinguished themselves by their genius, talents, or worth, and occupied eminent stations among their fellow-men. ”

“ Contrasting shoes and stockings not only cut from the height of the figure but help to accent the feet and ankles of the wearer. The girl who wears white shoes with her dark dress states, by so doing, that she considers her feet well worth public consideration. ”

“ Boots and Shoes, Ancient and Modern. As far back as we can trace the early history of man, under civilized conditions of life, we find that shoes of some kind have been worn.
At first they were very crude and simple, being nothing more than soles fastened to the foot by means of thongs or straps, which passed between the toes and around the ankle, like Figs. ”

“ Another female’s shoe is given in fig. 4; it is a low slipper-like shoe, and is secured by a band across the instep, having an ornamental clasp, like a brooch, to secure it on each side of the foot; it was probably a coarsely-made piece of jewelry, with glass or cheap stones set around it; as the people of this country at that time were fond of such showy decorations, and particularly upon their shoes. The noblemen and ladies always decorated theirs with ornaments and jewels all over the upper surface, of which we give two specimens in figs. ”

“ Shoes are now very little worn; boots of some{124} kind or other being the general wear. At present, says the author of “The Shoemaker,” we are emphatically a booted people; so are the French and the Americans; the fashion goes onward with the great progress of civilization ”

“ The workman, it will be noticed, cuts the leather upon a sloping bench, exactly like that of the shoemaker already engraved.
The warmth and mildness of the East, rendered a close, warm shoe unnecessary; and, indeed, in the present day, they partake there more of the character of slippers; and the foot, thus unconfined by tight shoes, and always free in its motion, retained its full power and pliability: and the custom, still retained in the East, of holding a strap of leather, or other substance, between the toes, is represented in the Theban paintings ”

“ These improved shoes are gradually gaining ground even in the fashionable world. We see them worn by the best dressed ladies on the streets of our cities. They are found in show cases and windows of shoe-dealers who clothe the feet of aristocracy. ”

“ It is needless to say that the tortures of early youth are succeeded by a crippled maturity, a Chinese lady of high birth being scarcely able to walk without assistance. A specimen of such a foot and shoe is given in plate III.,{64} fig. 11. These shoes are generally made of silk and embroidered in the most beautiful manner, with flowers and ornaments, in colored silk and threads of gold and silver. ”

“ In the early English translation of “Lazarillo de Tormes,” is this passage: “If you bid a shoemaker who has been thirty years at his trade make a new pair of shoes with broad toes, high in the instep, and tight about the heel, he must pare your feet before he pleases you”—a sly, but sarcastic allusion to the imperfect fitting of the shoemaker, and an admission of the pride of the wearer.
Ladies and gentlemen, and even children, should have their own lasts, and be sure they are carefully and correctly made to the feet. ”

“ Silkworms apart, it was quite imperative. The strain on my ankles! You, perhaps, do not know what it is to walk with a high heel on one shoe and none at all on the other. It gives one a curious gait, which is remarked and quite misunderstood by boys in the street, and it is painful as well. Uncertain though I was of the way Clara would take it, I felt I must borrow a pair of shoes from her. ”

“ Before explaining the manufacture of shoes, it is necessary to fix definitely in our minds the names of their different parts. Examine your shoes and note the parts that are here described.
The bottom of the shoe is called the sole. The part above the sole is called the upper. The top of the shoe is that part measured by the lacing which covers the ankle and the instep. ”

“ There should be plenty of room in the shoe for the toes to do this, and it is largely because the toes are so tightly confined in pointed shoes and can not spread out that Americans are such poor walkers. The ridiculous high heels are unsightly and injurious and make walking difficult, yet they do not deform the foot, the most beautiful and exquisitely designed of all our organs except our hands, to the same extent as do the short and pointed shoes so commonly worn. ”

“ One of the close-laced shoes is given in pl. I., fig. 4, from a specimen in the British museum. It embraces the foot closely, and has a thong or two over the instep, for drawing it tightly over the foot, something like the half-boot of the present day. The sole and upper leather are all in one piece, sewn up the back and down the front of the foot; a mode of construction practised in England, as late as the fourteenth century. ”

“ These queer shoes are fastened to the foot by a single strap running between toes number one and two, the wearer when walking necessarily maintaining a sliding instead of an up and down movement, in order to keep the shoe on. ”

“ Their shoes, when they wear any, are made of an entire piece of buckskin, except when they sew a piece to the bottom to thicken the sole. They are fastened on with running strings, the skin being drawn together like a purse on the top of the foot, and tied round the ankle. ”

“ Having selected shoes suitable for the feet and adapted to the special work of the horse, having also prepared the foot for shoeing, we arrive at another important part of the farriers' art—fitting the shoe. ”

“ The chief points to be observed in getting boots or shoes are that the toes should be broad, to allow full play to the toes of the foot; the heels, if any are worn, should be low and broad, and under the natural heel, instead of being a sort of peg pushed forward right into the middle of the foot, like the fashionable Wurtemburg heels. ”

“ Shoes lasted a great length of time in those days, the leather being all tanned with oak bark only, and thoroughly seasoned before it was cut up. There is even a story of a farmer who wore his best shoes every Sunday for seven years in Sundays—fifty years—and when he died had them buried with him, still far from worn out. ”

“ When he takes his flies off the line he will either stick them into his cap to dry, or hook them into his sleeve. When dry he pulls them out, which often tears a thread or two of the cloth.
It is surprising how much of the sole of the shoes you can see when behind a person walking—and it is equally surprising how much meaning you can read from that shoe. It is said that to wear out soles and heels equally is to give evidence of business capacity and honesty; to wear your heels down on the outside means that you are a person of imagination and love of adventure ”

“ The shoes of the oriental ladies are sometimes highly ornamented; the covering part being wrought with gold, silver, and silk, and perhaps set with jewels, real or imitated. Examples of such decorated shoes are given in plate IV., figs. 9 and 10, and will sufficiently explain themselves to the eye of the reader, rendering detailed description unnecessary. The shoes of noblemen are of precisely similar construction.
In China, the boots and shoes of the men are worn as clumsy and inelegant as in any country.{63} They are broad at the toe, and sometimes upturned. ”

“ Really, boots and shoes are the greatest trouble of my life. ”

“ A shoe with one or two yawning spaces where all should be neatness and trimness gives a disagreeable impression of its wearer. Whenever you can manage it, have several pairs of shoes at a time. They last much longer if relieved by one another; and when not in use keep your shoes in a box or bag away from dust, and with tissue-paper stuffed inside their toes to preserve their shape. Wear the nicest stockings you can procure. It is true economy to purchase the best foot-gear one can afford.
Margaret R. B.—I prize your beautiful little letter, and am very glad that you like Eugene Field's verses. ”

“ We believe, judging from a dozen years’ experience in the making of boots and shoes for individual feet, that those more or less deformed constitute the rule, and the healthy and well-formed ones the exception. ”

“ Modern boots and shoes are therefore often made narrow, just where they should be wide; and the foot, instead of being beautiful in shape, and graceful in its action, becomes long, narrow, distorted, and ungraceful when used. ”

“ As might be expected trouble over shoes is not unheard of. Some of the women who are not over scrupulous sometimes take the best pair of shoes. In fact this custom became so universal that the women were taught to make and carry with them to church a small muslin bag. On reaching the church the women now take off their shoes, place them in the bag, and take them into the building with them. All, both men and women, sit on the floor. ”

“ The same might be said of the foot, and with more reason, since a painfully tight shoe not only injures the health, comfort and complexion of the wearer, but is ruinous to all grace of carriage.
There is nothing marks the true lady as much as the perfection of neatness and style in gloves and shoes. To be well gloved and to have one's feet neatly clad, no matter how plain the attire, is to be well dressed. ”

“ The warm, tired foot is very grateful for the clean, smooth stocking before it begins its rounds about the evening dining-table.
[Pg 94] Slippers or low shoes for house wear must be thoroughly comfortable, and shoes for out-of-doors must give a firm support to the feet, and at the same time protect them from the wet and the cold. To buy cheap shoes is not real economy. A shoe to be worth buying should be well made and fit comfortably. ”

“ Shoes are preferable for ordinary journeys. In their make, let reason and not fashion rule. They should be double soled, have low and broad heels, lace firmly around the ankle, and fit loosely over the toes. ”

“ From the poulaine, fashion ran into the opposite extreme, and in the sixteenth century people wore shoes with square toes as broad, and sometimes broader, than they were long (Fig. 26) . They had no straps, and were only held on the foot by the narrow piece rising above the heel. It was shoes of this kind that were worn by Francis I. of France, and Henry VIII. of England.
[21]
Fig. ”

“ As it is, there is a constant warfare between Nature and our shoemakers, [Footnote: When we are measured for boots or shoes, we should stand on a sheet of paper, and have the shoemaker mark with a pencil the exact outline of our feet as they bear our whole weight. When the shoe is made, the sole should exactly cover this outline.] and we are the victims. ”

“ The fashions of boots and shoes have met with{132} their share of our attention and research, the errors of form and make have been pointed out, the best remedies have been suggested, it now only remains for us to adhere as closely to nature’s laws as possible. ”

“ I am quite vexed to see them run about as they do; they have nothing upon their backs to keep off the cold. I'll tell you what, I will make each of them a shirt, and a coat and waistcoat, and a pair of pantaloons into the bargain; do you make each of them a little pair of shoes." [138]
The thought pleased the good shoemaker very much; and one evening, when all the things were ready, they laid them on the table instead of the work that they used to cut out, and then went and hid themselves to watch what the little elves would do. ”