I only own two pairs of shoes. Both are the same brand, style, size, and color: namely, Reebok Princess style, black, size 8. They’re made of “synthetic leather”, also known more familiarly as some kind of plastic.
I wear the more battered pair for “everyday”. The newer pair is hauled out whenever I need to attend a state occasion such as a trip to the doctor, dentist, a wedding, a funeral, or whenever I’m invited to have tea with the Pope. Wearing the “good” pair is my way of making a fashion statement. I like to think that one of the nicest benefits of becoming elderly is being all dressed up for a party, and the printing on the sides and back of your shoes says “Reebok”.
As soon as the “everyday” pair becomes too dilapidated, the “good” pair takes over its important new role in my daily life, and it’s time to place an amazon.com order for another Reebok Princess style, black, size 8 which can take its place in the closet as the new “good” pair.
This method of clothing my feet has worked effectively for the past ten years or so. Before that, I always had several pairs of shoes in various colors, styles, and heel-heights, and they all shared one thing I could always depend on: frequent pain and suffering, especially after excessive tap-dancing.
Not so with my ever-faithful Reebok clodhoppers. The next time I sign up for the Boston Marathon, you can be sure that those comfy Reeboks will be on my feet.
I seem to be focused on feet this week, and I know why. You may have already spotted stories earlier this month about the prehistoric child’s shoe that was excavated in an ancient rock salt mine in Austria. It certainly got my attention for a couple of reasons.
What was a little kid doing underground in a salt mine? And who was the designer and craftsman who could produce such a comfortable-looking shoe?
After some idle snooping, I learned that during the Iron Age and after, the Celtic tribes that worked the rock salt mines in the region now known as Austria, did put their children to work alongside them.
The size of the little shoe is estimated to be about a U.S. child-size 12.5. Kids today that wear that size are about 6 years old. I was still trying to get my head around around putting a 6 year-old to work in a salt mine, when I discovered, that anthropologists believe that even 3 and 4 year-olds were used to carry torches or water in the mines. They believe children up to 10 or 12 years old worked in the mines, often in spaces too small for adults to access.
Here’s one of the articles if you haven’t run across any yet.
What completely hooked my attention though was that wonderful leather shoe itself. Please take another look at it. Doesn’t it look like it was crafted and shaped from a single piece of leather? Even the eyelets for the shoestrings were cutouts of the exact same piece. There’s no bumpy, irritating seams showing!
And 2,000 years ago, what kind of tool could have made those impossible cutouts with such precision on the unforgiving toughness of leather? And what did they do to the leather to let the shoe have such a nearly-supple shape? The shoestrings are missing, but the anthropologists suggested that they were made of flax or linen.
Lots of ancient footwear that’s been found is shown on the internet but here’s a photo of one that’s quite similar to the child’s shoe above. This one was designed for an adult. Notice how the shoestrings could be laced all around the back of the ankle. Like the child’s shoe, this one looks to me like it could have been pretty comfortable to wear.
Not, of course, as comfortable as my friendly Reeboks Princess style size 8 black. I wonder what those ancient shoemakers would think of the shoes we wear today. Well, yeah, take this pair by Jimmy Choo, for instance. It sells at Bergdorf Goodman for $1,895.
Of course, you probably shouldn’t wear them to work at the salt mine. Maybe you should save them for your “good” pair.
I have several pairs of shoes but I mostly live in my trusty rubber boots. Good for gardening. Good for mucking out the barn. Good for trimming the donkey hoofs. Not so good for indoor use. They live outside in the back porch and they get replaced when I wear the soles off!!
Sounds like Re-book not Reebok
Glad to read of someone else who buys their shoes on Amazon! If I find a comfy shoe I usually buy it in several colors just to fool myself into thinking I have variety in my collection.
BTW have you considered the new hands free slip in style? They’re all the rage now. https://youtu.be/If13T-WRw_A?si=10APkhSUWQ8wWmVD