Barefoot Waitresses

Yesterday we found out about the barefoot waitress in Reserve, NM back in the 1960s.

But are there more?

Here are two instances I’ve found.

The first is quite contemporary, from a blog post at Experience Project, where folks get to anonymously share life experiences. In this entry, a farm wife who needed extra income for a short period started waitressing at a truckstop sort of diner, but the concrete floor was killing her feet.

Then, the other waitress called in sick, so she had to work extra hours. Here’s what she wrote describing it:

With an aching back, sneakers that were too tight, and another 4 hours added to my shift from an ungrateful co-worker, I had enough. Without saying a word, I just went to my locker, unlaced my sneakers, pulled them off along with my socks and just started going barefoot.

It took about 20 minutes for the owner of the place to see what I was doing and he was pretty upset, yelling at me that barefoot waitresses were against food service health regulations. Knowing this state, it probably is . . .

Well, we can assure her that it almost probably isn’t. Almost all states use the Uniform Food Safety Code, and as we found out in Barefoot McDonalds Redux, that code has no shoe requirement (even though all health departments may not really realize it).

Regardless, she stood up to the owner of the place.

So this time I put my foot down, pun intended, and told the owner, Sy (which I think is a nickname for Silas, but I am not sure), that even if that was the case, he would have plenty of other infractions that were far worse then me going barefoot. I am not sure if my adamant stand made him think I might walk out the door if he did not let me, or if he really did not care, but he knew I was telling the truth, because while I would eat the food he cooked here, let’s just say that a health inspection would improve a few deficiencies.

And from then on, she worked barefoot.

And her tips went up.

And the other waitress has also started going barefoot some of the time, too.

Oh, and one of the benefits:

But there is some good that comes out of barefoot waitresses as well besides not having to wear uncomfortable shoes, or having the dwell times on my feet being overly long. For instance, I know Jeannie and I both clean the truck stop a lot more because we are barefoot. Whenever we get a second we mop the floors to keep our feet cleaner, and I know when I mix in the cleaners with the water, the dilution rate is less because I am barefoot and want some good antibacterial cleaners on the floor. I say all that because studies have proven that the bathroom is often cleaner than a bedroom because of the extra cleaning, and the intensity of the chemicals used. I think the trucks stop is cleaner now that we go barefoot, then before, and that is better for our customers even if they are wearing shoes.

Anyways, you can go read it at I Like Going Barefoot.

My other instance is from the 1950s through 1970s. The restaurant was the Oasis Seafood Restaurant in Nags Head, NC. Yes, it was right on the beach so there was a good excuse for it, but it was still pretty extraordinary.

Here’s a postcard of the place (from here) in 1964.

Postcard Highlighting Oasis Seafood Restaurant

Here is what they say in their history:

Oasis Restaurant was opened by Violet Kellem in 1950. By all accounts, she was a woman who loved interacting with her patrons and making sure they enjoyed themselves. It’s clear she was admired, and that also clearly had an impact on the restaurant’s great reputation. But two other things are what any old-time local will tell you were the main draws: barefoot college coeds and lace cornbread. The young women who worked for Violet wore white Bermuda shorts, blue ties and aprons and white shirts…but no shoes. What would cause a workman’s comp representative to quiver today was the very thing that was just kitchy enough in the first few decades of the restaurant to make it stand out. It was fun, it created a more laid back feel and the guests loved it.

In 1980 the place was sold, renamed “The Dock”, and the bare feet disappeared.

These days (after the original restaurant burned down and the owners, now the great-grandchildren of Violet, rebuilt) it is the Oasis Suites Hotel.

It looks very, very nice (and gets great reviews on tripadvisor). I have no idea how barefoot-friendly they are with guests, though I’d be surprised if they care. I cannot tell if they still have a restaurant of not (they don’t mention one, and their suites have their own kitchens), so a barefoot-in-restaurant test probably couldn’t be made.

But it does look like, here and there, then and now, we can find people who realize they can be a barefoot waitress (and, I should add, probably a barefoot waiter).