10,000 BC

There’s a new “reality show” across the big pond called 10,000 BC. The premise is that they transport 20 people back 12,000 years to see how they survive.

It’s the usual mash-up of drama and ignorance.

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On the Train

Let’s set the Wayback Machine to 1892. Here we’re going to see the beginnings of the urban/rural divide in regards to barefooting.

I suspect that’s where it all started.

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Child Custody

What do you think might happen if one spouse in a child custody battle used the fact that the other spouse allowed the child to go barefoot to try to regain custody?

What do you think might happen in a child custody battle if the spouse with custody allowed the child to go barefoot, and the other spouse tried to use that fact to regain custody? Well we know the answer for one specific case.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t tell us much about what would happen today because it happened back in 1939.

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John Wesley’s Barefoot Story

Here’s a story about John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church. It was told by one of his followers, Thomas Rutherford, in the 1808 edition of Methodist Magazine.

The event related occurred in 1736 or 1737, but was told to Ruthorford by Wesley in 1776, in Glasgow, Scotland.

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“Old Main” in Cincinnati

Regular readers know I have this thing about libraries. They tend to be the one governmental function that has taken it upon themselves to deny their taxpayers access for spurious reasons: visiting barefoot. Even worse, you’d think a place dedicated to providing access to learning would make an effort to learn something themselves, but instead, when challenged, they double down.

So, here’s a short look at one library’s change in accepting bare feet.

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Ye Olde Schoolhouse

There was a feature in the Columbia Missourian back in 2009 about a field trip a local fifth grade made to a (replica) one-room schoolhouse. According to 11-year-old Amanda McDonald, the best part was

“We get to going barefoot.”

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More from Albuquerque

In one of the comments to When NSNSNS Came to Albuquerque, it was asked whether the anti-barefoot attitude of the restaurants were already established before the NSNSNS signs appeared.

We can answer that.

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When NSNSNS Came to Albuquerque

It’s always interesting (in a pathetic sort of way) to explore the origins of the dreaded “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” signs.

Here’s an article from the summer of 1977 from Albuquerque.

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Shoe Specialists

Running shoes in the 1970s weren’t the first fad foisted upon the public by “shoe specialists”. Despite all the “technology”, those running shoes didn’t do a thing to prevent injuries (and in all likelihood, increased them).

And then there was the fluoroscope.

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Bare Feet Free The Soul

Here’s another one of those articles about bare feet that appeared during the Vietnam War. It’s written by Ward Cannel, who had a regular newspaper column. It appeared in the summer of 1967.

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The Ohio Ahistorical Society

Folks may remember from last summer (a year ago) that I had a bit of a dilemma deciding whether to renew my membership in the Ohio Historical Society. I’d been a member for 10 years, but they’d made a recent change.

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Barefoot Girls

Here’s a cute little column from 1916.

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Climbing Mount Kenya

These days we see enough news stories or internet descriptions of barefooted feats that sometimes I forget that, while we are trailblazers in our own rights, there’s nothing new under the sun.

I was reminded of that by a pair of older news stories.

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This is Why We’re Stuck Wearing Shoes

I’ve reprinted articles from the 1950s expressing the joy of going barefoot as a child and bemoaning how that was disappearing.

Here is an article, from 1959, that encapsulates the attitudes that made them disappear.

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Barefoot 1491

Let’s take a look at the footwear of Native Americans before Columbus arrived. I’ve been looking at the “Encyclopedia of American Indian Costume”, by Josephine Paterek, and it says a lot about footwear.

I also suspect that she has overestimated things a bit.

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