I had an interesting encounter over the weekend. My wife and I were on a short get-away in the Adirondacks and decided to visit Fort Ticonderoga. This is a reconstructed fort dating back to the French and Indian War in the 1750's. The site is owned by a not-for-profit organization that maintains it as a museum and educational tourist site. All of the employees dress in period costumes and are extremely knowledgeable of the history of the fort and the events leading up to the American Revolution.
Of course I was barefoot as we toured the fort and grounds.
The interesting (barefoot-related) part is that all of the period clothing is authentically made on-site using tools and methods of the 18th century - including the shoes. In the soldiers barracks, I watched a shoemaker at work, stitching 2 pieces of leather together using horse-hair and linen thread to make the upper of what he called "buckle shoes". He made a comment about the stitching he was using being stronger than on modern shoes, and he said "You've probably worn out stitching on shoes before - oh, wait - you're not even wearing shoes!" This precipitated a conversation about how bad for your feet modern shoes are, with all the "support" and what-not. This young man (probably mid-20's) was very aware of research on that subject, and definitely understood what he described as my "barefoot lifestyle choice". He was wearing a pair of shoes of his own making, which had a sole which was just a thin piece of leather, no more than 2 or 3 mm thick. He told me wearing them was the next best thing to being barefoot because he could really feel the ground through them. Min-shoes from 1758!
He then said he had worn nothing but those shoes for 2 years, and now he cannot wear "modern" shoes because they make his feet hurt!
Barefoot wisdom from an 18th century shoemaker!
As I left he did say jokingly "If you tried these you might get into shoes yet!" I said 'Not likely!"
Of course I was barefoot as we toured the fort and grounds.
The interesting (barefoot-related) part is that all of the period clothing is authentically made on-site using tools and methods of the 18th century - including the shoes. In the soldiers barracks, I watched a shoemaker at work, stitching 2 pieces of leather together using horse-hair and linen thread to make the upper of what he called "buckle shoes". He made a comment about the stitching he was using being stronger than on modern shoes, and he said "You've probably worn out stitching on shoes before - oh, wait - you're not even wearing shoes!" This precipitated a conversation about how bad for your feet modern shoes are, with all the "support" and what-not. This young man (probably mid-20's) was very aware of research on that subject, and definitely understood what he described as my "barefoot lifestyle choice". He was wearing a pair of shoes of his own making, which had a sole which was just a thin piece of leather, no more than 2 or 3 mm thick. He told me wearing them was the next best thing to being barefoot because he could really feel the ground through them. Min-shoes from 1758!
He then said he had worn nothing but those shoes for 2 years, and now he cannot wear "modern" shoes because they make his feet hurt!
Barefoot wisdom from an 18th century shoemaker!
As I left he did say jokingly "If you tried these you might get into shoes yet!" I said 'Not likely!"
