Figure 1.--This is a photo taken in 1954 at a job teaching school near Pinjarra, Western Australia. The boys attended school barefoot. Here we see them even in the workshop.

Australian boys in the 19th Century and early 20th Century commonly went barefoot. The major reason was probably the cost of shoes, but the practice continued even as economic conditions improved. The climate was much more amenable to going barefoot than in England itself. Even today in Australia and more so in New Zealand it is common for boys and girls to go barefoot. An Australian HBC reader tells us that the tendency of Australian boys to go barefoot is commonly illustrated in Australian movies like Simley Get's a Gun. We note going barefoot was still quite common in the 1970s, but has apparently declined to some extent in recent years.

Chronolgical Trends

Australian boys in the 19th Century and early 20th Century commonly went barefoot. It was quite common to go to school barefoot, especially for primary children. An Australian HBC reader tells us that the tendency of Australian boys to go barefoot is commonly illustrated in Australian movies like Simley Get's a Gun. We note going barefoot was still quite common in the 1970s, but has apparently declined to some extent in recent years.

Reason

The major reason was probably the cost of shoes, but the practice continued even as economic conditions improved. The climate was much more amenable to going barefoot than in England itself. Even today in Australia and more so in New Zealand it is common for boys and girls to go barefoot.

Individual Experiences

An Ausrealian reader writes, "I used to go barefoot in summer, early autumn (fall), and all of spring. So did my younger brothers. I used to trod on three corner jacks which of course were prickles and the soles of my feet were peppered with punture holes and I used the highland jig on one foot whilst painly pulling out these blighters and then swapped feet. I used to wear thongs [flip-flops] and sandals but thongs were my choice. If I could get out of wearing sandals I did, but mum usally put me back in them and boxed my ears lightly for throwing a little boy wobblely. I would go to my friends house barefooted and go to lots of summertime bbq's and walk to the Solomontown beach which was an hours walk. Usually the ground was red hot so mum put my sandals on me or a pair of thongs. In February when school began we were allowed to wear school blue or brown sandals with school socks. I totally objected to this in years 6 and 7 because my thinking was that I was a big boy now not a 11 or 12 year old like the rest of my primary school. But I had to wear them anyway and I trodded off to school in a very dark mood. I used to skin my feet on the bitumen roads and my mum would drag me inside screaming and my wounds would be fixed with stinging yellow stuff and thus placed in sandals again but not thongs because I always managed to lose mine. I rode my bike farefoot'climbed our big apricot tree and shed roof in barefeet and our house roof to and I used to jump off my shed roof. On one bad occasion I missfired and ended up in our burner which was used for burning rubbish and such and I ended up with my lower back and bottom stuck in the burner which wasn't lit at the time, and my legs sticking out and I was covered in soot and I got lots of abrasions'cuts'scrapes. I hurt my dignaty but my dad got me out of the burner." -- Patrick