*** school sandals chronology








School Sandals: Chronology

Boys school sndals
Figure 1.--School sandals through the 1950s had a narrow center strap. Beginning in the 1960s we begin to see boys sndals with wider center straps like the ones the boys here are wearing.

We are not positive just who first designed and marketed these sandals. We do not notice the "T"-strap style being worn in the 19th century, although we do notice strap shoes. An example is the Onarga School in America during 1882. We believe they were first marketed as a comfortable summer cassual shoe and only later adopted for school wear. The first that I have definitively noted "T"-shrap strap shoes was in the early-20th century. In Ameica they were called 'barefoot sandals', but they were usually done wih double vars. We are not sure what they were called in Britan. We note school sandals in Britain very prominently in the 1920s after World War I (1914-18). I think they became known as school sandals because many British families of modest means did not have the money to provide several different pairs of shoes. Thus they simply started wearing their sandals to school. That is, however, only a theory at this time. Originally sandals were appealing because they were less expensive than ordinary shoes. We also see them being worn in other European countries, but not as commonly as in England. The same ws true of the Dominions. In America after World War I they became primarily a girls' style, although younger boys might ear them. The basic style with narrow straps were commonly worn through the 1950s. The style of strap shoes began to change in the 1960s with the center strap becoming wider for boys. Different companies did this a little diffrently. Girls continued to wear the style with the narrow strap. The school sandal is still widely worn by boys in England, but mostlty the style with the wide center strap.






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Created: 11:21 AM 3/19/2014
Last updated: 11:22 AM 3/19/2014