Figure 1.--Cubs in the late 60 and even more so in the 70s began weaing trendy running shoes. The boys here are planting a tree--a populr Cub activity.

English Cubs over time have worn a variety of footwear. Rigid leather footwear, often boots or shoe-like boots, completed the first uniform. Shoes were allowed. Either brown or black were permisable. Boys began wearing sandals, especially in the 1920s. We note a lot of Cubs wearing sandals to Cubs, the same school sandals commonly worn to school. The styles of these sandals changed over tim, but were usually closed-toe sandals. In general school and Cub footwear was often the same. We also notice boys wearing plimsols for outdoor activities. These were not worn when boys dressed up for formal events, although here there were variatioins among Cub packs over attention to the uniform. Most Cubs throuugh the 1960s wore either shoes or sandals, boots were not common. Cubs in the 1970s began wearing running shoes. This reflected chaning convenion at school and many primnary schools were also developing more flexible attitudes toward footwer. For outdoors activities in inclemate weather, some boys wore wellies.

Chronological Trends

English Cubs over time have worn a variety of footwear. Rigid leather footwear, often boots or shoe-like boots, completed the first uniform. Shoes were allowed. Either brown or black were permisable. Boys began wearing sandals, especially in the 1920s. The boot like shoes gradually became less common in the 1920s. We note a lot of Cubs wearing sandals to Cubs, the same school sandals commonly worn to school. The styles of these sandals changed over time, but were usually closed-toe sandals. In general school and Cub footwear was often the same. We also notice boys wearing plimsols for outdoor activities. We notice them in th 1930s, but they may have been worn in the 1920s as well. These were not worn when boys dressed up for formal events, although here there were variatioins among Cub packs over attention to the uniform. Most Cubs throuugh the 1960s wore either shoes or sandals, boots were not common. Cubs in the 1970s began wearing running shoes. This reflected chaning convenion at school and many primnary schools were also developing more flexible attitudes toward footwear.

Footwear Types

Boots

we have notice Cuns on the Continent, in France Italy, and oher countries, have orn boots. We have not noted English Cubs wearing boots.

Boot-like shoes

English Cubs over time have worn a variety of footwear. Rigid leather footwear, often boots or shoe-like boots, completed the first uniform. The boot like shoes gradually became less common in the 1920s. This reflected changing footwear trends and not any change in Cub regulations.

Shoes

Cubs were were also allowed to wear shoes. Either brown or black were permisable. There was never an official Cub shoe. Boys simply wore the shoes worn to school and styles thus varied over time. We note boys wearing a wide variety of leather shoes. One style were Doc Martens low-cut shoes, but not the boots. Some of the boys may have wanted to wear the boots, but Akela probably would not have permitted it. Doc Martens shoes were a populr school style in the 1970s and 80s, although most schools prohibited boys from wearing the boots to school.

Sandals

Sandals were one of the most common footwear styles for Cubbing. Boys began wearing sandals, especially in the 1920s. We note a lot of Cubs wearing sandals to Cubs, the same school sandals commonly worn to school. The styles of these sandals chngd over time, but were usually closed-toe sandals. A fe boys wore open-toe sandals, but this was not common. Boys in the 190s-50s wore the :"T"-strap style with a narrow center strap. Many boys in the 1960s began wearing the style with wide center strap, in some cases looking more like a shoe. In general school and Cub footwear was often the same.

Plimsols/Trainers

We also notice boys wearing plimsols for outdoor activities. We notice them in th 1930s, but they may have been worn in the 1920s as well. These were not worn when boys dressed up for formal events, although here there were variations among Cub packs over attention to the uniform. Most Cubs throuugh the 1960s wore either shoes or sandals, boots were not common. Cubs in the 1970s began wearing running shoes which the British commonly called trainers. This reflected chaning convenion at school and many primnary schools were also developing more flexible attitudes toward footwer.

Wellies

For outdoors activities in inclemate weather, some boys wore wellies. These were not part of the Cub uniform, but were very practical for outdoor activities after a rain when the ground was muddy. They were also useful when acivities involved orking in creeks and brooks such as collecting tadpoles or crawdads. A British reader writes, "It is amazing just how useful Wellington Boots are for cub scouts when on camp. They can mess about in water without fear of their feet getting wet--quite necessary in the cool climate of Britain.

Social Class

Par of the idea of a uniform in Scouting and Cubbing is that every on was equal. The footwear was up to parents and boy. The choices were, however, affected by scocial class. Scouting wasprimarily a middle-class movement, but a wide range of boys with varying backgrounds participated. Often dandals reflected a middle class boy wherevplimsils by be more common almong orking class boys. Agter World War II social class divisions bgin to narrow in Britain, but Cubs wearing sandals tended to be the boys with more traditional patents, often upper-middle class boys.