Sandals: Chronology


Figure 1.--This boy, we think an English boy, surung 1970 wears what were called school sandals in Britain. They were commonly worn with socks although might be worn without hosiery during the summer.

We have not yet have a detailed general sandal chronology, but we have begun to collect some limited information. We can assume that sandals were the earliest form of footwear, but probably not leather sandals. There is little information because sandals were made out of plant material like bark and plants that did not survive. and they were worn before the develoment of written languages or pictorial representatio. Thus there are no records of the earliest sandals. There is every reason, however to beleve that they were worn in pre-history by stone age peoples, especially the lare stone age. Just when in the stoe age no one knows. It seems very likely that sandals appeared well before the develoment of civiliantion, probably millenia before. Man well before civilization had spread across the globe and it is difficult to believe that durng that process that someone did not attempt to protect their feet. The oldest sandals (meaning the oldest known footwear) that have been discovered today were made by Native Amercans. They were found in Fort Rock Cave in the United States (Oregon). They were woven from sagebrush bark. Tis suggests there were earlier examples. Radiocarbon tests fond that these sandals were 10,000 years old or older (8000 BC). [Robbins] This meant about the time that agriculture waad begun to develop in Mesopotamia. There is every reason to believe that sandals were common in many other areas around the world at this time and in all the great civilizations. All the early civilizations arose in the warmer areas of the world so footwear was not needed for warmth. The earliestEuropean sandalswe know of are Esparto sandals fuond in Spain (7000-6000 BC). Spain was hardly the most sophisticated center of the Meditearanean worls so surely sandals must have been widespread at the time. The ancient Egyptians wore sandals made of palm-leaves and papyrus. Wilkinson, p. 336.] And by this time they can be oberved in Egyptian statues and in reliefs, bith being worn and being carried for the powerful by sandal-bearers. Herodotus tells us that papyrus sandals were a part of the required and characteristic dress of the Egyptian priests. Sandals were commonly worn in the classical world. The modern English word sandal is based on the Greek word 'sandalon'. There were two different types of Greek sandals. Baxeae were woven from willow leaves, twigs, or fibres. They were a kind of poor man's sandals and worn by comic actors and philosophers. The more expensive version was a boot sandal--the 'cothurnus'. Straps rose above the middle of the leg. They were a male garment worn by tragic actors, horsemen, hunters, and well-to-do men of rank and authority. They were also the first known elevator shoe. The sole could be made thicker by inserting cork slices into the sole thus increasing the wearer's height. We have information on Roman footwear. Sandals were widely worn by Romans. The Greek name became 'sandalia' in Latin and is orgin of the word in English and romance languages. We have no information on sandals during the long medieval era. Nor do we notice them in the early modern when we begin to find increadsing information on fashion and footwear. We so not note sandals in the 19th century. Wenotice strap shoes which seem a dressy shoe style. Sandals repaapeared after the turn-of-the20th century. They were called 'barefoot sandas' in America. We see children wearing them throufhout the 20th century, but there were wide varitions from country to country as well as gender conventions. A good example is a French family during the 1930s. Sandals seem more popular fr girls than boys in America, but were worn by both genders in Eutrope. American boys began wearing sandals more commonly at the end of the century.

Sources

Robbins, William G. Oregon: This Storied Land (Oregon Historical Society Press: 2005). Wilkinson. Manners and Customs Vol. III.






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Created: 4:19 PM 10/17/2014
Last updated: 4:19 PM 10/17/2014