Athletic Shoes

Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.

 

Paulo:

What is interesting about the word "sneakers" is that this term is not used frequently here on the west coast of the USA to describe athletic shoes but is a much more commonly used word to describe athletic shoes on the east coast of the USA.

In other words, if I hear a patient describe their shoes as "sneakers", invariably, they grew up on the east coast of the USA. Here on the west coast, the more common lay term for athletic shoes is "tennis shoes", not "sneakers". Just a tidbit of interesting information regarding the regional differences in shoe terminology in this country of hundreds of millions of people.

 

The term 'sneaker' was originally a lay term used in the early 20th century to describe soft soled shoes preferred by sneak thieves.

Canvas topped rubber soled shoes although used in sport were considered inappropriate for normal wear. Only adolescents dared wear them outside the gymnasium and sports field, and by the early fifties, baseball shoes i.e. Chucks were synonymous with juvenile delinquents and rock’n’roll. When James Dean was photographed wearing his ‘tennis shoes’ that sealed the image for all rebel rousers to come. Sneakers (aka tennis shoes) ruled supreme until the 70s with the introduction of designer trainers. The colourful training shoe had been seen for the first time at the 1956 Olympics (Melbourne). These were worn by athletes from the Eastern Block whilst preparing for competition. Gradually, over the next two decades trainers matched sneakers until by the early 70s, when designer trainers became the predominant style. Throughout this period there was close association with inner city youth, basketball and rap music (then hip hop), which gave emerging Crips a shoe of distinction.

On a recent visit to LA and New York I would confirm seeing more “tennis shoes” worn by the white population in LA; whereas in NY and downtown LA the majority of people sported designer trainers. In the Big Apple trainers and sneakers are considered the same, so it would appear there has been a shift in meaning which may account for the apparent lexicon anomaly.

toeslayer

 

Cameron and Colleagues:

The term "trainer" is not used to described shoes here in the States as it is in other countries. A trainer generally refers to a "personal trainer", not a shoe style. In addition, in my international lectures on shoes, confusion has arisen in describing athletic shoes used for court sports (i.e. badminton, squash, racketball, tennis) since these shoes are often called court shoes here in the States whereas in the UK and other countries, "court shoes", as I understand it, are what we call ladies' dress shoes here in the States.

Very interesting language differences... maybe it should be given the honor of a thread of its own.....regional differences in shoe terminology.

 

Kevin et al

As George Bernard Shaw said "England and America are two countries separated by a common language."

>The term "trainer" is not used to described shoes here in the States as it is in other countries. A trainer generally refers to a "personal trainer", not a shoe style.

As with all history and in particular lexicons you need to be wary not to superimpose contempory thinking and terminology with actual historic events.

In the 50s trainers were seen for the first time and the term was introduced and used universally to describe athletic shoes. The US, USSR relationship at that period of time may not have been conjusive to adopt the term but the rest of the world did.

>In addition, in my international lectures on shoes, confusion has arisen in describing athletic shoes used for court sports (i.e. badminton, squash, racketball, tennis) since these shoes are often called court shoes here in the States whereas in the UK and other countries, "court shoes", as I understand it, are what we call ladies' dress shoes here in the States.

In modern history shoes were the perogative of the rich and aristocracy. Whilst ordinary people might wear clogs or rough shoes most went barefoot, but the ruling class and courtiers wore "court shoes" i.e. footwear suitable for the presence of royalty. Rather like poor ettiquette such as wearing thongs (flip flops) to the Whitehouse, shoe styles then, and now are a clear indication of social status.

Court shoes became a term used to describe slip on pumps which became very popular in the 18th century. By the 20th century heeled pumps were the vogue court shoe.

Reference to shoes for court games is only used in the US. Ironically the inventor of tennis shoes extraordinare and the greand father of the modern trainer was Adrian Quist, an Australian tennis champion in the 20s and 30s. He recognised rough tred shoes gave boaties better grip on wet surfaces and eventually convinced Dunlop to produce Dunlop Volleys which for thirty years were the tennis shoe across the globe.

The best piece of advice I had as a overseas speaker was, "When in Rome do as the Roman's do.


toeslayer

 

I was brought up talking about "joggers". My mum says "sandshoes" though, which is beyond me because I don't like walking on sand in running shoes, but that said given the amount of sand that seems to come out of running shoes it might be a good name. A friend of mine who spent a lot of time teaching in Arizona and on the east coast of the USA always says "gym shoes". I go for the lowest common denominator - try to let the other person say it first then follow suit. Although I still can't call toes "fingers", but I understand anyone who does

 

'Pumps' that's what we called them - as explained in this famous sketch - wait till the end

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7LKJXvf_do

 

ely and Johnathan
The origins of canvas topped rubber soled shoes came to pass after industry learned to vulcanise rubber. At first shoes made from canvas uppers and rubber soles were flimsy and would last a few days only which made them ideal for visiting the seas side. Hence sand shoes. The Victorians built major train systems and changes to employment conditions meant, by law, women and children had to have days off. Going to the seaside was a novelty and later when annual holidays were introduced the family holiday at the seaside was a must. Workers wore engineer’s boots or heavy clogs which were not suited to the soft sand, so sand shoes became ubiquitous among the working class on holiday.
Originally crochet shoes were made from kangaroo leather (as were all quality sport shoes) but when the plimsoll appeared this gave a more robust shoe which then developed into tennis shoes (worn below the ankle) and baseball shoes worn above the ankle. Promenading was a particular favourite pastime of holiday makers and white shoes for men were considered the fashion. The original crochet shoes were white and canvas topped plimsolls could be cleaned giving the outward impression the shoes were made from quality leather. In the class system of that period working class wore sandshoes (black), middle class wore tennis shoes and upper class had leather footwear. Sandshoes became stigmatised rather like uggs today, and associated with low socio-economic groups.
The migration of Chinese people to Europe, US and Australia meant many Chinese men wore canvas topped rubber soled shoes called 'bumpers'. Obviously these sold well wherever there was a large Chinese population, like London, San Francisco and Paris, but the shoes were stigmatised as inferior, unfashionable and Chinese. However people who sailed boats found the Chinese bumpers ideal for holding firm to wet surfaces. Along came Adrian Quist in the late 20s and took the concept of sole patterns and forged them into a new generation of tennis shoes.
During the thirties the western world went mad for exercise and between the depression and the war; physical fitness became an obsession as Darwinism started to take hold. Nations prided themself on their fitness and commitment their citizens to regular exercise during which time the humble sandshoe became a gym shoe. Gym means naked and referred to the ability of the foot to work without impediment from the shoes (the same is seen today in sports shoe marketing). Organised club sport took hold and commercial promotion of sport shoes such as baseball boots started to become big business in the States e.g. Chucks. Elsewhere these high top canvus topped shoes were known as baseball boots or basies. Physical education became important in school with the same social divide, poor kids went barefoot or wore lacing sandshoes, middle class wore lacing plimsolls and upper class wore 'pumps', elasticated canvas topped shoes. The association was to the activity the individual was put to. Kids who wore pumps were more likely to pursue organised activities such as dance and gymnastics.
By World War II enlisted men wore softer shoes for training (not square bashing) and the colour of the canvas topped shoe became important. Depending on the service determined colour and in the UK blue was RAF and green the army etc. When the men were demobbed they took their canvas topped shoes home and these were worn by their children. In schools barefoot exercise was frowned upon and all children needed to wear gym shoes. Whilst there were now a range to choose from any footwear likely to mark the floor were banned. This usually referred to US footwear in the UK.
Across the world, canvas topped shoes of whatever denomination by the fifties became the uniform of juvenile delinquents. The European TeddyBoys took the desert boot (brought back from North Africa after the war) and wore them with thick crepe soles to accentuate their marginal social stance. Kicking rivals with the thick crepe left painful skin burns. This made them ideal for rumbles. In the states Carl Perkins (and Elvis Presley) sang about blue suede shoes although they were referring to the more sophisticated penny loafer (Norwegian brogue) worn by Ivy leaguers and not the crude (and cheaper) footwear preferred by teddyboys. Teddy refers to an adopted Edwardian style preferred by spivs. Zoot suits with long finger tipped jackets was worn by the US be beboppers during the war years and by the fifties the UK Neds had tailored Zoot jackets worn with drainpipe trousers and brothel creepers (crepe soled shoes).
Joggers as a term only come into being with the phenomenon of jogging. These were trainer shoes promoted as running shoes (up to middle distance). Later cross trainers were introduced to appeal to people who feel more comfortable in shoes they think are better designed.

The terms people use to describe their shoes are often a clear indication of their social background. Being well heeled is associated with privilege which takes us nicely back to Paul’s cartoon.

toeslayer
If you want to read more about the social history of footwear , have a swiz at
http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/history.html

 

Funny

In Portuguese you can also identify people's origin by what they call their athletic shoes if they call it "sapatilhas" ( sounds like "za-pa-tee-thaas" the sound "lh" doesn't exists in English) they are from the north, if they call it "Tenis" are from the south (from Lisbon to Algarve), in Brasil and Angola athletic shoes are also "Tenis".

To describe gimnastic shoes (canvas upper thin rubber sole):

North: "Sabrinas" ("saa-bree-nash")
South: "Sapatilhas"
Angola: Keds (after the famous brand)

By my experience in Spain athletic shoes are also descrieved differently around de country.

 

Agh I hate it when people call them "sandshoes"! Oh and "gym boots" is what some of the more senior ladies like to call them!

I agree Kevin! It's almost like learning a whole new language isn't it!

 

Most interesting Paulo.

Emma wrote
>It's almost like learning a whole new language isn't it!

Street gangs (like the Crips and Bloods) have used shoes as part of their verbal and non verbal communication for decades. This is referred to as Crip Knowledge to the initiated.

For many years in North American cities, training shoes have been tied together and left hanging over telephone wires. These sometimes remain for years. The Los Angeles Times brought a group of experts together to try to explain the phenomenon. The general consensus was teenagers were responsible and it was thought an action of defiance. Leaving school, the celebration of a sexual conquest, or the result of a drunken adolescent challenge were the main justifications but experts also considered meaningless copycatting was the real motive. One other sinister possibility was the way street gangs marked out their territory, memorized a fallen comrade, or simply torment a victim.

Whilst many of the abandoned shoes were well-worn, in-expensive and obvioudlsy discarded. The experts accepted the habit probably reflected our throwaway culture. However some shoes were new and unworn, in which case the group conceded this may signify other meaning.

The opening scene of the movie Wag the Dog, shows shoes hanging from overhead wires.

toeslayer

 

Shoes (tied together) and left hanging over telephone wires (in South London) was the equivalent to Neon Sign for drug dealers.

Obviously as soon as the old bill cottoned on things changed! Strange that.

 

In Australia, I have heard on more than one occasion that the location of shoes hanging in telephone lines can be a 'marker' for an illicit drug deal point, and that police are often alert to this.

Maybe there is more meaning to this behaviour than just general rabble-rousing?

LL

 

Hi Cameron,

Yeah I'll answer to just about anything...

That's quite interesting though about the shoes hanging on telephone wires! Being so young and innocent, I actually didn't know about this until now... hmmmmmmmm... or maybe I just haven't been living dangerously enough! :drinks

 

I do not know where this fits in, altho I suspect Cameron will know the answer, but my mother, who is a very straightlaced pre baby boomer.. has often been known to refer to athletic shoes as "brothel creepers".. what do you make of that?? Is she a sicko??
Simon

 

toomoon

Brothel Creepers - my kinda language.

These were the shoes worn by the teddyboys in the mid fifties in the UK and in Europe. They may well have been worn in Australia by the Bodgies although many of them wore winkle pickers pointed toed shoes.

Brothel Creepers were crudely made outdoor shoes with thick crepe soles. The shoes have evolved from the suede shoes preferred by lounge lizards of the 40s many of whom were ex army types in their late twenties to mid thirties. Trawling nightclubs in inner city centres like Soho (London) (Kings Cross in Sydney) had become a regular pastime. But as people settled in after the war the older single men seeking the company of fast ladies became a stereotype who wore suede shoes and crept around the brothels. The footwear were desert boots originally but the conservative fashion for Hush Puppies followed and only lasted a short time.

When the teddy boys took their form of blue suede shoe. They became known as Brothel Creepers.

Revival bands in the 60s and 70s like Daddy Cool and Mud dressed in fifties teddy boys gear and would wear brothel creepers. You can still get them in specialised shops.

They were never sport shoes and were actually banned in many sports centres because they left tell tale marks on the floors.

toeslayer

 

netizens

On the name for athletic shoes in some parts of the Uk they were called 'daps,' which was an acronym, for Dunlop All-Purpose Shoe.

toeslayer