# Did any soldiers in history ever used to put coleslaw inside their boots? My god, I have finally asked this question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423 "2024-04-17T19:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/41 "2024-04-18T17:09:22Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Well, aren’t we still working on the “What is 14 k of g in a f p d” riddle? 14 kilograms of greens in a foot protection device? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/42 "2024-04-18T17:14:00Z")
And an N in both, but no B in either. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/43 "2024-04-18T17:23:33Z")
Don’t think “creamy coleslaw” because that is totally wrong. Think “leafy vegetable”, a category in which cabbage belongs, and VINEGAR. The vegetation holds the vinegar and allows it to caress the feet, and the vinegar kills odor and retards fungal growth. Obviously, with all the foot products readily available these days, it’s a method that would never be used. If you were a soldier at war, however, that was a different matter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/44 "2024-04-18T18:46:51Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > > [@Spoons](#): > > > > Well, aren’t we still working on the “What is 14 k of g in a f p d” riddle? > > 14 kilograms of greens in a foot protection device? By God, man!!! You’ve done it! The Holy Grail of SDMB hard questions is captured in your hand!!1! All hail the mighty @bibliophage, the Greatest Doper of All Time. Hail!! Hail!! Hail!! 😁   ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/45 "2024-04-18T20:06:22Z")
In his war diaries Spike Milligan recounted new recruits (himself included) suffering appallingly from marching in ill fitting boots, and how an old lag advised them, “Piss in yer boots lads”. Apparently it worked. Makes coleslaw sound not too bad. j ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/46 "2024-04-18T20:34:50Z")
Napoleon’s soldiers peed In their boots as well. In the best of time the army traveled with wagons laden with layers of hides ready to be turned into boots, so quality control was iffy. In an era when leather was tumbled in dog poo for conditioning, no big deal. Robert Falcon Scott followed Sami practice and stuffed his shoes with grass for insulation. [Here’s what they looked like.](https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/blog/conservation/shoes-survived-caring-captain-scotts-shoes) Amunsen stuffed grass too, but that was one of five parts of his team’s protective footwear. [You can see his entire trousseau here.](https://amundsen.mia.no/en/resource/1910-1912-fram-expedition-clothing/) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/47 "2024-04-18T20:44:14Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Robert Falcon Scott Was a glory hog that got four brave men killed, and who , despite his incompetence, was & I regarded as a hero in GB. Remember in those sorts of riddle, they dont always have to make sense- they just have to match something widely and popularly know-_15 m on a d m c_ means _15 Men on a Dead Man’s Chest_ (an old song) , even though 15 men can’t sit on a sea chest. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/48 "2024-04-18T20:48:31Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I have read third-hand stories of World War One soldiers covering their feet and socks with cold cream before putting on their boots. > > It might soften the leather on the inside of the boot. But I think the main purpose was simply to put something non-abrasive in between the foot and the boot. That specific technique was described in Time Enough For Tomorrow, when Lazarus Long time-travelled back to just before WWI, and was advised to do just that when he enlisted. IIRC, no cabbage products were mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/49 "2024-04-19T12:05:38Z")
Piss is for dehairing hides prior to tanning. On already-tanned leather, it doesn’t do much What you want for softening the leather is [shit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bating_(leather)). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/50 "2024-04-19T13:17:02Z")
I tried very hard not to open this thread. Clearly I did not succeed. Yet I am somewhat disappointed that the question did not contain further absurd details or an even more absurd answer. I can’t help but think this question arose from calling German soldiers _Krauts_ and a Calvin’s Dad type explanation of why. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/51 "2024-04-19T13:46:46Z")
The topic reminds me of the habit of old time baseball players of putting a cold cabbage leaf under their hats to stay cool in summer. [https://www.grunge.com/914310/why-babe-ruth-put-cabbage-under-his-baseball-cap/](https://www.grunge.com/914310/why-babe-ruth-put-cabbage-under-his-baseball-cap/) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/52 "2024-04-19T14:16:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yet I am somewhat disappointed that the question did not contain further absurd details or an even more absurd answer So Ren & Stimpy isn’t absurd enough for you? They’ve always seemed pretty wacky in my estimation, but I amuse easily. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/53 "2024-04-19T14:44:31Z")
Really. Ren and Stimpy are well beyond the border of absurd-land. And good for us! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/54 "2024-04-20T20:02:54Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Yet I am somewhat disappointed that the question did not contain further absurd details or an even more absurd answer. My bad pun didnt do it for you? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/55 "2024-04-21T07:16:30Z")
If coleslaw is not your style, how about vodka? From this thread: > [@Wifa skates: anybody familiar with them?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifa-skates-anybody-familiar-with-them/922920): > > Full disclosure: I was a figure skater; dance mostly, and I naturally had a partner. Wifa (pronounced “whiffa”) was (still is?) a high-end Austrian skate manufacturer that mostly did custom-made skates. I had the great good luck to find a secondhand pair of Wifas that fit me perfectly, back in 1976. I paid through the nose for them, plus I paid for blades (John Wilson Coronation Ace blades). My partner and I went on to win many club championships, and I always wore my Wifas. About thirty ye… In that thread, a poster remarked on how cheap vodka worked well to soften and shape the leather to the wearer’s foot: > [@Wifa skates: anybody familiar with them?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wifa-skates-anybody-familiar-with-them/922920/7): > > Wifas (and other high-end figure skates) are leather. Thick leather. When you get the boots, they are rock hard. The owner has to “break” the leather in all the right places for comfort and stability when performing jumps and spins. Soaking a pair of socks in alcohol, lacing on the boots, and wearing them around the house breaks them in faster. The alcohol softens the glue and stiffeners and helps the leather conform to the shape of the foot. It also dries quickly. A lot of the skaters at our skating club on the base in Germany used duty-free vodka to do this because it was cheaper than rubbing alcohol at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/56 "2024-04-21T07:24:43Z")
I can tell you that if you put a pinch of sage in your boots, then all day long a spicy scent will be your reward. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7Mv8PXkyngI/hqdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Put a pinch of Sage in your boots") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mv8PXkyngI) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/57 "2024-04-21T07:33:26Z")
Dang, we unstiffened pointe shoes with steam. Didn’t have fancy schmancy steam thingys. So it was a steam iron, hard on the fingers. Or lots of time standing the hot shower. Trying not to get them too wet. But steamy enough to do the job. Since we didn’t have an iron any more we went to rehearsals wrinkled (literally and figuratively) Vodka on ice skates and we’d have been on-ice, literally and actually. Like on our bottoms, on-ice. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/58 "2024-04-21T07:37:52Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Vodka on ice skates and we’d have been on-ice, literally and actually. Like on our bottoms, on-ice. **Beck** , as I recall, you were a dancer. With a dancer’s sense of balance, you’d be fine on ice skates. Maybe a little wobbly at first, and I’m sure you’d end up on your butt once or twice, but I’m sure that you’d soon get the hang of it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/59 "2024-04-21T08:08:45Z")
Yeah. They tell me I can ski too. Maybe, some day. ☺ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423/60 "2024-04-21T08:13:34Z")
Naw. For all that I could figure skate as well as I could, I couldn’t ski very well. Spent a lot of time skiing on my butt., as I recall. But skating is perfect for a floor dancer. Hey if not, there’s vodka at the bar in the ski lodge. No need to put it in your ski boots. There are better places to put it 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-soldiers-in-history-ever-used-to-put-coleslaw-inside-their-boots-my-god-i-have-finally-asked-this-question/1000423.md?page=4)