Now I know the true difference between Brits and Yanks: it's mud!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It all comes down to the Wellies…(otherwise knows as .Wellington boots.)

Now,ya see, a half a century ago, I lived in England for a couple years as a child.
And I vaguely remember having a pair of Wellies.
My Mom* made me wear them when I played outdoors, and she didn’t want me to track mud back into the house.
And they were okay, I suppose. Not too uncomfortable, not too much trouble.
But I didn’t exactly love the things.
Now, yes, I have a lot of happy memories of my childhood:
They revolve around things like kittens and grandma and bicycles and birthday cakes, and lots of other stuff.
But, NOT my Wellies.

But now I just read in the New York Times that the Wellington boot company is going bankrupt…and it’s a cultural tragedy of national and international proportions.
That’s right, folks, I just discovered that my forgotten kiddie playtime boots are a national treasure–both in England, and among certain high-class folks in America too…
.
Vanity Fair is a high-class fashion magazine that appeals to the elite of Manhattan, the upper class who wear Prada.
And so when the Times quotes Daisy Shaw-Ellis, accessories director at Vanity Fair, you know it’s important.
And she says:
“People don’t walk across muddy fields in the drizzle for fun in America, they just get in their car and drive. But they also love that quintessential English country aesthetic, and the Hunter Wellington boot is a major symbol of that here.”

Now,I already know that many Americans “love that quintessential English country aesthetic”
But what surpised the hell outta me is that apparently, in England people walk across muddy fields in the drizzle for fun.

Geezz…what’s up with them Brits?
I guess it’s a good thing my parents took me out of there after a few years, and we moved back to the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Where people know that if you want to have fun, you don’t need muddy drizzle.

(paywalled link: Can Hunter Boots Come Back From the Brink of Bankruptcy? - The New York Times
)

__
(that’s Mom…not Mum, folks…'cause in this story, I’m the Yank.
You know, the one in the OP who doesn’t wear the Wellies)

2

Not quite. Many of us take a chance on the weather and hope it won’t drizzle, or be more than a passing shower or Irish-style 'soft weather", and/or go for a country walk where there might be puddles left from earlier rain.

And speaking of puddles, plenty of mothers would have taken into account the tendency of young children* to jump into puddles, and would rather they did it in durable wellies (from whatever manufacturer) and not in expensive town shoes (of whatever variety).

*and not only the young

3

It’s England. If you waited until there was no rain or drizzle you’d never get to go anywhere. :stuck_out_tongue:

(My mother was from England and I have family there - I’m allowed to poke fun)

4

When I was a pre-teen, I spent plenty of time walking around outside on muddy drizzly days - I ruined more shoes that way. Don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to drive.

5

How do English kids whine and moan to their mother, then? “But Mo-o-o-o-o-o-m!” while one’s voice goes up and down in a range of a few notes is the traditional US standard. I can’t hear it that way if it’s “Mum.”

I never had anything like Wellies. My rain boots (I can’t remember what we called them, just “boots” I think, I didn’t have any other kind of boots) were worn over shoes, not instead of them, and they had buckles to keep them secure, or you could run around with them unbuckled and the tops would flap. I think some people called them “galoshes” but that was too fancy for us.

6

Aren’t all Americans entitled to poke fun at England?

7

iirc, we have a reciprocal arrangement.

8

Probably a major third in the UK: “Mu[down]-u[up]-um!” = “I really want that [whatever] and I’m not letting it go without protest!”

Not following the down with an up, but just letting it trail away seems to me to indicate resigned guilt-tripping.

9

Same can be said for the PNW and central Switzerland.

10

Hunter is not the only Wellie manufacturer, they actually make their boots in China, and apparently their quality has declined of late. No loss, overall.

11

I have fond memories of hiking in England. Loads of public paths and detailed maps showing them. Lots of pleasant hikes through little towns with nice views, ample chippies and convenient pubs.

But the real reason is dogs. They need to get progressively more excited. Putting on footwear, coats, grabbing a leash, moving doorwards…

I’ve hiked in the United States too. Hotter, less drizzle. Fewer people. Trails tend to be far removed from chippies and pubs. Fewer public footpaths and detailed maps. Public trails sometimes way too long, sometimes pretty far from towns. More practical choices of footwear than clunky black boots.

12

I figured the boots were for the sheep crap, not just the mud. Seemed like just about every field we walked across in Britain had plenty of sheep and their droppings.

13

If you take the Underground tour in Seattle, the tour guides have a standard joke that they tell about how the leader of the first settler party that arrived in the Seattle area in 1850 wrote in his journal “Will start building when it stops raining”, after which they note that he’s still waiting today. :slight_smile:

14

It’s pretty much for both. A farmer or herder would be in trouble there without wellies. I’ve actually never liked them because they don’t fit my feet. I used to bring my waterproof hiking boots if I had room in the luggage, or rubber overshoes if luggage space was at a premium, which it usually was.

15

I’ve lost count of the number of summer music festivals I’ve been to where wellies have been an essential part of the outfit! My mum always insisted we wore wellies out in the rain as kids, mainly because we loved jumping in puddles so that would have ruined shoes, but wellie are ideal for such activities.

16

Kind of true. The weather here is capricious; there’s no guarantee it will be sunny for a picnic; there’s no guarantee it will rain to water your petunias. We make plans despite the weather, not because of it.

Interestingly, we’re lightweights in this regard compared to other Europeans - for example Scandinavians apparently have a saying ‘there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing’.

17

OMG - you’re Peppa Pig???

:rofl:

Yeah, grandmothers know these things.

18

Hmm, i kinda subscribe to that i may even have said it.

19

I am probably the right shape to be Peppa Pig, but I’m waaaaaaay older :slight_smile:

20

I love my wellies. They’re essential for winter dog walks, when I’ve got 30 seconds to get out of the house before my dog goes bananas with excitement. I can also easily leave the muddy boots at the back door. Sadly can’t do the same with the dog.

They are required fashion apparel at summer music festivals, where ‘summer’ sometimes has a slightly flexible definition.

I actually wear the French brand Aigle, which puts me in danger of having my passport confiscated, but they are mighty comfortable.