# What was wrong with shoes, 100+ years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 8, 2026, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131 "2026-04-08T22:33:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/21 "2026-04-10T01:35:37Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > Even in the 2000’s, Queen Elizabeth II had someone with the same size feet who wore all her new shoes for a while to break them in. Johnny Carson voice “I did not know that!” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/22 "2026-04-10T04:58:43Z")
Old New York joke: Why do (choose your ethnicity) wear pointy shoes? To kill cockroaches in corners. DnR ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/23 "2026-04-10T15:14:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sneakers and crocs not so much. Skechers. You can have my Skechers when you pry them from my cold dead feet. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/24 "2026-04-10T18:59:04Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > You can have my Skechers when you pry them from my cold dead feet. At least they’ll be broken in. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/25 "2026-04-10T19:10:13Z")
By contrast, I got a pair of Starter shoes cheap recently, and figured that I’d be ready for when my then-current pair wore out. After less than a dozen wearings, they weren’t broken in yet, but they were falling apart: The sole was separating from the shoe, and a piece of tread fell off the sole entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/26 "2026-04-10T20:21:03Z")
IIRC, the army brogans were supposed to be worn on alternate feet each day to even up the wear. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/27 "2026-04-10T21:27:29Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > What says wealth and manliness more than owning your own horse? one man’s horse is another one’s monster-truck > [@Mk\_VII](#): > > IIRC, the army brogans were supposed to be worn on alternate feet each day to even up the wear. … and every other week you’d swap with the guy next to you … to even out and compensate for gait, ~~bonespurs~~ \*) …etc… \*) the people suffering tremendously from bonespurs were - quite rightly so - excluded from service by the ministery of war ---
**Author:** ![McCaff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/848f3c/32.png) [@McCaff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McCaff)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131/28 "2026-04-14T23:46:01Z")
Getting back to the original question, this very roughly true…ish. The Munson last (1912) and the parallel Navy last were one of the first mass produced shoe designs which made any concession to wearability. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-wrong-with-shoes-100-years-ago/1029131.md?page=1)