While leafing through Cecil’s books, I read an article that caught my eye. In his column discussing shoes hanging from wires, Cecil didn’t mention the shoe tree phenomenon. I saw one when I was in vacation in Arkansas, near Eureka Springs. You can see a picture of it, and other similar arboreal manifestations, here:
Shoe Trees
What other manifestations of the hanging shoe phenomenon have been witnessed by the Teeming Millions?
As far as the explanation of the mystery, I think this was the best answer:
Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link:
Why are tied-together pairs of shoes often hung over wires? (02-Aug-96 )
The column can also be found on pages 274-276 of Cecil Adams’ book “Triumph of the Straight Dope”.