What did people do before shoes?

[Randomguy]

Did we really just go barefoot?  How does this even make sense?

[JerrySTL]

They certainly didn't tap dance much.

[Nate]

sandals have been around for thousands of years. Before that, we were barefoot

 

listen, when I was stationed in Hawaii, I spent so much time in the surf that the last year I was there, the only time I wore shoes was when I was on duty. We called it the "suntanned leather foot". I could walk on hot asphalt, coral jetties, broken glass, anything but stickers. And that is in modern times

 

what you really should puzzle on is how did we deal with mud back in the days of handsewn leather for shoes. I don't know if you have ever tried this, but I actually make hand sewn shoes like how they were made in the 14th century. They are not water resistant

 

What people did was they had wooden shoe attachments called "pattens" that they slipped on when they went out on muddy days and that they took off before coming back in the house

 

also, you should try fencing on grass in old style sewn leather shoes to get an appreciation for modern sport soles and how much grip they have. In fact, there are some fencing techniques that cannot be done in modern shoes

 

anyway, I know you were just being random, but I actually know alot about this stuff if you are really interested

[jsharr]

http://www.headoverheelshistory.com/antiquity.htm

 

Did you really ask that question?  You should be ashamed of yourself.

[Olas Nah]

I know that people who go barefoot a lot have some nasty ass looking feet.

[Longjohn]

^{My Amish neighbors go barefoot most of the time except in winter.  The Amish kids walking to school didn't start wearing shoes until about a week ago.  Those kids have tough feet, they run past our house on our gravel road in their bare feet.}

[kingtermite]

What did people do before shoes?

They wrapped their Nike hoodies around their feet to keep them warm and protected.

[Road Runner]

They wrapped animal fur around their feet.  Kind of like prehistoric slippers.

[kingtermite]

They wrapped animal fur around their feet.  Kind of like prehistoric slippers.

[Randomguy]

I know that people who go barefoot a lot have some nasty ass looking feet.

 

Most people in general have nasty ass feet.

[Randomguy]

^{My Amish neighbors go barefoot most of the time except in winter.  The Amish kids walking to school didn't start wearing shoes until about a week ago.  Those kids have tough feet, they run past our house on our gravel road in their bare feet.}

 

It hurts my feet to think about this!

[Randomguy]

sandals have been around for thousands of years. Before that, we were barefoot

 

listen, when I was stationed in Hawaii, I spent so much time in the surf that the last year I was there, the only time I wore shoes was when I was on duty. We called it the "suntanned leather foot". I could walk on hot asphalt, coral jetties, broken glass, anything but stickers. And that is in modern times

 

what you really should puzzle on is how did we deal with mud back in the days of handsewn leather for shoes. I don't know if you have ever tried this, but I actually make hand sewn shoes like how they were made in the 14th century. They are not water resistant

 

What people did was they had wooden shoe attachments called "pattens" that they slipped on when they went out on muddy days and that they took off before coming back in the house

 

also, you should try fencing on grass in old style sewn leather shoes to get an appreciation for modern sport soles and how much grip they have. In fact, there are some fencing techniques that cannot be done in modern shoes

 

anyway, I know you were just being random, but I actually know alot about this stuff if you are really interested

 

What the hell did the patterns look like?

[Nate]

pattens looked like this:

 

 

 

shoe patterns looked like this:

[kingtermite]

^{My Amish neighbors go barefoot most of the time except in winter.  The Amish kids walking to school didn't start wearing shoes until about a week ago.  Those kids have tough feet, they run past our house on our gravel road in their bare feet.}

I ran around barefoot as a child most of the time and could easily run over gravel roads and the like without any issues. I'm not sure when, as an adult, I stopped, but now it seems like I can't hardly walk in my "slightly rough" paved driveway without it hurting my bare feet.