In My Little Wooden Shoes ~Throwback
Thursday
Old pair I picked up at a garden store
When people think of The
Netherlands, most people think of Windmills, tulips, and a few other fabulous
things but today I’m throwing it back to the good ole wooden shoes.
This one is actually a bottle opener
Enter any
tourist area in The Netherlands and you can find a variety of little wooden
shoe “bits and bobs” (that’s my new favorite saying I picked up from my new
friend who’s from England).
My favorite color.. Delft Blue
Wooden shoes, wooden shoe slippers, wooden shoe
bottle openers, wooden shoe ornaments… the list really goes on and on, and I
say this with love because I have a few of my own.
My favorite pair made by my friend Carrie.
One USA and one Dutch (the insides are orange)
Over 3,000,000 wooden shoes are
made each year. Here they are called Klompen… a klomp is a clog and a klompen
is a clog that covers the whole foot.
Most are sold for tourist purposes
My husband's parents wearing a pair and doing the "Dutch Kissing Boy and Girl"
At the Kinderdijk celebrating 53 years of marriage!
but I
love seeing random people actually wearing them. Farmers, gardeners or others
who need a good solid foot protection usually wear them. Apparently they are
quite comfortable and are really good at protecting your feet from dropping
tools or things in the dirt or earth that could penetrate through a shoe or
boot. The oldest wooden shoe was found in Amsterdam along the historic street
of Nieuwendijk and dates back to 1230. People here in The Netherlands began
wearing wooden shoes as they kept the feet dryer than normal leather shoes. They’re
easy to slip on and off as you come inside so you don’t drag dirt into your
home.
Originally wooden shoes were made by hand and still can be, but that
takes about 2-3 hours. Now they have machines that can make a pair of shoes in
about 5 minutes.
In memory of Shirley Temple,
who died earlier this year.
