Australian Shoes
Footwear at Wholesale Prices :: Shoe Wholesalers
Unbeknownst to most people, shoes were not worn in Australia prior to the Second World War. Before 1939 most Australians wore modified gloves on their feet. In rural areas, footwear consisted of crudely fashioned pouches made from wallaby scrotums. The front of the shoe, or forefoot, was usually coated with bitumen and laced up with lengths of copper wire. Although not the most comfortable shoe in the world, the sole was at least more cushioning than Holland's clog.In March, 1939, a Mexican American tourist saw the opportunity to market shoes in Australia. He shipped thousands of pairs of the latest styles, featuring full leather uppers and insoles manufactured from the finest cardboard money could buy. Within two years he had made enough money to buy the Sydney Opera House which had yet to be built. People became obsessed with shoes. Some men would wear dress shoes to work and keep their pipes resting in baby shoes on their bedside bureau.
Shoes fell out of favour in the 1970's when Malcolm Fraser declared that anyone found wearing them in public could be urinated on if you felt like it. "I like a shoe with a generous toe-box," said Gough Whitlam, "I have suffered from oversupination and overpronation long enough. Show me a shoe with a velvet rearfoot and I'll show you a man with a smile on his face and a bulge in his shorts. From the midsole of my gum boots to the heel tab of my designer loafers, I am an Australian!"
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| Category | Title | Added |
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Are Cheap Shoes Better? | 21st March 2008 |
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Footwear Wholesaler Extraordinaire | 21st March 2008 |
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Welcome To Shoe Business | 22nd March 2008 |