What is the history of shoes?

0:00 Welcome to Histories Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn! We have some absolutely huge shout-outs today. A big hello to Shy and Yoni in New York City. Yoni actually asked us about the history of shoes.

0:17 Yeah! And since Yoni is six and his big brother Shy is nine, we decided today is the perfect day to tie up our laces and jump into this topic. This one is for you.

0:30 We also want to send a big hello to Teddy who is six, Henry, who is six, and Lillian, who is eight, in Edina, Minnesota.

0:39 Teddy also asked about the history of shoes and how footwear changed over time. This one is for the three of you.

0:47 And a big hello to Aliyah and Ayan in New York City, who have just started listening. Ayan is pronounced Iron. This one is for you both too.

0:58 So, Mira, if we are doing the history of shoes, we have to start at the beginning. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in the world? Maybe a hundred years?

1:09 Try 10,000 years old. The Fort Rock sandals found in the state of Oregon are from around 8,000 BC.

1:19 10,000 years? What were they made of? Dinosaur skin?

1:25 No, they were made out of woven sagebrush bark. Literally tree bark woven together.

1:31 Wait, bark? That sounds super itchy and uncomfortable.

1:36 Actually, bark was a great material because it was tough. For hundreds of thousands of years, humans walked everywhere, completely barefoot. Ew! Imagine stepping on thorns or freezing in the snow! Exactly. Shoes were invented purely for survival. Speaking of freezing, in 1991 scientists found a frozen mummy in the Alps named Utsy the Iceman.

2:03 He lived 5,300 years ago. Was he wearing shoes when they found him? He was. Utsi had amazing survival shoes. The bottoms were made of tough bearskin, the tops were flexible deerskin, and inside they were stuffed with dry grass to keep his feet warm. Whoa!

2:23 Bearskin boots stuffed with grass. That's actually pretty smart.

2:28 And right around that same time, about 5,500 years ago, we get the oldest leather shoe ever found. It's called the Areni 1 shoe. Where did they find that one? Inside a dark, cool cave in the country of Armenia. And it was perfectly preserved because it was buried under layers of ancient sheep dung. Ew!

2:51 Poop kept the shoe safe. Yes, it sealed out the air so the leather didn't rot. It was made from a single piece of cowhide and was about a modern women's size 7. It was also stuffed with grass, like ancient socks.

3:07 Okay, so early shoes were just about not freezing or hurting your feet. When did shoes become, you know, a fashion statement?

3:16 That brings us to ancient Rome! The Romans built 50,000 miles of stone roads. That is enough road to wrap around the entire earth twice. Walking around the earth twice? Their feet must have been so tired. That's why the Roman army invented a heavy leather sandal called the caligai. The bottom of the sole had about 80 to 90 iron nails hammered into it.

3:42 Nails pointing into their feet? That sounds like torture. No, pointing down, like ancient soccercleeds. Those iron nails gave the soldiers incredible grip when marching in mud. But let's skip ahead to the Middle Ages, around the year 1300, where shoes got completely ridiculous. Ridiculous how? Like flashing lights?

4:07 Weirder. People in Europe started wearing leather shoes called poulanes. They had incredibly long, pointy toes. The toes could be up to 24 inches long. 24 inches? That's two whole rulers strapped to your toes. How did they walk? Barely. They had to stuff the huge toes with moss or horse hair to keep them stiff.

4:31 Sometimes the toes were so long people had to tie the tips up to their knees with little gold chains just to walk without tripping.

4:39unknown Hahaha!

4:40 Imagine trying to run away from a bear in two foot-long shoes tied to your knees.

4:44 It was crazy. And in Renaissance Italy, women wore platform shoes called Chopin. Some were 20 inches high. They were practically stilts, and women needed two servants to hold their hands just across the street. That is wild! Why would anyone wear that? Mostly to keep their fancy dresses out of the muddy, gross streets, and to show off how rich they were.

5:09 Speaking of fancy, did you know high heels were originally invented for men?

5:14 Wait, what? Men invented high heels.

5:18 Yep. Back in the 10th century in Persia, cavalry soldiers wore high heels so their feet would lock into the stirrups while riding horses. It helped them shoot their bows safely. Whoa so high heels were military gear. Exactly. Later, in the 1600s, King Louis XIV of France started wearing them. He was only five foot four inches tall, so he wore shoes with four-inch heels to look taller.

5:45 He even painted the soles bright red.

5:48 That's basically cheating at being tall. But wait, were these shoes actually comfortable?

5:54 Not at all. In fact, before the year 1818, shoes were called straights. There was no left shoe and no right shoe. They were identical, and you just had to jam your foot in and suffer until they stretched out.

6:09 No left or right shoe. My feet are getting blisters just thinking about that.

6:14 It was awful. And making shoes by hand was super slow. A good shoemaker could only make about 50 pairs a day. But in 1883, a brilliant inventor named Jan Ernst Matzeliger changed everything.

6:29 What did he invent? A blister-proof shoe?

6:32 He invented a machine that perfectly stretched the leather over the mould and tacked it to the sole. His machine could make 700 pairs a day. 700 pairs? That's enough to give everyone in my entire school new shoes every single day. Exactly. Jan's invention made shoes cheap enough that everyday people could finally afford well-made, comfortable footwear.

6:57 Okay, but when did sneakers get invented? I'm wearing sneakers right now, and I definitely don't have 20-inch toes.

7:06 Well, in 1839, a man named Charles Goodyear figured out a process called vulcanisation, which made rubber super strong and stable. Soon they started putting rubber soles on canvas shoes. Oh, I bet they were super bouncy. They were, and they got the nickname sneakers because the rubber soles were so quiet you could literally sneak up on people without making a sound.

7:31 Oh, I love that. I am definitely a shoe ninja.

7:35 The design got even better in 1971 when a track coach named Bill Bowerman ruined his wife's waffle iron. He poured rubber into it to create the first grippy sole for modern running shoes.

7:48 He put rubber in a waffle iron. His wife must have been so mad.

7:53 She was, but it worked. And perhaps the most amazing modern shoes are the Apollo 11 moon roots. In 1969, astronauts wore special silicon boots on the moon, and then they actually left them behind to save weight.

8:10 Wait, there are human shoes just sitting on the moon right now. Okay, that is a history fact that makes me go, whoa.

8:18 Alright Finn, time for the quiz. Let's see how much you remember.

8:22 Are you ready? Oh boy, I think so.

8:25 Let's do it! First question. What state were the 10,000-year-old tree bark sandals found in? Next one. Before 1818, shoes had no left or right sides. What were they called? Question 3. What were the 20-inch platform shoes worn in Renaissance Italy called? Here's number four. What breakfast kitchen tool did Bill Bowerman ruin to make running shoe treads?

9:09 Last question. What happened to the boots worn by the Apollo 11 astronauts? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is, they were found in Oregon. Those were the Fort Rock sandals. For question 2, they were called straits and they caused a lot of blisters. Number 3. The answer is they were called chopines.

9:36 You needed servants just to walk in them. Question 4. He poured rubber into a waffle iron. And the final answer is, they were left on the moon. They are still sitting up there in space. Wow! From grass socks to moon beets, shoes have such an incredible history. It really makes you appreciate what's on your feet.

9:59 I'm just incredibly glad I don't have to tie 24-inch toes to my knees with gold chains just to go play at the park.

10:07 Me too. Hey listeners, if you enjoyed learning about the bizarre history of shoes with us today, please leave us a five-star review.

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10:24 And don't forget to head over to our site kidopoly.com. We have tons of fun learning games and cool activities waiting for you to explore.

10:32 Plus, if you want a shout out like Shai, Yonny, Teddy, Henry, Lillian, Aliyah, and Ian got today, just send us an email.

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10:50 See you next time on Histories Not Boring.

10:53 Bye everyone!