Growing up in the 1950's was a lot different than today, the technology of today was still a few decades away. Our parents had a different view of life, they were more frugal in general because of the way they grew up during the depression of the 1920's and 30's. Everything they had back then was shared, hoarded and carefully maintained, shoes, articles of clothes, tools, equipment, even the food that was left over from meals was reheated for a later meal in the form of "leftovers", even bath water shared, nothing went to waste. Money was in short supply so many times the barter system was used to pay for goods and services, this way of life continued on into the 1950's and 60's. Nothing was thrown out, whenever possible items that were no longer needed, worn out or outgrown were repurposed and made useful as something else. Take for instance a pair of shoes, shoes today are a "throw away" item, outgrow them - toss them in the trash, wear them out - throw them in the trash., yet my grandfather's dress shoes were handed down to my father who handed them down to me along with his Sunday church suit, outdated yes but still usable.
I am the oldest of five kids and dad's paycheck was the only money we had coming in so we didn't have the luxury back then of tossing something we no longer wanted. Let's take shoes for instance, today they are a a throwaway item made from cloth, rubber and very thin or even fake leather. Back in the 50's we had two types of shoes, dress up and play. Dress up shoes were worn to school or any place where you needed to look good. The dress up shoes were all leather including the sole and heel, they required polishing with a shoe polish that made them shine and resisted moisture. Over time the heels and soles would show wear patterns, when this occurred, they could be taken to the shoe repair shop where the heels and soles could be replaced. Being the oldest, when I outgrew shoes they might be handed down to one of my brothers or to a neighbor's boy. Mothers had a network where they swapped items of clothing for growing kids.
Play shoes were made to play in. often they were tennis shoes with rubber soles and canvas tops. The TV ads of the day said they would make you run faster, they came in two colors - black or white. Mostly they were worn in gym class and maybe when visiting the grandparents or any place where shoes could get dirty, torn or scuffed. Once you reached a certain age, it was not uncommon to outgrow shoes every six months, rather than toss them and if they didn't fit a sibling there would be someone in the neighborhood who could use them.
Before you get the idea that we wore shoes all the time you have to understand, this was the south and in the summertime we often ran around barefoot. Going barefoot was one way of getting the most out of a pair of shoes, it didn't matter that you probably outgrew them over the summer, soap and water were cheaper than shoes. In Tennessee, barefoot weather started about mid May and continued on through September but to be honest even in the cold of January we could be seen making a quick barefoot run to the mailbox and back.
As a kid of the times my feet were hardened to the elements and conditions of nature, get me on a dirt path or a grassy lawn and I could run like a deer. It was one thing to be able to run around in the grass, it actually felt good on your feet just be aware of the honey bees in the clover, nothing hurts worse than being stung between the toes. You also needed to be careful of "poop" left behind by cats, dogs, cows and chickens, it wasn't easy cleaning "poop" from between the toes with a twig or green leaf from a tree. Running on dirt wasn't too bad, generally it was smooth but watch out for things that may be embedded in it, when wet it felt different when it oozed between your toes. Running on gravel was not fun, to be blunt about it, gravel hurt and if stepped on the wrong way you could get what we called a stone bruise on the bottom of your feet. Paved roads were only a problem when they were hot, it added a whole new meaning to the term "hotfoot", crossing a paved road when it was hot required a quick step, hop or jump.
Probably the main problem with going barefoot was when you got in a hurry and stubbed your toe, that results because you failed to pick your feet up particularly when running. The results of stubbing your toe meant that the big toe on either foot (sometimes both feet) had the skin removed on the end of the toe and a scab would cover the injured area for weeks. Often a barefooter would have a continuous scab all summer, before the first injury could heel you could stub it again and forget about putting on a pair of shoes with scabs on your big toe.
I'm 77 years old now, I can't walk from one room to another without putting on house slippers and my feet are paying the price for my youth but I would give anything to walk barefoot through a lawn of clover again.
Growing up in the 1950's was an experience you had to live, I can tell you all about it here and kids today will have a hard time believing me, how in the world did I survive. I look back on those days with fond memories, we didn't know how bad we had it because we had it so good.
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