New Series! History Highlight: Prohibition Footwear

The traveling historians are not always traveling. Sometimes we are stay in place historians. However, this does not mean our lives are any less interesting. History Highlight is the opportunity for Amanda and I to share our research interests or what is going on in our thesis research.

A pair of Russian boots in criminal action. 

For this first History Highlight, I want to explore the exciting world of Prohibition footwear! When we think about Prohibition, we think gun, gangs, and wild parties. We don't think boots and running shoes. But shoes played a large role in Prohibition and helped drinking citizens avoid detection. 

The first shoe that resulted from Prohibition was the quickly popular Russian boot. Was it pretty? Not exactly, but it was perfect to hide that flask that the Prohibition Bureau was after. This wide mid-calf boot became an overnight sensation with women. The Russian boot had been in circulation since the late nineteenth century and provided women with practical comfort but also covered legs from indecent exposure. Prohibition changed the reputation of this boot from a practical and popular shoe choice to a racy and suggestive footwear because of its use to conceal illegal alcohol. Interestingly, the boot was fall out of fashion by the 1930's and the end of Prohibition. Despite their practicality for active women, it would appear that the boot's true appeal was its potential to aid in breaking the law. 

A cow shoe photographed after being entered into evidence.

Could you outrun the Prohibition agents in a pair of these?

The next Prohibition era shoe that caused a scandal was the cow shoe. Unlike the Russian boot, this was not in circulation prior to Prohibition. Rather, this was a shoe created by the rumrunners themselves. A rumrunner is exactly what it sounds like. A runner (or driver) who smuggled rum (or any other sort of alcohol) across state, county, and city lines for illegal distilleries to their distribution points. A byproduct of this activity would be NASCAR (a post for another day). They ran from the law, figuratively and literally. Prohibition agents and police would often engage car chases and foot chases to stop the runrummers. Rumrunners got creative. The enforcers were looking for human footprints. Rumrunners manufactured wooden fake cow hooves to attach to the bottom of their shoes. Cow shoes were born. They allowed rumrunners to hide their trails and hopefully fool their pursuers.

Prohibition was more than gin, gangs, and guns. It permeated to all parts of American life, included fashion. For more information about Prohibition, specifically the Prohibition Bureau, I have a website I created during my graduate studies that explores the world of Prohibition.