Figure 1.--The photo was taken in a supermarket in Devonport, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It shows the attitude of many New Zealanders about bare feet. There are not specific reasons to go barefoot. Bare feet are just one of the available options for the footwear. Maurizio.

From an early point in the settlemena of New Zealand, children commonly went barefoot. We are not entirely sure why that was. The climate had to be a factor. And consumer goods before local industries developed much have been very expensive. Even after cattle wwre introduced, we suspect the quality of footwear was poorer than in England and the price was higher. This alomg with the climate may explain why going barefoot was much more common in New Zealand than Britain. We assume that footwear manufacturing by the early-20th century became comparable to Britain, although New Zealand is of course a much smaller market which would mean that companies did not enjoy economies of scale. Hopefully New Zealand readers can tell us more about this. We note boys wearing inexpensuive leather shoes with rubber soles in the late-20th century. They were almost always black shoes. British closed-toe school sandals were never very popular in New Zealand, although many schools had Roman sandals as part of the summer uniform. Boys do not appear, however, to have worn sandals much outside of school. We don not see sneakers much in the early-20th century. They began to appear in the 1960s, presumably part iof the American influence. Thgey became popular in the 1970s as was common in most countries. Flip flops were popular.

Barefeet

From an early point in the settlemena of New Zealand, children commonly went barefoot. We are not entirely sure why that was. The climate had to be a factor. This and the high cost of footwear may explsain plain why going barefoot was much more common in New Zealand than Britain. A New Zealand reader writes, "The supermarket in the photo is in fact one I regularly use and bare feet are quite normal there. Devonport is in fact one of the wealthiest 10 or so suburbs in Auckland with average home prices over $1 million dollars. So it certainly isn't a matter of poverty. There are also a lot of beaches around Devonport but this supermarket isn't near them, it is in the middle of the suburb, an urban suburb only minutes from Auckland city centre. It's also heavily immigrant with English and South Africans among the newer arrivals. It isn't just Kiwis going barefoot. The immigrants, especially the kids, seem to adjust quickly to the barefoot or jandals Kiwi style. On any given weekend the skateboarders like to hang out in front of the store and probably 75 percent will be barefoot anytime but the dead of winter. But that's not to say it's just kids and teens going barefoot, as you could see in the photo plenty of adults are too, though it is probably still more common for kids. One reason I've heard suggested for the NZ trend of bare feet is that Dr Truby King, founder of Plunket, advised parents in the 1900s to 1920s that kids shouldn't wear shoes till they were 12. He was then seen as the parenting guru, but even after his other ideas were rejected or forgotten bare feet haven't gone away. It may also be because Kiwis see it as a mark of national pride. Kiwis are well aware that kids don't go barefoot in other countries and they think of it as a wonderful Kiwi freedom that makes our country unique. Jandals and gumboots (called Wellies in the UK) are also seen as traditionally and pridefully Kiwi. Just watch any New Zealand cartoon or movie and you'll see gumboots, jandals and bare feet all well represented. (Check out the movie 'Whale Rider', or the cartoon show 'Bro Town')."

Flip-Flops/Jandals

Flip flops are very popular. Our reader writes, "You mentioned flip-flops becoming common in New Zealand as elsewhere but that's an understatement. We call then jandals here and they are actually considered a national icon, part of Kiwiana. There is a National Jandal Day in fact. The reason is we are told the mass-produced rubber flip-flop was invented in NZ in the 1950s. Whether true or not they became probably the most common form of summer footwear in NZ. In fact they are regularly worn right through the rainy winter by many Kiwis. The NZ version of Monopoly even uses jandals as one of the tokens along with Marmite and other Kiwi icons."

Sandals

British closed-toe school sandals were never very popular in New Zealand, although many schools had Roman sandals as part of the summer uniform. Boys do not appear, however, to have worn sandals much outside of school.

Leather Shoes

Consumer goods before local industries developed had to be imported and must have been very expensive. Even after cattle wwre introduced, we suspect the quality of footwear was poorer than in England and the price was higher. We assume that footwear manufacturing by the early-20th century became comparable to Britain, although New Zealand is of course a much smaller market which would mean that companies did not enjoy economies of scale. We note boys and girls wearing inexpensuive leather shoes with rubber soles in the late-20th century. They were almost always black shoes. Our reader adds, "As for the cost of shoes in New Zealand, you are correct that the price is much higher than in America or Europe. In fact the price is probably 3 to 5 times higher than in the United Strates for any given shoe. At a place like Foot Locker the prices begin about $150 and go up to $400-500 for a pair of sneakers. The small market also means a much smaller range of shoes. You can't get shoes wide or narrow. Most tend to be a bit wider than overseas because Kiwi feet are wider from going barefoot as kids. Most kids and teens wear cheap canvas sneakers or 'chucks' when they wear shoes. Once they get to high school they have to wear black leather school shoes in winter. They're generally awful quality leather shoes with thick soles that get quickly worn down."

Sneakers

We do not see sneakers much in the early-20th century. They began to appear in the 1960s, presumably part iof the American influence. They became popular in the 1970s as was common in most countries. Generally speaking, however, sneakers are not nearly as opopular in New Zealand as in America and Britain. Thec reason is orobably because going barefoot or wearing flip-flops are so common.

Boots

As in Britain, we note some children wearing Wellies (rubber boots). Wellies are often called 'gum boots' inn New Zealand.

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Created: 10:11 PM 6/23/2013
Last updated: 4:10 AM 6/27/2013