Galoshes, also known as dickersons, gumshoes, rubbers, or overshoes, are a type of
rubber boot
The Wellington boot was originally a type of leather boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military riding boot. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The "Wellington" boot became a staple of pr ...
that is slipped over
shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...
s to keep them from getting muddy or wet. In the United States, the word ''galoshes'' may be used interchangeably with
boot
A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...
, especially a
rubberized boot. In the United Kingdom, however, a galosh is an overshoe made of a weatherproof material to protect a more vulnerable shoe underneath and keep the foot warm and dry.
Instead of wrapping around the shoe
''spats'' and ''
gaiters
Gaiters are garments worn over the shoe and bottom of the pant or trouser leg, and used primarily as personal protective equipment; similar garments used primarily for display are spats.
Originally, gaiters were made of leather or canvas. T ...
'' only cover the upper part of the shoe.
Etymology and usage
The word comes through French (''galoche'') from Latin ''galopia,'' in turn from Greek ''καλοπόδιον'', from ''κᾶλον'' (wood) + ''πούς'' (foot).
By the 14th century it had been transferred to
English style clogs; that is, those with a wooden sole, and fabric or leather upper. By 1572 the term also applied to "a Gallage or Patten"; that is, an overshoe with a shaped wooden base to raise the wearer's good shoes off the ground.
[
"Goloshes" appears to be the older spelling of ''galoshes'' used previously in Great Britain. The spelling perhaps changed around 1920 to the present-day spelling.]
Galoshes is also the word for shoes in the Azorean Portuguese language.
History
The transition from a traditional wooden sole to one of vulcanized rubber may be attributed to Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear (December 29, 1800 – July 1, 1860) was an American self-taught chemist and manufacturing engineer who developed vulcanized rubber, for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844.
...
and Leverett Candee Leverett may refer to:
Places United States
* Leverett, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Leverett, Massachusetts, a town
* Leverett, Mississippi, an unincorporated community
* Leverett's Chapel, Texas, an unincorporated community
** Leverett ...
. The qualities of rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
, though fascinating to Goodyear, were highly dependent on temperature: it was tacky when hot, brittle when cold. Vulcanization
Vulcanization (British: Vulcanisation) is a range of processes for hardening rubbers. The term originally referred exclusively to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur, which remains the most common practice. It has also grown to include ...
of rubber tempered its properties so that it was easily molded, durable, and tough. A rubberized elastic webbing made Goodyear's galoshes (circa 1890) easy to pull on and off.
Galoshes are now almost universally made of rubber. In the bootmakers' trade, a "galosh" is the piece of leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...
, of a make stronger than, or different from, that of the "uppers", which runs around the bottom part of a boot or shoe, just above the sole.[
A more modern term for galoshes could be rubber boots or bad weather shoes. Overshoes have evolved in the past decades and now are being made with more advanced features, such as high traction outsoles.
There are two basic types. One is like an oversize shoe or low boot made of thick rubber with a heavy sole and instep, designed for heavy-duty use. The other one is of much thinner, more flexible material, more like a rubber ]slipper
Slippers are light footwear that are easy to put on and off and are intended to be worn indoors, particularly at home. They provide comfort and protection for the feet when walking indoors.
History
The recorded history of slippers can be traced ...
, designed solely for protection against the wet rather than for extensive walking.
In Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, the word refers to a polythene overshoe that is worn temporarily when visiting homes or offices, to protect the floors against dirt from the outside.[ ''Türk Dil Kurumu''. TDK. 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2020. Note: Insert the word galoş in the translated search bar.]
See also
* Galesh
A kalash' or galesh (گالش) is a traditional footwear of Iran. The Kurdish cotton kalash is particularly famous in Marivan. Unlike most galoshes, the "galesh" are always handwoven and with specific fabrics. It is what people in Persia used t ...
* Wellington boot
The Wellington boot was originally a type of leather boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military riding boot. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. The "Wellington" boot became a staple of pr ...
References
;Books
* Lawlor, Laurie. ''Where Will This Shoe Take You? A Walk Through the History of Footwear.'' New York: Walker and Company, 1996.
* Moilliet, J. L., ed. ''Waterproofing and Water-Repellency.'' London: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1963.
* O'Keefe, Linda. ''Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers, & More.'' New York: Workman Publishing, 1996.
* Yue, Charlotte and David. ''Shoes: Their History in Words and Pictures.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.
;Periodicals
* Canizares, George. ''"Galosh Revolution."'' US Airways Attache (December 1998): 30.
{{Footwear
Footwear accessories
History of clothing (Western fashion)
History of fashion
1920s fashion