flappers and galoshes

J. Eulenberg eulenbrg at U.WASHINGTON.EDU
Thu Nov 6 07:00:16 UTC 2003


I don't know where the story came from, but my 96-year old mother-in-law
says this is the definition of flapper.  They wore their galoshes that way
because it absolutely sent their mothers up the walls, so she says.
Probably one of her few moments of wickedness.  I read it to my husband
from another source, he snorted and said it couldn't possibly be the
reason, but we let his mother stand as the final source.  And she says
galoshes with the tongues hanging out and flapping.

Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg <eulenbrg at u.washington.edu>

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003, Sam Clements wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Sam Clements <sclements at NEO.RR.COM>
> Subject:      flappers and galoshes
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There is an oft-repeated story about "flapper" coming from the fashion in
> Britain in or around WWI of young women wearing their boots/shoes unlaced or
> untied, probably as a form of rebellion to convention or authority.
>
> Assuming there was NO such fashion documented, when and where did this story
> arise?
>
> Flapper obviously goes back into the late 1800's, and morphed into what we
> today think of as the classic flapper of the 1920's.  But where did that
> crazy story come from?  Or is it crazy?
>



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