General Chat

It appears, despite your granny telling you your 'new fangled' fashion shoes will give you bunions, bunions have been around a long time!

About 27% of 14th and 15th Century skeletons found in Cambridge digs had bunions!
Interestingly:
"Sufferers were more likely to be men (20 out of 31 finds), better off, urban and clergy, despite the latter being forbidden from wearing the fashionable footwear, known as poulaine"
"The pointiness of shoes became so extreme that Edward IV passed a law in 1463 limiting the toe length to less than two inches (five cm)."

Full article here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-57427365

Now that is very interesting, I love this sort of information, thank you for putting it up.

It's the small things that make history interesting to me :-D

down to the winklepicker shape of shoe

Bet granny was just repeating what HER granny said to her :-D

:-D :-D :-D

About 5 years ago, when my eldest grand daughter (B) was about 14, my daughter asked me to take my shoes off, and show B my feet. .
Somewhat bemused, I complied with her request.
Daughter was speechless!
'Where are your bunions and gnarled toes?' She asked
'I've never had bunions or gnarled toes', I replied.
'But you wore heels, and platform shoes', daughter spluttered.
'I never wore stiletto type heels, and if I wore platforms, the heel may have been 4 inches, but the platform was 2 inches, and I stopped wearing any heels (and flared jeans) at 19, after walking 14 miles home, in wedged platforms, after a 3 foot snowfall!'

I have only worn flat sandals or boots since - no shoes.

When I asked what it was about, it appears B wanted to buy some heeled shoes, and daughter wanted to show her the damage that could be caused by unsuitable footwear! :-D :-D :-D
Granny showed her how good your feet could be (better then her mums) if you wear sensible, comfy footwear, that you can walk at least 10 mles in! :-D :-D

But, I didn't do the 'don't wear those' - her mum did!

My mother regularly lectured me about wearing high heels and the effect it would have on my feet. Sure enough of latter years the problems have emerged and once again it seems that that old witch was right.

HOWEVER, thanks to Ancestry I have discovered that my father had a operation for hammer toe in 1925. Didn't used to think Thames Watermen wore stiletto heals but who knows!

I've had Bunions and Polices mans foot both painful and both caused by inappropriate work shoes. ( uniform ) not my choice.

My hubby was born with funny bunion type big toe joints

They were genetic through his mums side

His shoes used to stretch to the shape .he could only wear leather shoes too

One foot got increasing sore and the joint went more over and his big toe started to go under the next toes


He was referred to hospital and he saw a very grumpy surgeon who insisted the problem had been caused by ill fitting shoes and boots .

When I insisted nooo he was born with the feet like that AND our daughter had inherited her dads wonky toes I was shouted down

He did have a bunion operation and it was straightened and had a big pin through the end of his toe to the joint

It was so painful recovery he wouldn’t have the other foot done :-(

Crikey, Shirley - he certainly was a grumpy surgeon.
Sounds the sort of person who would say someone with webbed feet had spent too long in the water! :-D :-D :-D

Maggie

Absolutely

I wasn’t going to be bullied or let hubby be incorrectly diagnosed because i knew his feet were born that way

Checking over our daughter too soon after she was born was she is like me but has her dads feet !

She has often said her feet are awkward cos she has dads big toes and my high instep

She does have problems getting comfy shoes too as a size 5 even though I am an 8 and her dad an 8/9 :-(

I think I have said this before but my mum shouted with joy when I was born. Not because she had a girl at last but that I had the same big toes. She had been put through agonies trying to straighten them.

Whenever I see a chiropodist, or lately an orthopod , I always tell them about my toes before I take my socks off. Fortunately they are not extreme and just look like everyones who have worn unsuitable shoes.

I have a problem with my little toe!

There is seemingly a joint missing, so that both little toes are sort of bent outwards and upwards.

I was born with it, inherited through my dad's family, two of my brother's daughters have it, but my daughter escaped.

It doesn't sound like much, but shoes always rub them, especially the right one, making them very sore, until the shoes are worn in .............. and out of shape on the outside edge.


Now I have gout in my big toe joints, instead of bunions! Caused by arthritis, as I don't drink!