Abandoned footwear

Abandoned footwear, generally a lone boot or shoe, is frequently noted in ponds and along roadsides (particularly highways). Pairs of shoes, tied together by their laces, are sometimes thrown in great numbers into shoe trees. It is not known why old shoes and boots seem to be abandoned more often than other articles of clothing, such as shirts or caps.

In Popular Culture

• A fisherman hauling up an old boot, rather than a fish, is a old comic-strip joke.

External Links

• About Shoe Friends, a British group dedicated to keeping people from abandoning or binning their shoes.
• Flickr photos: footwear abandoned by the side of the road, on sidewalks, and elsewhere.
• Wichita Eagle article about shoe abandonment (google cache).