While I was going through physical therapy for my knee surgery, one of the therapists suggested that I purchase a new pair of shoes. “Your shoes look good, but they are not supplying the arch support that you require.” She went on to recommend a store and a brand for me to consider. I took her advice and went to the store that very afternoon.
I can’t remember the last time I had gone to a real shoe store to buy shoes. By real I mean the type of store where a salesman helps you select your shoe size with the fancy foot gauge that shoe salesmen wield.
For the past several years I’ve purchased a size 9 or 9.5 at the self serve stores. After careful examination, the shoe salesman told me two things that I found to be a bit surprising. First, I needed a size 10, and second, my two feet are not the same size. My left is about a quarter inch longer than my right. The only logical explanation is the inch I’ve lost in height ended up in my feet. Who knew? Certainly not me
Back in the day when my shoes were purchased more by necessity than desire, Jack Percells were the go to shoe. As for me, I had Red Ball Jets or PF Flyers. They were high tops made of canvas. They came in two colors, black with white or white with white. I preferred the white combo.
My parents bought them for me for gym class at Lincoln Elementary. I tied them together and they hung on the cross bar of my school desk chair. We referred to them as “gym shoes”, and I wore them when I went to gym class, period. After school let out for the summer, they became my summer shoes. The next school year I got new gym shoes and they hung on the rungs of my chair until the following summer.
The cool kids wore Jack Percells. It took me several years, but I finally joined their ranks as I entered the sixth grade. I didn’t know it then, but Jack Percell was a famous badminton player. His shoes were designed to provide better support on badminton courts because of a steel shank embedded in its heel. Unlike basketball shoes (running shoes hadn’t been invented yet), Jack Purcell’s had perfectly flat soles, unmarred by grooves that could tear up clay or grass. They were low cut, white, with their trademark “blue tip”.
I only remember going to a shoe store once with my family, but I know that it was a semi-annual excursion. My parents took me to the local store for new “dress shoes”. Dress shoes were for church and formal gatherings like Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners with our extended family.
As the shoe salesman measured my foot, he asked my mom what we were looking for. She replied, “We’d like a sturdy shoe.” She pointed at a couple that looked like the type that might fit the bill.
In the 50s there was a lace-less shoe called the Shu-lok.. It had a tongue that snapped up to slide the foot in and snap down to lock it in place. Black was the most common color.
As the salesman retrieved the shoes my mom pointed out, another boy was trying on shoes too. He was seated about ten feet to my right and was working with a second salesman. His parents liked the look of the Shu-lok.
I tried on the shoes that my mom liked but envied the boy sitting to my right. As the salesman finished tying my shoe he asked, “What do you think?”
“They’re fine.” But my dad realized that fine wasn’t good.
He said, “Let’s try a pair of those.” And he pointed to the Shu-loks.
I had heard the salesman tell the boy’s parents that the shoes cost $5.00 and some odd cents. That was almost double what the shoes we were considering cost. I couldn’t believe that my dad was willing to pay so much for a pair of shoes.
I tried them on. They fit. We bought them, and I walked a bit taller as we exited the store.
I paid $135.00 for the shoes that my physical therapist recommended. I like them so much that I purchased two pairs. One is grey with bright blue laces, and the second is navy blue with matching laces. They are very stylish with great arch support.
Moving forward, my therapist offered up another bit of advice. Now that you know your size, and what you like, you can go on-line. You’ll probably find them for less. She’s right. I looked yesterday and you can purchase them for $85.00. They have size 9 and 9.5, but they are completely out of 10’s.
I’ll have to expand my search.