Wellington boot
Encyclopedia
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
based upon leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
Hessian boots. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. This novel "Wellington" boot then became a fashionable style emulated by the British aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
in the early 19th century.
Design
Wellington boots are waterproof and are most often made from rubber or polyvinyl chloridePolyvinyl chloride
Polyvinyl chloride, commonly abbreviated PVC, is a thermoplastic polymer. It is a vinyl polymer constructed of repeating vinyl groups having one hydrogen replaced by chloride. Polyvinyl chloride is the third most widely produced plastic, after polyethylene and polypropylene. PVC is widely used in...
(PVC) a halogenated polymer
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
. They are usually worn when walking on wet or muddy ground, or to protect the wearer from heavy showers. They are generally just below knee-high although shorter boots are available.
The "Wellington" in contemporary society is a very common and necessary safety or hygiene shoe for vastly diverse industrial settings: for heavy industry with an integrated reinforced toe; protection from mud and grime in mines
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, chemical spills in chemical plants to highest standard hygiene requirements from food processing
Food processing
Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by humans or animals either in the home or by the food processing industry...
plants, operating theatres and state-of-the-art, dust-free clean rooms for electronics manufacture.
Origins
The Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St. James's Street, London, to modify the 18th-century Hessian boot. The resulting new boot was fabricated in soft calfskin leather, had the trim removed and was cut to fit more closely around the leg. The heels were low cut, stacked around an inch (2.5 centimetres), and the boot stopped at mid-calf. It was suitably hard-wearing for battle, yet comfortable for the evening. The boot was dubbed the Wellington and the name has stuck in British English language ever since. The Duke can be seen wearing his namesake boots, which are tasseled, in an 1815 portrait by James Lonsdale.
It should be mentioned here that in his biography, it is reported that Wellington noted that many cavalry soldiers sustained crippling wounds by having been shot in the knee — a very vulnerable and exposed part of the body when one is mounted on a horse. He proposed a change in the design of the typical boot by having it cut so as to extend the front upward to cover the knee. This modification afforded some measure of protection in battle.
Wellington's dashing new boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to emulate their war hero. Considered fashionable and foppish in the best circles and worn by dandies, such as Beau Brummell
Beau Brummell
Beau Brummell, born as George Bryan Brummell , was the arbiter of men's fashion in Regency England and a friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV...
, they remained the main fashion for men through the 1840s. In the 1850s they were more commonly made in the calf-high version, and in the 1860s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding. Wellington is one of only two British Prime Ministers to have given his name to an item of clothing, the other being Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
(his distinctive Homburg
Anthony Eden hat
An "Anthony Eden" hat, or simply an "Anthony Eden", was a silk-brimmed, black felt Homburg of the kind favoured in the 1930s by Anthony Eden, later 1st Earl of Avon . Eden was a Cabinet Minister in the British National Government, holding the offices of Lord Privy Seal from 1934–35 and Foreign...
).
Modifications
Wellington boots were at first made of leather. However in 1852 Hiram Hutchinson met Charles GoodyearCharles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
, who had just invented the vulcanization
Vulcanization
Vulcanization or vulcanisation is a chemical process for converting rubber or related polymers into more durable materials via the addition of sulfur or other equivalent "curatives." These additives modify the polymer by forming crosslinks between individual polymer chains. Vulcanized material is...
process for natural rubber. While Goodyear decided to manufacture tyres, Hutchinson bought the patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
to manufacture footwear and moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to establish "A l'Aigle" ("To the Eagle") in 1853, to honour his home country. The company today is simply called "AIGLE
Aigle (company)
Aigle is a French footwear and textile company founded in 1853 as the Compagnie du Caoutchouc Souple in Montargis by the American businessman Hiram Hutchinson....
", "Eagle"). In a country where 95% of the population were working on fields with wooden clogs
Clog (shoe)
A clog is a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood.The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole"....
as they had been for generations, the introduction of the wholly water-proof Wellington-type rubber boot became an instant success: farmers would be able to come back home with clean, dry feet.
Production in World War II
Production of the Wellington boot was dramatically boosted with the advent of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and a requirement for footwear suitable for the conditions in Europe's flooded trenches. The North British Rubber Company (now Hunter Boot Ltd) was asked by the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
to construct a boot suitable for such conditions. The mills ran day and night to produce immense quantities of these trench boots. In total, 1,185,036 pairs were made to meet the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
's demands.
In World War II, Hunter Boot was again requested to supply vast quantities of Wellington and thigh boots. 80% of production was of war materials - from (rubber) ground sheets to life belts and gas masks. In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, the British forces were working in flooded conditions which demanded Wellingtons and thigh boots in vast supplies.
By the end of the war in 1945, the Wellington had become popular among men, women and children for wet weather wear. The boot had developed to become far roomier with a thick sole and rounded toe. Also, with the rationing of that time, labourers began to use them for daily work.
Post-war
The lower cost and ease of rubber "Wellington" boot manufacture, and being entirely water-proof, lent itself immediately to being the preferred protective shoe to leather in all forms of industry. Increased attention to occupational health and safety requirements led to the steel toe or steel-capped Wellington: a protective (commonly internal) toe capping to protect the foot from crush and puncture injuries. Although traditionally made of steel, the reinforcement may be a composite or a plastic material such as ThermoPlastic Polyurethane (TPU).Such steel-toe Wellingtons are nearly indispensable in an enormous range of industry and are often mandatory wear to meet local occupational health and safety legislation or insurance requirements.
Green Wellington boots, introduced by Hunters in 1955, gradually became a shorthand for "country life" and have been popularly thought to be typical not only of "country folk" but also of people who are really townees but wear "green wellies" because they want to be thought to be "country folk", in the same way that they own Range Rovers or other 4x4 vehicles which are never driven off road.
Australia
Though most commonly called "gum boots" or "gummies", an alternative name, "Blucher Boot", is occasionally used by some older Australians. BlücherGebhard Leberecht von Blücher
Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Fürst von Wahlstatt , Graf , later elevated to Fürst von Wahlstatt, was a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon I at the Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in 1813 and at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 with the Duke of Wellington.He is...
was Wellington's colleague at The Battle of Waterloo and there is speculation that some early emigrants to Australia, remembering the battle, may have preserved an earlier term for the boots that has died out elsewhere. The Australian poet Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson
Henry Lawson was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period and is often called Australia's "greatest writer"...
wrote a poem to a pair of Blucher Boots in 1890.
Canada and the United States
Wellington boots, almost always simply called rain boots, rubber boots, billy boots, or gum-boots, are popular in Canada and the northern American states, particularly in springtime when melting snows leave wet and muddy ground. Young people can be seen wearing them to school or university and taking them to summer camps.While green Wellingtons are popular in Britain, red-soled black rubber boots are often seen in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in addition to Canadian styles. In rural and coastal Alaska, XtraTuf
Xtratuf
XtraTuf is a brand of neoprene boots manufactured by Norcross Safety Productsof Rock Island, Illinois. They are in very common use in southern Alaska, where they are known as ""...
boots are popular. Wellingtons specifically made for cold weather, lined with warm insulating material, are especially popular practical footwear for Canadian winters. This same style of lined boot is also popular among those who work in or near the ocean, as one can wade in and out of shallow, but cold ocean water, while staying dry and warm.
Shrimp fishery
A shrimp fishery is a fishery directed toward harvesting either shrimp or prawns. .-Commercial shrimping:...
and construction workers pouring concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.
Leather boots similar to Wellington's original hessian boots have been marketed in North America as "Ranch Wellingtons" or "Western Wellingtons". These boots have more rounded toes, lower heels, and less radically scalloped tops than typical "cowboy boots".
Ireland
In some parts of Ireland one can hear older people refer to their Wellington boots as "topboots", usually black in colour, as this was a popular name for Wellingtons in the 1960s. In general, Irish people will refer to Wellington Boots as "Wellies". "Waterboots" is sometimes heard too.New Zealand
In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Wellingtons are called "gumboots" and considered essential foot wear for farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s. Gumboots are often referred to in New Zealand popular culture such as the rurally-based Footrot Flats
Footrot Flats
Footrot Flats was a comic strip written by New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball. It ran from 1975 until 1994 in newspapers around the world, though the unpublished strips continued to be released in book form until 2000...
comic strip. The farming town of Taihape
Taihape
Taihape is the Northern gateway town of the Rangitikei District, located near the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. It services a large rural community and lies on State Highway 1, which runs through the centre of the North Island.- Economy :...
in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
proclaims itself "Gumboot capital of the World" and has annual competitions and events such as Gumboot Day
Gumboot Day
Gumboot Day is a native celebration of Taihape, New Zealand. It occurs the Tuesday after Easter, and has been a regular event since 1985. It is a celebration of all things to do with gumboots, and includes the famous gumboot throwing contest....
, where gumboots are thrown
Wellie wanging
Wellie wanging, or wellie throwing, is a sport that originated in Britain in Upperthong, Holmfirth. Competitors are required to hurl a Wellington boot as far as possible within boundary lines, from a standing or running start. A variation requires participants to launch the wellie from the end of...
. Most gumboots are black, but those worn by abattoir workers, butchers, fishermen and by hospital operating theatre staff and surgeons are white, and children's sizes come in multiple colours.
The term "gum boot" in New Zealand is thought to derive from the 19th-century kauri-gum diggers, who wore this footwear, or perhaps because the boots were made from gum rubber. The term is often abbreviated to "gummies". New Zealand comedy character Fred Dagg
Fred Dagg
Fred Dagg is a fictional archetype satirist from New Zealand created and acted on stage, film and television by satirist John Clarke. Clarke graced New Zealand TV screens as Dagg during the mid to late 1970s, "taking the piss" out of the post-pioneering Kiwi bloke and ‘blokesses’.When Clarke first...
paid tribute to this iconic footwear in his song "Gumboots".
Nordic countries
The boots are very popular in Scandinavian countries, with conditions and climate similar to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In fact, before its entry into the mobile phone business, rubber boots were among the best-known products of Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
.
Russia
In RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
rubber boots were first introduced in the 1920s. Immediately, they became extremely popular because of Russian weather conditions. During the rule of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, 17 rubber-boot factories were built in different parts of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Along with valenki
Valenki
Valenki are traditional Russian winter footwear, essentially felt boots: the name valenok literally means "made by felting". Valenki are made of wool felt. They are not water-resistant, and are often worn with galoshes to keep water out and protect the soles from wear and tear...
in winter, rubber boots became the traditional footwear in springs and autumns.
When Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
came to power, the boot became charged politically in the context of the "Battle for Modesty" campaign, where rubber footwear was proclaimed as "socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
style" (thus fashionable), while leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
, which was obviously more expensive, was derided as "capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
style" (thus unfashionable). During the period 1961–1964 leather footwear disappeared from Soviet shops. When Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
came to power in 1964, the usual leather footwear returned to shops, and rubber boots quickly lost their popularity, returning to their original role of utility footwear.
Wellingtons in sport and song
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
or Welly boot dance
Welly boot dance
The gumboot dance is an African dance that is performed by dancers wearing Wellington boots. In South Africa these are more commonly called gumboots....
by people from Britain. The dance began as a form of communication in the late 19th century in the gold mines of South Africa. The miners having been forbidden to speak with each other while they worked, were stripped of the right to wear their tribal garments. This is where these men adopted a system of communication using their work attire and native tribal rhythms. This miner uniform included Wellington boots, hard hats, and chains; so these men utilized the instruments they were given within this uniform to develop a new language for communication, safety, and simply as a form of entertainment. Oftentimes there were songs or chants accompanying these gumboot dances, the men would sing songs that included such content as themes of longing or loneliness, oftentimes they would make fun of their bosses in the songs. The men who owned these mines began to be impressed with this new phenomenon, and at times would allow the best gumboot dancers to form troupes and perform. These dances, uniform, and these rhythms have lived on from the gold mines in South Africa in step dance
Step dance
Step dance is the generic term for dance styles where the footwork is the most important part of the dance. Body and arm movements and styling are either restricted or considered irrelevant.Step dance is one end of a spectrum of dance styles...
a contemporary form of dance heavily influenced by gumboot dancing, as well as many other forms of music and dance that use the body to create the arrangement of rhythms. Traditional gumboot dances, as well as contemporary versions of this dance can be seen throughout Africa and the United States, though at times in South Africa the gumboot dancing has become more of a tourist attraction rather than a celebration of liberation under oppression. The 1986 Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
album Graceland
Graceland (album)
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
contains the song "Gumboots", this song, like much of the album was recorded in South Africa.
In 1974, Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
comedian Billy Connolly
Billy Connolly
William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE is a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin...
adopted a comical ode to the boot called "The Welly Boot Song" as his theme tune and it became one of his best-known songs. In 1976, satirist John Clarke
John Clarke (satirist)
John Morrison Clarke is a New Zealand-born Australian comedian, writer, and satirist. He was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and has lived in Australia since the late 1970s...
's alter ego Fred Dagg
Fred Dagg
Fred Dagg is a fictional archetype satirist from New Zealand created and acted on stage, film and television by satirist John Clarke. Clarke graced New Zealand TV screens as Dagg during the mid to late 1970s, "taking the piss" out of the post-pioneering Kiwi bloke and ‘blokesses’.When Clarke first...
reworked Connolly's song as "If it weren't for your Gumboots", and created a hit. Wellies have also been used by the band, Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm
Gaelic Storm is a Celtic band. Their music includes traditional Irish music, Scottish music, and original tunes in both the Celtic and Celtic rock genres...
, in their fifth full album "Bring Yer Wellies
Bring Yer Wellies
Bring Yer Wellies is the sixth album by Celtic band Gaelic Storm. It was released on July 25, 2007. "Wellies" is a nickname for Wellington boots, which feature prominently in the lyrics of "Kelly's Wellies" and on the album cover.-Track listing:...
", and in the song "Kelly's Wellies" on the same album.
Between 1994 and 1996, the UK's BBC1 created several series of William's Wish Wellingtons
William's Wish Wellingtons
William's Wish Wellingtons is an animated BBC children's television series made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment that was first aired from 25 October 1994 to 28 November 1997. It was narrated by Andrew Sachs of Fawlty Towers fame. It was also translated into Gaelic and aired as on BBC Two Scotland...
, about a boy named William whose magical red Wellington Boots could grant him wishes.
Danish band Alphabeat
Alphabeat
Alphabeat are a Danish pop band from Silkeborg, fronted by singers Stine Bramsen and Anders SG and signed to Polydor Records. Their single "Fascination" was a major hit in Denmark during the summer of 2007 and a significant hit in the United Kingdom in 2008...
's 2007 album contains a song called "Rubber Boots/Mackintosh". The song says "You should wear rubber, always wear rubber" and it is believed to be a metaphor for the use of condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s.
In the song "Springtime", Spinal Tap tires of spring, and they want drizzle, sleet, and "Wellies on my feet".
In Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, there is a light-hearted sport, known as wellie wanging
Wellie wanging
Wellie wanging, or wellie throwing, is a sport that originated in Britain in Upperthong, Holmfirth. Competitors are required to hurl a Wellington boot as far as possible within boundary lines, from a standing or running start. A variation requires participants to launch the wellie from the end of...
, which involves throwing Wellington boots as far as possible.
Some individuals find wearing Wellington boots to be erotic. See boot fetishism.
Industrial wear
As stated above, the all-rubber (or plastic, composite, etc.) waterproof construction, especially when mated to a steel toe was an enormous and widely adopted footwear for all manner of industry. An exhaustive list is beyond the scope of the article, but a short list would include:White boots, one-piece construction, commonly of PVC
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
or a similar plastic are worn in
- Abattoirs or meat-packing plants
- Clean rooms for delicate and sensitive electronics, including satellites and microchipIntegrated circuitAn integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s - Fast-food industry
- Haz-Mat hazardous chemicals clean up operations
- SurgeriesSurgerySurgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
- U.S. concrete pouring
- U.S. shrimp boats
See also
- Boot fetishism
- GaloshesGaloshesGaloshes , also known as boat shoes, dickersons, or overshoes, are a type of rubber boot that is slipped over shoes to keep them from getting muddy or wet. The word galoshes might be used interchangeably with boot, especially a rubberized boot...
- MackintoshMackintoshThe Mackintosh or Macintosh is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberised fabric...
- Paddington BearPaddington BearPaddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature. He appeared on 13 October 1958 and was subsequently featured in several books, most recently in 2008, written by Michael Bond and first illustrated by Peggy Fortnum....
- William's Wish WellingtonsWilliam's Wish WellingtonsWilliam's Wish Wellingtons is an animated BBC children's television series made by Hibbert Ralph Entertainment that was first aired from 25 October 1994 to 28 November 1997. It was narrated by Andrew Sachs of Fawlty Towers fame. It was also translated into Gaelic and aired as on BBC Two Scotland...