In our childhood, our mom put shoelaces on us
At school, we had to tie our shoelaces alone
Still, we use shoelaces with our office shoes or sporting shoes so we can't forget about shoelaces.
You came here to learn about the history and evolution of shoelaces.
If you gain any knowledge from my article, it will add more value to my research.
The below phrase will surely confuse you,
The history of the shoelace is running back to 3,500 B.C.
yaa, it's more than 5500 years old.
Areni-1 shoelaces
This is the oldest shoe in the world and it was found in Areni-1 cave in Armenia.
Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the Areni-1 shoe dates back to 3,500 B.C
These are some pictures of the Areni-1 shoe.
Look how they made holes and used shoelaces to wear their surprising shoe. The method of tying the shoe is amazing.
The first time I saw this, I wondered how they learned to make this shoe and how they got the idea of the shoelace.
After the preservation, now this shoe is at the History Museum of Armenia.
Ötzi's shoelaces (The iceman's shoelaces)
How did people walk on ice without shoes in the past? Continue reading to get the answer.
Finding solutions to day-to-day problems is a life skill.
In 3300 B.C, Otzi had that skill. So he invented a waterproof shoe to walk on the ice.
I don't have a real image of the shoe, but I have a sketch.
By Donja Malhotra (Urheber der Schuh-Rekonstruktion und der Zeichnung) - (Original text: (1) Malhotra D. (1999): Zu den Beschädigungen der Schuhe des Mannes vomTisenjoch. Experimentelle Archäologie. Bilanz 1998. Beiheft 24,Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Nordwestdeutschland, 1999, 57-67 (S.57).(2) Malhotra D. (2003): Die Beschädigungen der Schuhe des Mannes aus demEis. Die Gletschermumie aus der Kupferzeit 2. Neue Forschungsergebnissezum Mann aus dem Eis. Schriften des Südtiroler Archäologiemuseums 3,2003, 65-74 (S.66).), CC BY-SA 2.5, link
He used shoelaces to tie his shoe.
Did you see the complex rope net? It shows us how intricately he designed this shoe.
Look how much knowledge he had to make this shoe.
Have you ever invented a solution for a problem? Please tell us in the comment section.
Greek and Roman shoelaces
We can find some evidence for the use of lace shoes in 2000 B.C
Greeks used rawhide lacing for their sandals.
Roman soldiers brought the shoe culture to western Europe.
Especially for soldiers, it's required to tie their shoes tightly because they don't have time to tie shoes on the battlefield.
If a soldier has to waste his time tying his shoes on the battlefield, it may be the last moment of his life.
So we can imagine that in the Greek and Roman eras, they used better methods to tie shoes with shoelaces.
This image is a redesign of a roman shoe.
CC BY-SA 3.0, link
Mesopotamians also used shoes at that time.
The Beginning of the modern shoelaces
In 1790 an English man named Harvey Kennedy patented a shoelace with the Aglet. (Aglet is a metal or plastic tip that protects the end of the shoelace)
With the Aglet,
- It stopped unraveling the end of the shoelace.
- It made it easier to hold the end of the shoelace
- It made it easier to lace-up shoes.
- It added a new stylish finish to shoelaces.
This simple innovation made a new shoelace culture.
But until the late 19th century, people didn't use shoelaces widely. They used buckles and buttons for attaching.
Shoelace trend
Major shoe companies like puma made very stylish shoelaces. They made not only different colors and shapes of shoes but also shoelaces. So after the late 19s, shoelaces started their golden era.
People tied shoes with any rope 5,500 years ago. But now, there are different kinds of shoelaces for different purposes.
Have you ever had a problem wearing shoes with the wrong shoelaces? Well, I had many experiences when I was young. We'll talk about them through another article.
Nowadays, we think of shoelaces as much as shoes. So we have to choose the proper shoelace at the right moment.
- In sports, we use athletic shoelaces.
- For boots, we use boot shoelaces.
- For dress shoes, we use round shoelaces.
- For kids, there are cute shoelaces.
Future of shoelaces
The main objective of technology is to make life easier. In the future, technology will help people use their shoelaces easily. I am not a scientist. So I think I can not invent a new shoelace technology. But if you want to introduce a new shoelace technology, I can give you some ideas.
- What if shoelaces get AI powers? Can you imagine auto-tying shoelaces?
- With nanotechnology, we can make ever-clean shoelaces.
If you want to write the end of shoelace history, you can invent a new replacement for shoelaces like auto-fitting shoes.
"Follow your dreams. If you want to change the world, you can do it."
We came through the shoelace history from 3500 B.C. to the 21st century. I still remember the first day I learned how to tie a shoe, that day I hated shoelaces. But now I love shoelaces. I use a variety of shoelaces for each shoe. In the past, shoelaces were just a rope, but now it's a fashion. From the shoelaces above, I mostly love to have roman shoe style. What's your favorite, let's talk about that in the comment section.
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