SHOE or BOOT is a covering for the human foot with a somewhat stiff sole and a top of lighter material, usually leather, though many other materials are used. The simplest foot-protec tor is the sandal, which consists of a sole attached to the foot, usually by leather thongs. The use of this can be traced back to a very early period; and the sandal of plaited grass, palm fronds, leather or other material still continues to be the most common foot-covering among oriental races. Where climate demanded greater protection for the foot, the primitive races shaped a rude shoe out of a single piece of untanned hide ; this was laced with a thong, and so made a complete covering. Out of these two ele ments—sole without upper and upper without sole—arose the perfected shoe and boot, consisting of a combination of both. The boot proper differs from the shoe in reaching up to the knee, as exemplified by such forms as jack-boots, top-boots, Hessian boots and Wellington boots, but the term is in England now com monly applied to "half-boots" or "ankle-boots" which reach only above the ankle. A collection illustrating the numerous forms and varieties of foot-covering, formed by Jules Jacquemart, is in the Cluny Museum in Paris.
The simplest foot-covering, largely used throughout Europe, is the wooden shoe (sabot) made from a single piece of wood roughly cut into shoe form. Analogous to this is the clog of the midland counties of England. Clogs, known also as pattens, are wooden soles to which shoe or boot uppers are attached. Sole and heel are made of one piece from a block of maple or ash two inches thick, and a little longer and broader than the desired size of shoe. The outer side of the sole and heel is fashioned with a long chisel-edged implement, called the clogger's knife or stock; a second implement, called the groover, makes a groove about one eighth of an inch deep and wide round the side of the sole ; and by means of a hollower the contour of the inner face of the sole is adapted to the shape of the foot. The uppers of heavy leather, machine sewed or riveted, are fitted closely to the groove around the sole, and a thin piece of leather-binding is nailed on all round the edges, the nails being placed very close, so as to give a firm durable fastening.
For an account of the modern industry see the articles BOOT AND SHOE INDUSTRY and BOOT AND SHOE MACHINERY.