The Wellington boot is a type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots. They
were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. This
novel "Wellington" boot became a staple of hunting and outdoor wear for the
British aristocracy in the early 19th century.
Wellington boots are also known as 'rubber boots, wellies, wellingtons,
topboots, billy-boots, gumboots, gumbies, gummies, rainboots, Alaskan
Sneakers, kboots, gum rubbers. Design and use
Wellington boots are waterproof and are most often made from rubber or polyvinyl
chloride a halogenated polymer. They are usually worn when walking on wet or
muddy ground, or to protect the wearer from heavy showers and puddles. 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,
from chemical spills in chemical plants and from water, dirt, and mud in
horticultural and agricultural work; and serving the high standard of hygiene
required in food processing plants, operating theatres, and dust-free clean
rooms for electronics manufacture. Origins
The Duke of Wellington 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, and the
boot stopped at mid-calf. It was suitably hard-wearing for riding, yet
smart enough for informal evening wear. The boot was dubbed the Wellington and
the name has stuck in English ever since. In the 1815 portrait by James
Lonsdale, the Duke can be seen wearing the more formal Hessian style boots,
which are tasselled. 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 utilitarian 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, 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 the two British
Prime Ministers to have given his name to an item of clothing, the other being
Sir Anthony Eden. Modifications
Wellington boots were at first made of leather. However in 1852 Hiram
Hutchinson met Charles Goodyear, who had just invented the vulcanisation process
for natural rubber. While Goodyear decided to manufacture tyres, Hutchinson
bought the patent to manufacture footwear and moved to France to
establish À l'Aigle in 1853, to honour his home country. Today the company is
simply called Aigle. In a country where 95% of the population were working on
fields with wooden clogs as they had been for generations, the introduction
of the wholly waterproof, Wellington-type rubber boot became an
instant success: farmers would be able to come back home with clean, dry feet.
Production in World War I Production of the Wellington boot was
dramatically boosted with the advent of World War I and a requirement for
footwear suitable for the conditions in Europe's flooded and muddy trenches. The
North British Rubber Company was asked by the War Office 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's demands. Production in World War II
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
ground sheets to life belts and gas masks. In the Netherlands, 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 waterproof, lent itself immediately to being the preferred
protective material 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 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. 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" in the UK.
In 1980, sales of their boots skyrocketed after Lady Diana Spencer was
pictured wearing a pair on the Balmoral estate during her courtship with
Charles. Usage and terminology in other countries
= Australia= Though most commonly called "gum boots"
or "gumbies", an alternative name, "Blucher Boot", is occasionally used by
some older Australians. Blücher was Wellington's colleague at The Battle of
Waterloo and there is speculation that some early emigrants to Australia,
remembering the battle, may have confused a different design the Blucher
shoe developed by Blucher. The Australian poet Henry Lawson 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 United 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, in
addition to Canadian styles. 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. In the US white mid-calf rubber boots
are worn by workers on shrimp boats and construction workers pouring concrete.
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. Along with
leather steel cap boots, Wellingtons are essential farmer footwear in Ireland. In
general, Irish people will refer to Wellington Boots as "Wellies".
"Waterboots" is sometimes heard too. Most Wellingtons worn in Ireland are
olive green. = New Zealand=
In New Zealand, Wellingtons are called "gumboots" "wellies" or "Redbands", and
are considered essential foot wear for farmers. Gumboots are often referred to
in New Zealand popular culture such as the rurally-based Footrot Flats comic
strip. The farming town of Taihape in the North Island proclaims itself
"Gumboot capital of the World" and has annual competitions and events such as
Gumboot Day, where gumboots are thrown. 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 paid tribute to this iconic footwear in his
song "Gumboots" a modified version of Billy Connolly's "If It Wasna For Your
Wellies". = Nordic countries=
The boots are very popular in Scandinavian countries, with conditions
and climate similar to Canada. In fact, before its entry into the mobile phone
business, rubber boots were among the best-known products of Nokia. The
Finnish Defence Forces issues rubber boots to all soldiers for use in wet
conditions and during the winter with felt liners.
= Russia= In Russia rubber boots were first
introduced in the 1920s. Immediately, they became extremely popular because of
Russian weather conditions. During the rule of Joseph Stalin, 17 rubber-boot
factories were built in different parts of the Soviet Union. Along with valenki
in winter, rubber boots became the traditional footwear in springs and
autumns. When Nikita Khrushchev came to power,
the boot became charged politically in the context of the "Battle for Modesty"
campaign, where rubber footwear was proclaimed as "socialism style", while
leather, which was obviously more expensive, was derided as "capitalism
style". During the period 1961–1964 leather footwear disappeared from Soviet
shops. When Leonid Brezhnev 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.
= United Kingdom= Wellington Boots are a commonly used
form of waterproof footwear in the UK, and usually referred to as Wellies.
Wellingtons in sport and song In South Africa, the sound of people
dancing in gumboots has been incorporated into a form of
semi-traditional popular music, sometimes known as "gumboot music" or
"gumboot zydeco" in Africa, or Welly boot dance 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 were forbidden to speak with each other while
they worked, and were stripped of the right to wear their tribal garments.
They adopted a system of communication using their work attire and native
tribal rhythms. The miner uniform included Wellington boots, hard hats,
and chains; so the miners used the items of their work uniform to develop a form
of communication, for safety, and simply as a form of entertainment. Songs or
chants sometimes accompanied these gumboot dances, often with themes of
longing or loneliness, and sometimes making fun of their bosses in the songs.
The owners of the mines, impressed with this phenomenon, would allow the best
gumboot dancers to form troupes and perform. The dances, the uniform, and
the rhythms have lived on, from the gold mines in South Africa, in step dance, as
well as many other forms of music and dance that use the body to create
arrangements of rhythms. Traditional gumboot dances, as well as contemporary
versions, can be seen throughout Africa and the United States, though in South
Africa gumboot dancing has become something of a tourist attraction,
rather than a celebration of liberation under oppression. The 1986 Paul Simon
album Graceland contains the song "Gumboots". This song, like much of the
album, was recorded in South Africa. In 1974 Scottish comedian Billy Connolly
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's
alter ego Fred Dagg 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, in their fifth full album, "Bring Yer Wellies", and in the song "Kelly's
Wellies" on the same album. Between 1994 and 1996, BBC1 created
several series of William's Wish Wellingtons, about a boy named William
whose magical red Wellington Boots could grant him wishes.
Danish band Alphabeat's 2007 album Alphabeat contains a song called "Rubber
Boots/Mackintosh". In the song "Springtime", Spinal Tap
tires of spring, and they want drizzle, sleet, and "Wellies on my feet".
In the United Kingdom, there is a light-hearted sport, known as wellie
wanging, which involves throwing Wellington boots as far as possible.
Industrial wear As stated above, the all-rubber
waterproof construction, especially when mated to a steel toe has been widely
adopted 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 or a similar plastic are
worn in Abattoirs or meat-packing plants
Clean rooms for delicate and sensitive electronics, including satellites and
microchips Fast-food industry
Haz-Mat hazardous chemicals clean-up operations
Electrical Insulated for protection against electrical hazards through the
ground Surgeries
US concrete pouring US shrimp boats
Agricultural Activities See also
British Country Clothing Galoshes
Waders Mackintosh
Paddington Bear William's Wish Wellingtons
References External links
Media related to Rubber boots at Wikimedia Commons
Gumbies