Earth Shoes 1970’s
Does anyone remember Earth Shoes? Somehow these things came up in a conversation the other night. Man they were the ugliest shoes ever made and I owned a pair. Introduced in the 70’s and unlike other shoes the front of the soles were thick and the heels were thin. “Negative heel technology” as they were called. I wonder if they were inspired by the keep on trucking guy of the 60’s. He looked like he was trucking uphill.
I did a little research and the company that made them is still in existence and has recently reintroduced “negative heel technology” shoes again. It is to be hoped that this time around they are much better looking.
I must admit, I owned a pair of these shoes. I wore them in the 70’s. I’m sure I bought multiple pairs over the course of a year. If you wore them all the time as I did, the natural dirt that was picked up by everyday wear and tear made the suede shiny. Then they looked crappy and you had to get another pair. I remember buying them at a shoe store in the old Rockingham Mall in Salem on Rt 28.
I wasn’t much of a “sneaker” wearer back then. I always wore the Earth Shoes or I would wear what we called “sh!@ kickers”. These were just leather, high ankle work boots that seemed to be in style when I was in high school. I remember going to the Army/Navy store on Essex Street in Lawrence to buy them. I also bought Levi’s jeans there and those off-white painters pants. Earth Shoes and “sh!@ kickers looked good with these pants. Or so I thought.
Throughout the years when searching for a comfortable casual shoe, I often wondered if there was a store that still sold the Earth Shoes. Ya, they were kinda ugly, but honestly, they were comfortable.
Oh, by the way, I still know a certain someone, maybe someone like an ex-husband, that still wears these out-dated shoes. I have no idea where he gets them, but I always laugh when I see him wearing them. One more reason why he’s my “ex”.
I remember them but I can honestly say that I never owned a pair. I was always wearing sneakers or work boots.
Donna…way too funny!!!!!
Earth shoes are pretty ugly, but if you’re the type of person that needs comfy shoes and can sacrifice the looks, well this is the brand to wear. I want Earth to manufacture a men’s dress shoe, because I can’t wear their current styles with dressier clothes.
So fed up with ugly Earth shoes, I recently submitted designs for men’s dress shoe that have the traditional narrow shape. The look is fresh and they have the negative heel technology.
If you’d like to support my cause for Earth to design a pair of elegant mens dress shoes please go to (http://www.earth.us/display_forums.aspx) and reply to NEED DRESS SHOES by Andy Schultz at 10/21/2008 9:57:57 PM ( 0 replies ). Anything you can add is greatly appreciated and thanks!