As promised, I am adding a bonus exchange between Sarah and me on Instagram DM with Sarah’s permission.
Anyone remember Dr. Scholls sandals circa 1970? Again given the difference in our ages, I am surprised that Sarah and I shared a love of these shoes. They were all the rage and both of us just had to have them. Here are our stories.
Sarah: Cleaning up my shop and I remembered an earlier shoe-love story!! Those Dr.Scholls clogs/slides. I had them when we lived in a triple decker in Lynn, and coming down the back wooden stairs from the kids’ apartment above us I slipped down the stairs. My dad came out of our kitchen door on the landing, I was crying and sprawled on the stairs, and he ripped the clogs off my feet shouting “it’s these damn shoes!” and threw them in the trash bin outside. I started bawling harder, for my beloved shoes! We moved from that house when I was 7, so earlier than the white sneakers. I didn’t dare ever get another pair of the Dr.Scholls until I was an adult, I also had them in Italy, and they would CLACK loudly on the cobblestones. The ones I had falling down the stairs in Lynn had navy blue straps .
Anne: I have a tragic Dr. Scholl story too! I was riding my bike in them. I had a glass fish aquarium outside drying. I cut a turn too close to the aquarium and put my foot through it. I didnt damage myself when my foot went in, but It was a major injury. Many stitches and I cut a nerve in half. I have only partial feeling on top of my right foot. I was bed ridden for all of July and missed horseback riding camp. Mine also had navy straps. I was a bit older 11 or 12 I think. We must be sisters! First reeboks and now Dr. Scholl’s. I never went back to them.
Sarah: I wanted to go back to them, and nostalgically tried buying some before moving to Rome (hadn’t dared cross my dad who forbade them FOREVER all those years!) but mostly I wore the geta because the Dr. Scholls really aren’t all that comfortable! And ironically they always feel like a disaster waiting to happen.
Anne: Agreed on the Dr. S’s. Way too much trauma for me to try again. Both my parents were doctors. They turned white when they saw the cut. I knew it was really bad when I saw their faces.
Sarah: Yikes!!!
