Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1879 — THE HANDSOMEST FOOT. [ARTICLE]

THE HANDSOMEST FOOT.

How the Foot of a Southern Lady Compares with that of a Yankee Lady. New York Sun. A Sun reporter dropped into a Bleecker street shoe store on Friday evening, and saw Mr. Charles Wolf, a clerk, selling an exquisite pair of gaiters to a handsome girl. “What is the largest size of gaiters that you ever sold to a lady?” we asked. “The largest was a pair of nines,” Mr. Wolf replied. “Two sisters—and very pretty girls they are —live not far from here. One wears eights and the other nines.” “How do their hands compare with their feet?” was the next question. “Their hands looked as though they required a gentleman’s kid glove,” said Mr. Wolf. “But they were faultless in shape, and had the sweetest pink nails that I ever saw on a hand.” He smiled as he again referred to their feet. “The oldest sister,” he continued, “tried hard to squeeze on a pair or eights, but without success. Finally she gave me an order to make a pair of nines, and they really look well on her feet. You wouldn’t think they were nines to look at them!” “Were the girls American?” “No,” Mr. Wolf answered. “They are rosy-cheeked Irish girls.” “What is the smallest size of gaiters sold?” we asked. “Number ones,” Mr. Wolf responded. “They were bought by a married lady living in Macdougall street, and thev were actually a little too large.” “iDo you sell many number ones?” “More ones than eights.” said Mr. Wolf. “I have been in the business over fifteen years, and I find that the majorfty of those who wear ones are Southern and Spanish ladies.” “What is the difference between the foot of a Southern lady and the foot of a Yankee woman?” we inquired. “The differenoe is the same as the difference between the foot of a Southern man and a Yankee.” Mr. Wolf replied. “Southern feet are narrow, and bowed in the middle, giving them a very high instep. The Yankee foot is spread at the toes, and has more surface. You, for instance, have a genuine Yankee foot. The distance from bunion to bunion—l beg pardon, from the joint of the big toe to the joint of the little toe—is much greater than that of a Southern foot. There is much grace about the foot of a Yankee lady, but it lacks the suppleness of a Southern foot. Its merits are its exquisite shape, small heel, and strength. Compare tiie walk of a Southern women with a Yankee woman. The Yankee lady has a short, springy step. The little heel first catches the sidewalk, and the gaiters sound like the dick of a telegraph instrument. The Southern woman walks languidly, and makes long steps. The feet make the difference. Let a Yankee girl attempt the step of a Southern lady, and she would turn her ankle. There is only one woman ki the North whose foot will compare with the Southern foot.”

“Name her,” said the reporter. “The Jersey woman,”said Mr. Wolf. “The true Jersey woman has a foot on a par with that of a Kentucky belle. I can’t imagine where she gets it, but she has it* One would think that the descendants of the Aquackenonck Dutch ought to have splay feet, but it is not so.” “Numbers of the Aquackenonck Dutch marriage among the French Huguenot families of Btaten Island,” the reporter remarked, “Isn’t it possible that the mixture of the Mood may have something to do with the size of “That’s so,” replied Mr. Wolf. “I never thought of that One thing is certain. I never saw a prettier foot than the foot of the blue-blooded Jersey woman. They would go into a salt cellar. It’s worth a trip to Jersey just to look at the feet of the women.” “How do the feet of the Jersey men compare with them?”

“Good Lord!” exclaimed Mr. Wolf. “Don’t talk about it. The real Jersey man has a foot like a griddle. Pat a brick in a glove box, and it would lay clean over the foot of a Jersey man. If there is any one man in this world whose foot Is uglier than that of any other one man in this world, that man is a Jersey man.” Here a customer entered the store, and Mr. Wolf turned his back upon the reporter and concentrated his powerful mind upon a new subject.