Shoe tossing

Evidence of shoe tossing in Edmonton, Alberta

Shoe tossing (or shoe flinging), the act of using shoes as improvised projectiles or weapons, is a constituent of a number of folk sports and practices. Today, it is commonly the act of throwing a pair of shoes onto telephone wires, powerlines, or other raised wires. A related practice is shoe tossing onto trees or fences. Shoe tossing has been observed in areas of the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador.

In the Arab world: a gesture of contempt

In the Arab world, shoe flinging is a gesture of extreme disrespect. A notable occurrence of this gesture happened in Baghdad, Iraq in 2003. When U.S. forces pulled down a giant statue of Saddam Hussein during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, many Iraqi detractors of Hussein threw their shoes at the fallen statue.

This may be an ancient gesture from the Middle East; Psalm 60:10, speaking of some of the traditional enemies of Judah, says that "Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe. . ." (KJV)

The shoe represents the lowest part of your person (your foot) and displaying or throwing a shoe at someone or something in Arab cultures denotes that the person or thing is "beneath you." This is why you never put your feet up on a table or desk in an Arab country, because to show the bottom of your feet or shoes is an extreme insult. It is also why you saw Iraqi citizens smacking torn down posters of Saddam Hussein with their shoes. It is also why for many years the lobby of the Al-Rashid Hotel, in Baghdad had tile mosaic depicting U.S. President George H.W. Bush with a look of astonishment on his face. This was intended to force any visitors to walk over his face to enter the hotel.

Shoes hung from overhead wires (Shoefiti)

Shoe flinging or Shoefiti is the American and Canadian practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables. The shoes are tied together by their laces, and the assembly is apparently then thrown at the wires as a sort of bolas. This practice plays a widespread, though mysterious, role in adolescent folklore in the United States. Shoe flinging has also been reported in Australia, Sweden and Norway.

Shoe flinging occurs throughout the United States, in rural as well as in urban areas. Usually, the shoes flung at the wires are sneakers; elsewhere, especially in rural areas, many different varieties of shoes, including leather shoes and boots, also are thrown.

A number of sinister explanations have been proposed as to why this is done. Some say that shoes hanging from the wires advertise a local crack house where crack cocaine is used and sold. Others claim that the shoes so thrown commemorate a gang-related murder, or the death of a gang member, or as a way of marking gang turf. A newsletter[1] (PDF) from the mayor of Los Angeles, California reports that "[m]any Los Angeles residents fear that these shoes indicate sites at which drugs are sold or worse yet, gang turf," and that city and utility employees had launched a program to remove them. These explanations have the ring of urban legend to them, especially since the practice also occurs along relatively remote stretches of rural highways that are unlikely scenes for gang murders or crack houses.

Other, less sinister explanations also have been ventured. Some claim that shoes are flung to commemorate the end of a school year, or a forthcoming marriage as part of a rite of passage. It has been suggested that the custom may have originated with members of the military, who are said to have thrown military boots, often painted orange or some other conspicuous color, at overhead wires as a part of a rite of passage upon completing basic training or on leaving the service. Others claim that the shoes are stolen from other people and tossed over the wires as a sort of bullying, or as a practical joke played on drunkards. Others simply say that shoe flinging is a way to get rid of shoes that are no longer wanted, are uncomfortable, or don't fit. It may also be another manifestation of the human instinct to leave their mark on, and decorate, their surroundings.

In the motion picture Wag the Dog, a spin doctor flings shoes into trees as a part of a campaign to call attention to a fictional war hero named Sergeant William Schumann, who was given the nickname "The Old Shoe." In another motion picture, Like Mike, a character is struck by lightning in an attempt to retrieve shoes from a power line, and acquires superpowers as a result. This is an unlikely dénouement.

In fact, shoe flinging is unwise and may cause utility outages. Some people have been killed by electrocution while trying to remove shoes from power lines. Utilities have asked the public to call them instead of trying to remove the shoes themselves.

In some neighborhoods, shoes tied together and hanging from power lines or tree branches signify that someone has died. The shoes belong to the dead person. The reason they are hanging, legend has it, is that when the dead person's spirit returns, it will walk that high above the ground, that much closer to heaven.

Occurrences in movies

• There is a scene in Tim Burton's film Big Fish where a man's shoes are thrown on a power line.
• The 1997 movie Wag the Dog contains several scenes where old shoes are thrown onto trees and telephone lines in support of a supposed war hero.
• In The Sandlot 2 after David Durango, one of the main characters, gets a pair of Nike shoes he throws his old pair onto the power lines.
• In Stick It during the introductory animation.
• In Freedom Writers there is a brief shot where a pair of sneakers is shown thrown over a power line in Long Beach.
• In Like Mike, a pair of shoes is tossed onto power lines. The film's protagonist retrieves the shoes, being electrocuted in the process. As a result, he is endowed with the talent of the pairs' previous owner.

Occurrences in relation to books

• Tossed shoes appear on the cover design of the Russian translation of D. S. LLiteras' novel "In the Heart of Things."

Shoe tree

The Shoe Tree in Morley Field, San Diego.

A Shoe Tree, not to be confused with the shoe-preservation device of the same name, is a tree (or, occasionally, a powerline pole or other wooden object) that has been festooned with old shoes. Shoe trees are generally located alongside a major local thoroughfare, and may have a theme (such as high-heeled shoes). There are currently at least seventy-six such shoe trees in the United States, and an undetermined number elsewhere. Shoe Trees are closely related to shoe flinging or shoe tossing, in which tied-together pairs of shoes are thrown over telephone or electric wires.

Competitive boot throwing

Boot throwing has been a competitive sport in New Zealand, for many years although not one that is taken very seriously. Gum Boots or Wellington Boots are the heavy rubber boots worn by most farm workers and many other outdoor workers. A competition to see who can throw a gumboot the furthest is a feature of many Agricultural Field Days in the rural communities. The town of Taihape in the central North Island is particularly identified with this sport; they claim to be the Gum Boot Throwing Capital of New Zealand. They hold an annual competition in the main street and award a Golden Gumboot as the trophy. See Wellie wanging.

Since 2003 the sport has been practiced competitively in Eastern Europe. The 2004 World Championship Competition was won by Germany who is hosting the 2005 Competition at Döbeln. Apparently teams are also expected from Sweden, Estonia and Russia.

See also

• Abandoned footwear
• Folklore
• Overhead powerline
• Telegraph post

References

• The Straight Dope on shoe flinging.
• The Secret Language of Sneakers at snopes.com.
• Why do people throw their old shoes onto overhead wires? Attests and attempts to explain the custom in Australia.

External links

• Site dedicated to "shoefiti"
• Theories about shoes on wires
• New Zealand shoe throwing
• Urban legend
• Roadside America's article on shoe trees
• Shoe Tree in Armstrong Park, Newcastle in its post council cut down state
• Shoes in Santa Barbara