Obviously, it will be interesting for everyone who lives according to the principle of « a day without a holiday!», walking around the Internet, without any confirmed status, the date celebrated on February 4 – is the birthday of rubber galoshes.
Although the date is controversial, as is the etymology of the word «kaloshi» (or «galoshi»). Some claim that it comes from French, others – from Greek. One way or another, in the modern sense, almost every person knows that galoshes – are shoes or an accessory for shoes. In the 1920s, there was even a fashion for wearing galoshes, and for the Soviet Union this item was part of the export.
According to one information, galoshes appeared in England in the 19th century, where damp weather itself suggested to people the idea of preserving their shoes by putting special covers on top of them to protect them from getting wet. On the other hand, there is evidence that at the beginning of the same 19th century in the United States, galoshes went on sale in Boston. So here, too, not everything is clear.
It is known that an English inventor named Radley received a patent for the production of fabric shoe covers impregnated with rubber in 1803. The idea was good, but the execution did not pass the test of practice, since the impregnation was unstable, which led to very rapid damage to the first galoshes. In addition, there was no possibility of mass production of innovations.
In the USA in 1839, a man named after one of the world's leading car tire companies, – Charles Goodyear, managed to find a way to vulcanize rubber that gave it elasticity. This is how rubber appeared. Even before Goodyear made his discovery, he experimented with rubber and, like Radley, began producing galoshes introduced in the 1820s, and even managed to sell a patent for their production to one company. However, these products had the same «enviable» qualities as Radley's galoshes: they became soft in hot weather and cracked in the cold.
Only the invention of rubber provided the opportunity for the production of galoshes on an industrial scale. It is worth noting that already in the 1860s, joint Russian-American industrial enterprises for the production of rubber products were created in Russia. One of them was very famous and remained so in the 20th century already during the existence of the USSR. It was called «Triangle» («Red Triangle» in Soviet times).
It would seem that galoshes that have become a thing of the past have suddenly and today begun to arouse interest, first among fashion history lovers, and then among ordinary people. After all, in some regions the weather still likes to present «surprises», making you think about what to wear.
Modern technologies and materials, production methods make it possible to turn galoshes into fashionable bright and stylish clothes. And today's date – is another reason to pay tribute to its inventors.