I have never used a shoehorn before. Most of my shoes have been slip ons (loafers, ballet flats) and the lace-up ones (brogues, walking shoes) have been easy to unlace to put them on.
Lately, however, I have been using long narrow boots without a side zipper and lace-up shoes that are not easy to unlace due to their fancy horizontal lacing. I was looking for shoes the other day and used a shoe horn in the shop for the first time. I was hooked. It made it so easy!!!! I bought a short shoehorn on the spot and went back today for a longer one for my calf-length boots.
Here are my new shoes (boots?)
I did a quick search today and I found that there are all kinds of shoehorn gizmos – novelty ones, ones that are leather keyrings, foldable ones and ornamental ones. Martien Tuithof in the Netherlands has a collection of 1,594 shoehorns that he has amassed since 1977 and holds the Guinness World Record for the highest number of shoehorns. Who knew? Do you use a shoehorn? I found that most of my students do. Why have I never discovered them before now? Have my feet changed? Have my shoes changed?
