Unemployment boots

• Format: Manuscript
• Language: English
• Subjects: English language > Dialects > Newfoundland and Labrador; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/elrcdne/id/68214

unemployment n Almost all hardware stores and general stores sell these light green rubber boots. The legs are small so they fit tightly. At the top of the boots are 3 or 4 lace holes, or eyelets. The boots have legs about 14 inches long, but they can be bought with longer legs. A few years ago most boys and men at Shoal Brook used to wear these boots in the winter, but since about 1958, they have not been so common, being worn now mostly by woodsmen. The boys and young men have changed to shoes and overboots. Now, these green boots are called "unemployment boots" loc- ally. This is because those boots are bought late in the fall for the winter. You will recall that unemployment insurance benefits are paid in the fall also, (seasonal benefits). There- fore, in many cases the money that bought the boots was the un- employment money, so the boots came to be called "unemployment boots" around shoal Brook, and also most of Bonne Bay, if not all of it. DNE-cit Used I Used I 2 Used I Quotation edited for DNE