It began with an innocuous gift, a pair of penny loafers. The question arose, “Why a penny?” I figured the loafer part came from the fact that they were casual shoes to be worn while relaxing. Wrong!
My quest for an answer began on a dairy farm. Cows who are ready for milking move to a loafing area. Several websites extol the benefits of keeping bovine in this area before and after milking.
Norwegian dairy farmers wore easy-on/easy-off shoes when walking to and from the loafing area - ergo loafers. By the 1930s, Norwegians began selling these comfortable shoes. Esquire, then the final word in men’s fashion, did an article about loafers, and they became a casual wear necessity for American males.
Several U.S. companies began producing them. G.H. Bass & Company named their version Weejuns from Norwegian. To add a distinctive flair, Bass added a slotted saddle across the vamp of the shoe.
By the 50s, loafers had become de rigueur for teenagers. Enter the ubiquitous penny. Here, the streams of time and fiction muddy our search. Allegedly, concerned parents would slip dimes into the slots; so loafer-wearing adolescents would always have change for an emergency phone call. Back when people used payphones and a call cost a dime. Somehow a penny replaced the dime. Why? Several stories abound.
Kids liked the look of a coin in the shoe. Once the dime was used, they inserted pennies because they were cheaper. A shiny copper penny looked better in the loafer. The penny was added for good luck. Whatever the reason, the fad caught on by the mid-50s.
I’m confident about the etymology of loafer as slang for a slip-on shoe, but the veil of time cloaks the reason for inserting a penny. One question remains unanswered. Do I put pennies in my new shoes? – As ever BB
“I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty" - Imelda Marcos
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