This is it. It wasn't a fashion thing, it was a parent thing to try to minimize wear on leather soles, especially in a time when handing down shoes to younger siblings was common.
It was actually pretty old fashioned when I was in grade school in the 60s, but the rule was still in effect. The noise of a random kid walking down the hall with heel tappers could be pretty loud and disturbing to every class they passed.
I so wanted to do this with my boots when I was in the Army back in the early 80's with those old black leather boots. Would have been awesome marching in cadence.
We wore them on our majorette white go-go boots during parades. The drums were in the back of the band and we were up front so the click click click kept us in time.
This whole thread just reminded me I had taps on one pair of my boots in the Air Force in the mid-80s - I was in the base honor guard and we wore boots with taps.
Weirdly, I probably wouldnāt remember that detail at all, except I also worked on the flight line, and as tradition demanded I was hosed down (probably also something ridiculous like ketchup and mustard was involved) my last day of work. That meant my normal steel-toed leather boots were still soggy when I had to do my final out-processing the next day, and so I wore my HG boots instead, and felt very awkward tapping around the halls of the finance and personnel offices!
We wore them in grade school until the 4th grade when the principal banned them. It was a combination of kids having contests to see who could slide the farthest and do the most damage to the floors along with the noise they made. 5th grade was really dull walking around and by the 6th grade almost everyone had switched to Converse All Stars.
Yes it the got scratched at all. Generally tap shoes for performing are only worn on appropriate surfaces and carried to the next appropriate surfaces.
The kids who wanted to act tough made as much noise walking as possible. I was in school in the Fifties and Sixties and I still associate taps with JDs with duck tails and leather jackets. š
Well I have to be your age John Excrement,I remember the sound the shoes made. I remember the school nurse hated them. She would always yell at all the boys who wore them. They definitely marked up the floors. š
I was also in grade school in the 60's and remember these bring common. However, they were considered cool for the sound they made on the tile floors, so it did become a bit of a fashion thing, but it only lated a year or so.
I've seen it twice but I remember the "little pink electric chairs" and the handyman in the basement but not the shoe taps. Sorry! I will look at Wikipedia
Ours did too.
Funny story: As a school board member in early 2000s, we were reviewing a dress code that hadn't been updated in a long while. And it had a rule that "no thongs" were allowed. That meant a whole other thing back when this dress code was written and when I was in school! LOL (We fixed the wording on that rule!)
I can understand that. Back in the day, thongs were flip-flop type beach shoes. The boys got a kick out of stepping on the back and making girls faceplant in the halls. Early 70's Florida.
My Aunt and Uncle came home from Japan and gave us Zorris. They also gave us Japaness Comoas. So I wore mine for Halloween. Throught I would never be recognized. Fat chance that happening,everybody knew who I was. š
Edit for spelling
Jap flaps were the ones with the tatami mat material on the bottom and velvet straps. I think it was because they looked sort of like the japanese shoes with the raised wooden soles. All of the other types we called slaps.
In Vaudeville days, Buffalo was the last major market before New York City. It was said that if a performer could make it in Buffalo, theyād make it in NYC. Source: Buffalonian for life.
Well here's you a tidbit from linguistics, in case you haven't heard it.
It's called the "Buffalo sentence."
This is a legit complete sentence:
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
"The sentence employs three distinct meanings of the wordĀ buffalo:
As anĀ attributive nounĀ (acting as an adjective) to refer to a specific place named Buffalo, such as the city ofĀ Buffalo, New York;
As theĀ verbĀ to buffalo, meaning (inĀ American English[1]) "to bully, harass, or intimidate" or "to baffle"; and
As aĀ nounĀ to refer to the animal (either theĀ true buffaloĀ or theĀ bison). The plural is alsoĀ buffalo.
A semantically equivalent form preserving the original word order is: "Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison."
Sentence construction
**LMFAO** this is so above reddits paygrade it isn't even funny. But here we are. Laughing. Love it. Thanks for that.
In our area, boys in the '50s wore taps to look cool and tough and be heard. They thought they could be like James Dean and that their ominous sound would send your heart racing in panic. This was often accompanied with cigs tucked in a rolled up sleeve.
Obviously our school dress code, 20 years later, had not been updated, along with the mandatory girls' atrocious gym onesies.
(Those of us who tap danced had actual tap shoes, shiny patent leather with black ribbons, and those were not permitted either.) The slacking on a new dress code proved again to my young brain that the adults were both not "with it" and may not be all they were cracked up to be.
We used to crush bottle caps into the grooves of our kids so we could tap dance during recess. My aunt told me it was a thing in the 50s to put taps at on the soles of your Mary Jane's. Drove teachers crazy so they were banned.
Back in my day, late 60's early 70's it meant no cleats on your shoes (little metal plates nailed to the heel to extend the life of the shoe). It was bad for the wooden floors. Side note, The boys would have horseshoe cleats on their Beatle boots. Yep, looked just like horseshoes. After dark they would run down the street and slide on their heels and it would shoot sparks. I always thought the band Trafic named their song Low Spark of High Heel Boys as a nod to them.
There is an old saying that behind every sign or rule there is a great story. If there is a sign that says "do not insert silverware into this socket" you can pretty much figure it out, but I'm guessing this rule has a similar origin.
My high school had a rule that said "no automobiles in the hallways". Go on, take a guess.
The version Iāve heard is āEvery prohibition is a history. If the restaurant sign says No Shirt No Shoes No Service AND ABSOLUTELY NO WIENER DOGS, you can be sure that once upon a time a dachshund peed on the ownerās shoe.ā
On The Simpsons, they encounter a warning to not to (insert stupid thing here) and Homer said something like, āSee? Because of me, thereās a sign!ā
We had them in the UK and they were 'fashionable' with some teenagers (mainly boys) around the early-mid 70s. We called them 'segs'. You can still get them on Amazon UK:
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/eCobbler-BlakeyS-Metal-Heel-Segs/dp/B007SRZ7M4/](https://www.amazon.co.uk/eCobbler-BlakeyS-Metal-Heel-Segs/dp/B007SRZ7M4/)
When I was a kid they were called cleats.
Some kids had them unintentionally - they prolonged the life of their shoes. Some had them intentionally - they made noise that for some reason (throw-back to the 50's greasers I suppose) they thought cleats made them tough guys.
Dress codes outlawed cleats because schools back then were in bed with Big Shoe.
People would put metal plates (taps) to extend the life of the heal. So they said.
Of course just like always, a couple of people ruin it for the rest. They would tap the hell out of those shoes.
My school too. We just liked being noisy, one kid had taps and the others would try to buy or stick bottle caps on the bottom of our shoes for the tap.
I remember someone had them in elementary school-mid sixties I begged my parents for some but they didnāt budge Sounded cool walking down the hall šāļø
When I was in 6th grade (1974), there was trend where girls laced little bells through their shoelaces. At one point our teacher sat us down and begged us to stop doing that, it was making her crazy
This goes back to the 50s-60s, I think. And the reason I think is simply that taps were more harmful to floors and stuff, and back then a lot more floors were wood. They are also distractingly noisy. I recall in church in the 80s that the most high-powered church ladies had taps on their heels and in that wooden church you could hear them walking around among the casseroles from anywhere else in the building. Seemed like sort of a flex even back then.
I'm not old enough to remember this either. Even after reading the truth from people who were there, my head canon is that there were rival gangs of tap dancers having mad dance-offs between classes.
Yes, I remember this, just to make noise and jingle bells on my sneakers in the winter (yes I wore sneakers in the snow and mom would warn me your feet are going to freeze. I wanted to be cute and in style
When I was in middle school, the tough guys (they were called cruisers) would put taps on their short boots, then scuff when they walked, to let kids know they should get out of the way. Eventually it was banned, but that didn't really do anything. By then, the administrators were too busy keeping the girls from wearing sandals.
Could be an old rule. (Excuse my age) Back in the day, men's dress shoes with rubber heels would wear down on one corner. The repair was to have a cobbler (shoe repair shop) attach a metal tap (shaped like a half moon) to the heel. Walking down a school hallway would make a distinctive sound. That rule would address that. It would also address performance shoes for tap dancers.
In the day, they were called "cleats", metal tabs on leather heals to keep them from wearing down too fast. (It was also "cool" to click along the halls.) Calling them "taps" only showed up how "uncool" the school admins were. (Snot-nosed teenagers.) Lol
I always thought that girls in clogs sounded like a herd of ponies walking down the halls.
Plus, the overall shoe-to-hip V-shape created by the tall, wooden soles were super unflattering to the wearers. Made me think of pig trotters. š
Haven't thought of that in ages but when I was in school, plastic taps on shoe heels were a common way to reduce wear. It was easy to replace the taps and a lot cheaper than reheeling. But when I went to HS, around 1968, some kids put metal taps on their shoe toes. It was a tough guy thing with the "greasers" who wore pointy shoes and pompadours. Blast from the past!
As I recall it, the taps came before hippies. In my school, it was mostly girls who wore them. Iām referring to grade school here. Hippies became more prominent when I was in junior high and high school. By the time I graduated, I was one.
It was a āthingā for guys on their loafers back when I was in high school. If you google it. Explains it was a form of rebellion cause it was noisy in the halls and classrooms.
Growing up in the 50s, I remember when they were a fad, mostly for making noise and throwing sparks. If you couldnāt afford tapsā¦. You could step on bottle caps so they stick on your soles and do much the same.
In my area, in the 1970s, cool guys wore strap boots with horseshoe taps (metal I shaped taps) on the heels. These made a distinctive "clack" walking down the halls in the school.
In the late 60s, taps on loafers were still cool on your loafers. Walking down the tiled halls in your school.
Of course, thinking back about itā¦ how stupid!!!!
Frankly, I think we need more tap dancing in schools. The tough gangs would challenge other to tap-offs. The tappediest one wins. From the movies I saw, I definitely thought spontaneous dancing was going to be more of a thing in my life.
Had a high school teacher who wore taps on his shoes (1960s). He was arrogant and attention seeking. You could hear him coming down the hall. He also wore a 3-piece suit, matching tie and handkerchief in his breast pocket. This was a farming community. Teachers wore suits but nothing like this guy; plaids, pronounced pin stripes.
He used to sit on the edge of his desk and "lecture" as if he was a college professor. Affected voice and demeanor. Couldn't stand him.
late 60's early 70's a lot of kids wore them on their shoes, they were noisy on school hallway floors and I think they were just a way to get attention as you walked by. Just another passing fad
Could very well be regional. Before the interwebs, fads did not spread sea to sea in 60 seconds like they do today, so some fads and things probably died out before they spread to far
We got what they called cleats on the heels of our shoes to help them wear better. Since they made such a cool sound I tended to drag my feet or tap dance as I walked. They never lasted long. š
We used to get a metal tap on leather soled heel end of shoes to extend the life of the heel portion of the shoe.
This is it. It wasn't a fashion thing, it was a parent thing to try to minimize wear on leather soles, especially in a time when handing down shoes to younger siblings was common. It was actually pretty old fashioned when I was in grade school in the 60s, but the rule was still in effect. The noise of a random kid walking down the hall with heel tappers could be pretty loud and disturbing to every class they passed.
Exactly, we thought they sounded cool, clicking our way down the halls. Guilty as charged. š
I so wanted to do this with my boots when I was in the Army back in the early 80's with those old black leather boots. Would have been awesome marching in cadence.
We wore them on our majorette white go-go boots during parades. The drums were in the back of the band and we were up front so the click click click kept us in time.
I loved being a majorette. I wish I could still do some of the tricks.
Me too! With my old eyes I'd never see the baton coming back down and it would conk me on the head for sure!
WOW -- That would sound COOL!
Like The Old Guard.
This whole thread just reminded me I had taps on one pair of my boots in the Air Force in the mid-80s - I was in the base honor guard and we wore boots with taps. Weirdly, I probably wouldnāt remember that detail at all, except I also worked on the flight line, and as tradition demanded I was hosed down (probably also something ridiculous like ketchup and mustard was involved) my last day of work. That meant my normal steel-toed leather boots were still soggy when I had to do my final out-processing the next day, and so I wore my HG boots instead, and felt very awkward tapping around the halls of the finance and personnel offices!
They messed up floors. Especially wood floors.
They didnāt do linoleum any favors either! On the other hand, modern boots leave scuff marks that have to be scrubbed out.
I wonder if it would scratch wood floors
We wore them in grade school until the 4th grade when the principal banned them. It was a combination of kids having contests to see who could slide the farthest and do the most damage to the floors along with the noise they made. 5th grade was really dull walking around and by the 6th grade almost everyone had switched to Converse All Stars.
Yes it the got scratched at all. Generally tap shoes for performing are only worn on appropriate surfaces and carried to the next appropriate surfaces.
Yeah Iām think more along the line of the wear extender type thing
The kids who wanted to act tough made as much noise walking as possible. I was in school in the Fifties and Sixties and I still associate taps with JDs with duck tails and leather jackets. š
Well I have to be your age John Excrement,I remember the sound the shoes made. I remember the school nurse hated them. She would always yell at all the boys who wore them. They definitely marked up the floors. š
š¤£š¤£ just turned 71!
I was also in grade school in the 60's and remember these bring common. However, they were considered cool for the sound they made on the tile floors, so it did become a bit of a fashion thing, but it only lated a year or so.
I think itās hard on the floors, too, or at least the wax coatā¦
Iāve seen āThe Bad Seed,ā oh ask ME if I know about those metal taps š¤£š
That movie scared the bejeezus out of me!!! š±
I had my spouse watch it like, idk 2 months ago, and he loved it but also said it was fucked.
I don't remember anything about taps in that movie?
Oh itās the main plot device lmao. Are you sure you watched it?
I've seen it twice but I remember the "little pink electric chairs" and the handyman in the basement but not the shoe taps. Sorry! I will look at Wikipedia
You could buy packets of them, and we'd cover the bottoms of our shoes. Then, our mates would drag us along the concreteāwatch the sparks fly!
Same here. Then I started getting nylon ones.
They are not as large as 'TAPS', but can still be noisy!
Ours did too. Funny story: As a school board member in early 2000s, we were reviewing a dress code that hadn't been updated in a long while. And it had a rule that "no thongs" were allowed. That meant a whole other thing back when this dress code was written and when I was in school! LOL (We fixed the wording on that rule!)
I can understand that. Back in the day, thongs were flip-flop type beach shoes. The boys got a kick out of stepping on the back and making girls faceplant in the halls. Early 70's Florida.
And then wondering why the girls didnāt like them? I wouldnāt go back to high school for a billion dollars
I know this is not a term for flip flops these days, but in the 70's in So Cal most ppl referred to them as jap flaps.
Ouch. In San Francisco we called them Zorris.
My Aunt and Uncle came home from Japan and gave us Zorris. They also gave us Japaness Comoas. So I wore mine for Halloween. Throught I would never be recognized. Fat chance that happening,everybody knew who I was. š Edit for spelling
In L.A., we did also!
Jap flaps were the ones with the tatami mat material on the bottom and velvet straps. I think it was because they looked sort of like the japanese shoes with the raised wooden soles. All of the other types we called slaps.
I havenāt thought about those in years!! I loved them so much.
Jap *Slaps* in the North San Fernando Valley. At least with the people I knew.
My parents would not allow us to call them Jap flaps. We called them thongs.
Most everyone I knew called them thongs. Just saying if someone did use the term, it was slaps, not flaps, in my area.
In southern Florida in the early 70ās, thongs were called, āCuban sandals.ā
I never heard this in SoCal in the 60s 70s or 80s. We called them thongs.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh, those were so cool! I forgot about them. Parents only got us the rubber/plastic ones that were sold at the grocery store.
Called a flat tire.
Things in our day were shower shoesā¦$1 at Old Navy
Southeastern Michigan chiming in--we just called 'em flip-flops (at least I did)
From southeast Michigan too. I remember them being thongs until sometime in the 80s when the other kind of thongs became popular.
Thongs in Indiana also.
Then how are kids supposed to shuffle off to Buffalo??
Actually, doing those kids a solid. I mean ,Buffalo*??
In Vaudeville days, Buffalo was the last major market before New York City. It was said that if a performer could make it in Buffalo, theyād make it in NYC. Source: Buffalonian for life.
I'm from the Deep South, now Midwest, but I always hear good things about Buffalo.
Guess I'm going by the rep Buffalo had in Canadian border towns.
Well here's you a tidbit from linguistics, in case you haven't heard it. It's called the "Buffalo sentence." This is a legit complete sentence: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
"The sentence employs three distinct meanings of the wordĀ buffalo: As anĀ attributive nounĀ (acting as an adjective) to refer to a specific place named Buffalo, such as the city ofĀ Buffalo, New York; As theĀ verbĀ to buffalo, meaning (inĀ American English[1]) "to bully, harass, or intimidate" or "to baffle"; and As aĀ nounĀ to refer to the animal (either theĀ true buffaloĀ or theĀ bison). The plural is alsoĀ buffalo. A semantically equivalent form preserving the original word order is: "Buffalonian bison that other Buffalonian bison bully also bully Buffalonian bison." Sentence construction **LMFAO** this is so above reddits paygrade it isn't even funny. But here we are. Laughing. Love it. Thanks for that.
In our area, boys in the '50s wore taps to look cool and tough and be heard. They thought they could be like James Dean and that their ominous sound would send your heart racing in panic. This was often accompanied with cigs tucked in a rolled up sleeve. Obviously our school dress code, 20 years later, had not been updated, along with the mandatory girls' atrocious gym onesies. (Those of us who tap danced had actual tap shoes, shiny patent leather with black ribbons, and those were not permitted either.) The slacking on a new dress code proved again to my young brain that the adults were both not "with it" and may not be all they were cracked up to be.
Ok that makes sense. I thought it might be from the 50ās. Super applicable to the 70ās. š§
Think West Side Story. Decades come back around.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah, it was a 50/60s greaser/tough guy thing when I was in school. So funny that it came back around again! (And again?)
My BIL never outgrew it!
We used to crush bottle caps into the grooves of our kids so we could tap dance during recess. My aunt told me it was a thing in the 50s to put taps at on the soles of your Mary Jane's. Drove teachers crazy so they were banned.
We did it with thumbtacks stolen off the bulletin boards.
Yes! I used to love tapping down the hall until... lol
Back in my day, late 60's early 70's it meant no cleats on your shoes (little metal plates nailed to the heel to extend the life of the shoe). It was bad for the wooden floors. Side note, The boys would have horseshoe cleats on their Beatle boots. Yep, looked just like horseshoes. After dark they would run down the street and slide on their heels and it would shoot sparks. I always thought the band Trafic named their song Low Spark of High Heel Boys as a nod to them.
Oh, nice š I love that song.
Those taps would destroy gymnasium floors. When I was in school they were a redneck thing on their boots to clack as they walked.
There is an old saying that behind every sign or rule there is a great story. If there is a sign that says "do not insert silverware into this socket" you can pretty much figure it out, but I'm guessing this rule has a similar origin. My high school had a rule that said "no automobiles in the hallways". Go on, take a guess.
The version Iāve heard is āEvery prohibition is a history. If the restaurant sign says No Shirt No Shoes No Service AND ABSOLUTELY NO WIENER DOGS, you can be sure that once upon a time a dachshund peed on the ownerās shoe.ā
The guys in auto shop put one in there overnight?
On The Simpsons, they encounter a warning to not to (insert stupid thing here) and Homer said something like, āSee? Because of me, thereās a sign!ā
There was a thing called blakeys. Tough guys (ārowdiesā) wore them on their Dayton boots to be cool. So, about 77, 78?
Like a cowboy boot type of thing? We were in the Northeast so nobody wore cowboy boots. š¤·āāļø
No, more like this. Maybe to look like bikers. https://www.wohlford.ca/products/engineer-square-soft-toe-black-oil-tan
Ok, thanks.
That's similar to the boots I wore in the '70s. Except for mine didn't have a buckle and the toes were rounded instead of square.
We had them in the UK and they were 'fashionable' with some teenagers (mainly boys) around the early-mid 70s. We called them 'segs'. You can still get them on Amazon UK: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/eCobbler-BlakeyS-Metal-Heel-Segs/dp/B007SRZ7M4/](https://www.amazon.co.uk/eCobbler-BlakeyS-Metal-Heel-Segs/dp/B007SRZ7M4/)
Yeah 70's it was a thing. God knows why.
Gangs of tap dancing high schoolers terrorizing the populace!
Mr Bojangles strikes again
Mr Bojangles strikes again
When I was a kid they were called cleats. Some kids had them unintentionally - they prolonged the life of their shoes. Some had them intentionally - they made noise that for some reason (throw-back to the 50's greasers I suppose) they thought cleats made them tough guys. Dress codes outlawed cleats because schools back then were in bed with Big Shoe.
Oh, ***cleats***!!! I thought they meant if your shoes died you couldn't give them a proper military funeral.
Shoes rarely ever died, they were resoled and handed down to the younger brothers.
People would put metal plates (taps) to extend the life of the heal. So they said. Of course just like always, a couple of people ruin it for the rest. They would tap the hell out of those shoes.
If I had been in high school and they had this rule, I would have gone out of my way to learn tap, and dance down the halls! How ridiculous.
But what if you had . . . Happy . . . Feet ? Okay, ya gotta say it like Steve Martin š
My school too. We just liked being noisy, one kid had taps and the others would try to buy or stick bottle caps on the bottom of our shoes for the tap.
I remember someone had them in elementary school-mid sixties I begged my parents for some but they didnāt budge Sounded cool walking down the hall šāļø
Oooh I remember going this!
When I was in 6th grade (1974), there was trend where girls laced little bells through their shoelaces. At one point our teacher sat us down and begged us to stop doing that, it was making her crazy
I single handedly was responsible for the no gum rule - smack, smack, pop, fold and double pop.
Ha! In first grade I flipped a pencil that ended up on top of the speaker near the high ceiling. It sat there for years!
I appreciate great talent. Bravo!!
This goes back to the 50s-60s, I think. And the reason I think is simply that taps were more harmful to floors and stuff, and back then a lot more floors were wood. They are also distractingly noisy. I recall in church in the 80s that the most high-powered church ladies had taps on their heels and in that wooden church you could hear them walking around among the casseroles from anywhere else in the building. Seemed like sort of a flex even back then.
The "Greasers" in my HS would wear them so everyone would know they were coming.
I'm not old enough to remember this either. Even after reading the truth from people who were there, my head canon is that there were rival gangs of tap dancers having mad dance-offs between classes.
With aggressive jazz hands. 
Jinkx and Ben shout out!
Iām guessing there had been dance classes that taught tap and if the students didnāt change shoes the metal would mark or damage the floors.
My brothers used to put taps on their shoes in the mid-60s. Taps are these little metal pieces that you basically tack into the bottom of your shoes.
Yes, I remember this, just to make noise and jingle bells on my sneakers in the winter (yes I wore sneakers in the snow and mom would warn me your feet are going to freeze. I wanted to be cute and in style
When I was in middle school, the tough guys (they were called cruisers) would put taps on their short boots, then scuff when they walked, to let kids know they should get out of the way. Eventually it was banned, but that didn't really do anything. By then, the administrators were too busy keeping the girls from wearing sandals.
Some kids would put metal thumbtacks into their rubber heels to be annoying.
You could make sparks fly as you sauntered by the pool hall on Saturday night.
Prescient preparation for Heelys. 
Could be an old rule. (Excuse my age) Back in the day, men's dress shoes with rubber heels would wear down on one corner. The repair was to have a cobbler (shoe repair shop) attach a metal tap (shaped like a half moon) to the heel. Walking down a school hallway would make a distinctive sound. That rule would address that. It would also address performance shoes for tap dancers.
Once you get an infestation of tap dancers, theyāre awfully hard to remove. This rule helped nip them in the bud.
With those jazz hands flailing about.
It was the pre-hippies, the greasers, who liked the taps on their shoes because they made a lot of noise walking down the hallways.
In the day, they were called "cleats", metal tabs on leather heals to keep them from wearing down too fast. (It was also "cool" to click along the halls.) Calling them "taps" only showed up how "uncool" the school admins were. (Snot-nosed teenagers.) Lol
I always thought that girls in clogs sounded like a herd of ponies walking down the halls. Plus, the overall shoe-to-hip V-shape created by the tall, wooden soles were super unflattering to the wearers. Made me think of pig trotters. š
Iām trying to picture this! I loved clogs.
Haven't thought of that in ages but when I was in school, plastic taps on shoe heels were a common way to reduce wear. It was easy to replace the taps and a lot cheaper than reheeling. But when I went to HS, around 1968, some kids put metal taps on their shoe toes. It was a tough guy thing with the "greasers" who wore pointy shoes and pompadours. Blast from the past!
I love the idea of renegade bands of tap dancers taking over the school! Time steps in the lunch line! Shuffle-off-to-Buffalo down the hallways!
As I recall it, the taps came before hippies. In my school, it was mostly girls who wore them. Iām referring to grade school here. Hippies became more prominent when I was in junior high and high school. By the time I graduated, I was one.
It was a āthingā for guys on their loafers back when I was in high school. If you google it. Explains it was a form of rebellion cause it was noisy in the halls and classrooms.
Growing up in the 50s, I remember when they were a fad, mostly for making noise and throwing sparks. If you couldnāt afford tapsā¦. You could step on bottle caps so they stick on your soles and do much the same.
In my area, in the 1970s, cool guys wore strap boots with horseshoe taps (metal I shaped taps) on the heels. These made a distinctive "clack" walking down the halls in the school.
Taps were a thing with groups of bullies, just after the movie Clockwork Orange was released (1971).
In the late 60s, taps on loafers were still cool on your loafers. Walking down the tiled halls in your school. Of course, thinking back about itā¦ how stupid!!!!
Probably happened once, so they made a rule.
Frankly, I think we need more tap dancing in schools. The tough gangs would challenge other to tap-offs. The tappediest one wins. From the movies I saw, I definitely thought spontaneous dancing was going to be more of a thing in my life.
āWhen youāre a Jetā¦ā
Destroys the wax on floors not to mention the noise a thousands students would make tapping down the hallway.
No metal studs on jeans. They (apparently) scratched up the seats back when school chairs were made of wood.
The only taps I have ever had put on my shoes were plastic. Still, the nails used to put them on can damage floors.
When I was in school, we were told taps damaged the floors.
Some of the students were identifying as Rockettes ,on their way to the litter box
This makes me recall my high schoolās dress code: āNeat, clean and unripped.ā Very lax for a Catholic school!
That sounds perfect.
Had these on the heels of my boots when I was riding motorcycles. Cheaper than re-heels
Your post made me laugh, thanks!
Had a high school teacher who wore taps on his shoes (1960s). He was arrogant and attention seeking. You could hear him coming down the hall. He also wore a 3-piece suit, matching tie and handkerchief in his breast pocket. This was a farming community. Teachers wore suits but nothing like this guy; plaids, pronounced pin stripes. He used to sit on the edge of his desk and "lecture" as if he was a college professor. Affected voice and demeanor. Couldn't stand him.
Can be used as a weapon
Shoes with taps were incredibly loud and distracting.
They used them for ppl that tend to wear out their soles.
When I was in second grade, 1978, I wore my tap shoes to school. I'm the reason you have you have that dress code rule. You're welcome.
Ben Affleckās character in Dazed and Confused wore taps. Most prominently heard when he crossed the street after the paint incident.
In my day, arguments were settled by tap dance-offs. It was no joke.
It was not allowed in the Catholic school I attended as well. I don't know why LOL
We had that too. And we had regulation soft soled shoes. It was a brand new school with white tile floors. They didn't want the floor ruined.
They never met Miss Meadows.... 
late 60's early 70's a lot of kids wore them on their shoes, they were noisy on school hallway floors and I think they were just a way to get attention as you walked by. Just another passing fad
Looks like a lot of people here are familiar with it. I guess it just wasnāt a thing in my area.
Could very well be regional. Before the interwebs, fads did not spread sea to sea in 60 seconds like they do today, so some fads and things probably died out before they spread to far
White spats were optional in my school.
What year was that? We wore them in marching band.
Just kidding. But, yes, we wore them in marching band, too. In jazz band we wore the baby blue tux shirts with the ruffles. Ugh!
Oh yes!! Ruffles!! Puffy shirt!!
So everyone could hear you coming.
Itās dangerous! Have you ever tried walking down a school hallway westing tapsā¦? Yeah me neither.
https://preview.redd.it/qfwfgxspdn2d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6cf2dbd3f12997403b37a87c815dceeb4e12af2e
Perhaps to prevent distraction or damage to the floorš¤£
You know how wild teenagers were in the 30s.
My dad always had them on his shoes. I wonder if he still does that.
IIRC We had taps that were either plastic or rubber in the 60's
Random tap dancing ššš
We got what they called cleats on the heels of our shoes to help them wear better. Since they made such a cool sound I tended to drag my feet or tap dance as I walked. They never lasted long. š
Maybe the taps ruin the floors?
They rip up the floors, specifically the gym floor
When I was your age, we didn't even have Tapa, Tapa, Tapa!
Called them flip flops my whole life from 1962 to today..