A 1919 campaign sought to end high heeled shoes for women. Clearly, it didn’t work.

No other country except China has set itself up seriously as a rival to America in the business of mutilating women’s feet, and China has reformed. Footbinding is obsolete there, or at least obsolescent. In the United States footbinding by a somewhat more modern process, with the aid of high-heeled and pointed shoes, continues almost unabated. The female of the species hereabout is becoming a one-toed, sharp-footed animal.

Sometimes, alas, fashion and style win out over health. I’ve always suspected that for the opposite sex, wearing a tie for 8+ hours a day slightly chokes your throat and may hurt breathing or your respiratory system.

Putting American Women “On Another Footing”: Campaign Is Under Way Against the High Heel and the Pointed Toe, Which Are Accused of Deforming the Female of the Species

Published: Sunday, October 12, 1919