CHARACTER IN FEET

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 232, 17 September 1935, Page 10

CHARACTER IN FEET

To the character expert, the feet offer the greatest scope in reading personality. The bashful lover is a case in point. See him stand on one foot—then on the other. He takes impulsive forward steps. Then he checks his stride, and by these gymnastics conveys to the careful watcher his distracted frame of mind. This is obvious, although he may appear casual in face and manner.

Look at the young woman on the opposite pavement. Note the tapping of her high heels. There they go again, quick, uneven, restless. Will he never come? Faster and faster sound the taps. Then a sudden metallic click is followed by a momentary lull. Next you hear the measured tread of two pairs of heels, side by side. If you are a student of foot psychology, you realise that a box of chocolates has just changed hands. Let us take a mental trip to America. Observe the slow, monotonous up and down leg movements of a tribe of Red Indian braves and squaws. Watch their stolid faces, as they gravely lift one foot, then the other, in a slow jog-trot. Can’t you visualise the impenetrable, stoic resignation of this race as you follow them in the dance? The feet of babies can also be made the subiect of useful study along these lines. Their first attempts at self-ex-pression usually consist of sundry kickings, which, in course of time, you come to associate with cither hunger or boredom. When they arrive at the toddling stage thev nsuallv forcibly express their ruffled feelings against closed doors. As for their schoolnoy brothers, they generally fill in any idle moments ‘‘kicking their heels.”