BROWN BOOTS

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3468, 19 May 1934, Page 4

BROWN BOOTS

THE POSITION IN SWEDEN. The proverbial red rag (says the Stockholm correspondent of the London Times) is a mere nothing to a bull compared with brown riding boots to: a staunch Swedish tr£fde unionist. That, at least, is the experience of a young civil engineer in Stockholm, employed on municipal contracting work, who was compelled to put black polish on his new brown boots in order to avoid a strike. He had always been on the best ol' terms with the navvies and workmen under him, but the other day, when he was transferred to another job, a different atmosphere awaited him. He found hatred and suspicion in the air. Not until one of his men told him gruffly that “it wouldn’t do ” did it dawn on him that he was at fault, and the real explanation escaped him until one of the foremen said: “We can’t allow Nazi fashions here,” and looked meaningly at his brown riding boots. The engineer resented the criticism., and made no change in his boots, but two days later the representatives of the trade union on the spot sent a delegation to him with the definite request that the boots should go.

A tin of black boot polish solved the problem, and the next morning the engineer came to work in black riding boots, and peace and harmony reigned once more. It will be remembered that a few months ago the authorities in parts of the United States objected to the wearing of black leather jackets, as they were assumed to be a mark of Communism. In Sweden in the eighteenth century articles of dress were symbolical of political opinions, as the two parties in the State were respectively the “ Hats ” and the “ Caps.”