Cold and icy outside. What dumbass parents would let kids walk with breadbags on their shoes?

[LynneSin]

Think about it.

Sure the bags would protect the shoes.

But the shoes would have traction on the bottom of them that would keep the children safe from slipping in icy conditions, something that a breadbag would not have. If anything I would defy ANYONE to walk around on ice with breadbags on their feet. That would have to be one of the dumbest things out there.

Although I respect that many families were too poor to afford multiple pairs of shoes for their kids, there were always rubbers available which were usually handed down from older kid to younger kid. And most parents would not throw away old shoes. Usually if I had a new pair of shoes and the weather was bad outside there was always an older pair that was a bit snug but would make due for those bad weather days. No parent, especially one that was counting every penny, would throw away old shoes simply because a new pair was purchased.

So that whole breadbag story just seems so made up and a load of bullshit if you ask me! My school was in rural Pennsylvania and not once did I see a kid on our school bus with breadbags on their feet.

[glowing]

1. I've honeslty never heard of doing that.

Of course, I lived in Vermont and a pair of boots was what we wore everywhere and brought other shoes to wear inside. And I know they still do that...

[jaysunb]

2. Truly, a "bullshit" story...

at least in the last 50 years, if ever. I mean, how many empty bread bags do you have lying around the house ?????

[Beaverhausen]

5. My mom always saved bread bags and reused them

[3catwoman3]

18. Or maybe a...

..."hogshit" story?

[murielm99]

3. I have never heard of this.

My husband comes from a long line of Iowa farmers, and we can't find anyone who ever did this. Kids wore boots and "rubbers" over their shoes. Some kids had only work boots to wear at home and at school.

And someone else here pointed out that her family could not have been all that poor if they could afford store bread.

From now on, she is Senator Breadbags for me.

[JDPriestly]

4. Actually, when I was in college, I put something like plastic inside my boots and tennis shoes

because they had holes in them and I was in a cold, snowy climate. I think the bread-bags would be inside the shoes, but maybe some wore or wear them outside the shoes.

[yewberry]

6. Clarification on breadbags:

I grew up in NH and we did wear breadbags. They went over the socks, under the boots (or shoes.)

Joni Ernst is a dumbass, but the breadbags were a real thing when I was a kid. (Funny memory: Pepperidge Farms bags were long and fit well, and Roman Meal bags were short and wide!)

[4139]

15. I'm too old; pulled a pair of dads white sock...

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 07:44 AM - Edit history (2)

...over the sneakers. [to play in Snow] Did the same for my sons 20 years ago. Plastic bags over the socks is a cool idea

[bhikkhu]

7. Growing up in CA, no breadbags needed as footwear

I did wear hand-me-down shoes and coats and so forth, of course. My grandma did save all of our old breadbags and wove them into area rugs.

[Luminous Animal]

8. Second thread tonight mocking the choices of the poor. Yes. My mom put bread bags on my shoes.

And yes. I ate sandwiches of white bread, sugar and oleo. Not tang, because I hated it.

You might have had rubbers available. Many times my family did not.

This mocking of the poor is pathetic.

[Luminous Animal]

12. I am really quite upset. I'm 57 years old and it has been many years since I've been poor

but these ignorant posts here tonight make me feel as ashamed as I felt as a child.

[LynneSin]

17. The problem is that she is lying

first my apologies to you. I know of many stories of how families scrimped and saved to make ends meet including using bread bags to line inside of shoes especially when shoes were older and might have leaks. Even I have done it.

But do not think that she did. She was lying to all of us with a made up story to try and appear likable. Instead she came across as a liar. I think if she said that she had done it and stopped there the story might have been believable even though most people put the bags inside the shoes (and outside the socks). But when she brought up the rows of kids on the school bus, that's when her story went downhill. She came across as fake and untrustworthy.

This woman says she knows what it is like to be poor yet will do everything in her power to make it worse not just for the poor but for the middle class.

[Beaverhausen]

21. You might want to consider editing the title of the OP

Pretty insulting to many DUers.

[ecstatic]

10. I think we can safely conclude that Joni borrowed that story from someone

and, unfortunately, misunderstood where the bags were actually worn.

Hey Joni: Cool story, sis!

[ND-Dem]

11. some people talked about plastic bags inside the shoes and when they mentioned it it brought back

memories of my cousins sitting out at their busstop. I think they did this -- not out of poverty, just to keep their feet warmer.

it just seems ineffective if the bags are outside the shoes.

I think she's a fibber. I don't think she was poor either.

[fishwax]

16. it wasn't that unusual where I come from

Not in icy conditions, but in wet conditions.

[loyalsister]

19. I actually tried it out with plastic cut from trash bags

Not on ice, but to protect my shoes from getting muddy when it rained. I had to walk through a lot of it to get to the bus stop when it rained. Then I would get to school and over the course of the day as it fell off there would be dirt all around my desk.
I gave up on that idea after skipping and falling in the mud a couple of times.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. No, there weren't always rubbers or boots to hand down to younger kids.

Cheap shoes and boots don't last long enough for that. And many poor kids wear shoes until they wear out, even if their feet have grown two sizes.
Bread bags worn inside shoes to keep feet dry was a fairly common thing in my low income neighborhood.

[Sissyk]

22. (Sigh)

Just because you and every person you know have never done it, doesn't mean it hasn't been done.

I grew up very poor. I never had a pair of rubber boots, or snow boots, or any kind of boots for that matter. I had my "Sunday Shoes", my play shoes, my school shoes. That was even more than my parents could afford at times.

And yes, in the winter if us kids wanted to go outside and play in the snow; we put bread bags OVER OUR SHOES. Mom wanted us to keep our shoes as dry as possible and that's what we could afford.
We used rubber bands to hold them up. We were small. The bags were like knee socks. And, yes; kids will slip and slide on the ice and snow. What little kid doesn't want to do that??? We loved it.

Whether she is lying or not about damn bread bags is not what we should be focusing on. There are plenty of other things to be busting her chops for.

This ain't it. Matter of fact, it makes us look bad.

[ND-Dem]

23. Focusing on her hypocritical lying is exactly what's needed.

[Nye Bevan]

24. Of all the things about Ernst to get fixated on, why has DU chosen this one?

After all the initial skepticism, several DUers have stated that they indeed did the same thing. And I'm not talking about new members with post counts in the low double digits, these are long standing, good faith members. Maybe she is exaggerating her childhood hardships, maybe not, but it is impossible to prove, and all you are going to do is offend people who did experience this as children, and you are in danger of appearing to sneer at the poor. So just let it go, and focus on her many other negatives.