But that still leaves the question of size.
Why do so many people remember such enormous slippers?
A man’s average shoe size was not enormous even then. Yet recollections of size 10, 11 and 12 plimsolls appear surprisingly frequently.
There are several possible explanations.
The first is wonderfully simple.
We were children.
Objects viewed through a child’s eyes can assume quite different proportions.
Think back to your primary school.
The corridors seemed enormous.
The headmaster seemed ancient.
The school hall appeared vast.
Return to the same building as an adult and there is often a shock.
“Was it really this small?”
The same effect may have applied to the school slipper.
To a frightened eleven-year-old, a perfectly ordinary adult plimsoll being produced from a teacher’s desk might have looked approximately the size of a rowing boat.
