But that still leaves the question of size. Why do so many people remember such enormous slippers? A man’s...
There is another possible source of confusion. Older British footwear sizing could be misleading when remembered decades later. Children’s...
Not every teacher maintained a permanent disciplinary slipper. Some simply used whatever happened to be available. And occasionally that...
One particularly revealing memory comes from 1973. Around eight boys had apparently been caught misbehaving in the changing rooms....
Other teachers were considerably more organised. They had their slipper. It lived in the desk drawer. Or the cupboard....
Teachers apparently displayed surprising imagination when christening their slippers. Names remembered include: Tonker. Charlie. Fred. Sammy the Slipper. And...
No discussion of the school slipper would be complete without mentioning the member of staff most frequently associated with...
Interestingly, some former pupils remember PE teachers who did not have a favourite slipper at all. They simply grabbed...
The condition of the sole also mattered in people’s recollections. Again and again, the classic slipper is described as...
Looking back, it becomes clear that corporal punishment involved more than the physical punishment itself. There was often a...
Children are extremely good at creating mythology. A particularly strict teacher could become terrifying in the playground stories told...
It is important not to imagine every teacher enthusiastically wandering around school carrying a plimsoll. Practices varied enormously. Some...