Kiwi Legends: the humble Jandal
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While there has been an ongoing dispute for decades over just who invented the humble Jandal, it is clear they are a firm piece of NZ's kiwiana.
What is more convenient at the beach while walking over hot sand? What is easier to throw on while we nip out to the letterbox to check for mail? Exactly!
The inventor of this convenient footwear might be John Cowie, or Morris Yock ... or a combined inventiveness. According to his daughter,
Mr Cowie sat down with Morris Yock, an importer of goods into New Zealand, and they agreed the sandals would be a hit in summer.1
and a full account of her story of events can be read here. Was Morris Yock merely the smarter businessman, as he got the trademark?
One thing that isn't in dispute is that the name Jandal was created from a combination of the words Japanese and sandal.
Apparently, since the 1980s there has been a flood of imported Jandal-wannabes for sale in NZ. They used to be made of rubber - Skellerup manufactured them for a time - but plastic is now used; and I would say not anywhere near as comfortable or durable as the originals.
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One interesting ‘fact’ about jandals is that more left-footed ones seem to wash up on our beaches than right-footed ones – a 23-year study of Northland beaches found that 70% of washed-up jandals were left-footed. Why this might be is open to conjecture – one theory is that it is to do with the way (predominantly right-footed) New Zealand boaties launch their boats, leaving their left foot in the water while they push to get afloat.2
Around the world this flip-flop type of footwear has a variety of names, according to Wikipedia:
- thongs (Australia)
- slops (South Africa)
- tsinelas/smagul (Philippines)
- hawai chappal (India)
- zōri (Japan)
- dép tông or dép xỏ ngón (Vietnam)
- chinelos (Brazil)
- japonki (Poland)
- dacas (Somalia)
- sayonares (Greece)
- schlapfen (Austria)
- slippers (Hawaii, Trinidad & Tobago, Netherlands)
- infradito (Italy)
- djapanki (Bulgaria)
- charlie wote (Ghana)
- japanke (Croatia)
- vietnamki (Russia, Ukraine)
That is quite a list, and not taking into account the similarly-designed footwear such as discovered from ancient Egypt.
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As we roll through autumn it is sadly time to pack away our pairs of Jandals during the cold, wet seasons ... but at least we have something to look forward to again in spring.
References
1 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=10964369
2 http://redline.nzpost.co.nz/2011/
Bibliography
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/maurice-yock-trademarks-jandal
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=10964369
https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/25408/jandals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-flops
http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2014/10/03/today-in-history-the-birth-of-the-jandal/
http://pararubber.co.nz/footwear/702-zig-zag-jandals.html
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Well, well, well.......it is about time someone 'stepped up' and shed a light on this humble but important topic. I can now speak with confidence on this subject and throw in some trivia to 'Boot' about the number of left-footed jandals being washed up, in comparison to right footed ones and the possible reason why @ravenruis.
And just to back up the left footed theory......look what I found washed up on the beach at Tangalooma last year. Very interesting indeed.
The topic - of which you are now thoroughly versed in - should make a pleasant change at social gatherings from having to resort to the weather. I would say people could speculate upon this phenomenon for weeks, nay, months!
How fortuitous that you even have photographic evidence of one such event!! :D
Fortuitous indeed @ravenruis and what you say is so very true. With a chilled glass of chardonnay and a carefully selected group of 'Jandal' enthusiasts gathered in the lushest of conference rooms of the nearest Sheraton Hotel we could discuss this subject til the proverbial cows come home........but if the conversation was inadvertently directed to the bovines of which I speak the initial subject could easily disintegrate to that of another well known Kiwi foot attire......The Gumboot! I wonder which boot gets left behind in the cow dung when farmers have needed to climb a fence in a hurry? Hmmmmmm !
Oooh, now that topic could take you forward yet another few months I'm sure! The chardonnay of course would have to morph into a large brown bottle of the beer-verage variety to help set the room's new mood.
One may even easily imagine a hearty round of karaoke Fred Dagg impersonators waxing lyrical being quite the show-stopper, especially if there were any Trev's who happened to be staying at the hotel.
The braver, and more scientifically-minded in the group might in fact arrange a round of tests of this gumboot-leaving theory.
I suspect a fully charged phone or camera would be appropriate to have on hand ...
Fred Dagg came to mind as soon as the word 'Gumboot' was formulated. Now wouldn't he have added some insightful and scintillating thoughts to that conversation?.........a brown bottle (or two) waving precariously in the air to accentuate his point. It would have been difficult to get a word in but never would the subject of a gumboot stuck in the middle of a cow pat been more entertaining. Where are all these braver, more scientifically minded gumboot-leaving theorists when you need them??????
lolololol probably at Uni still in the stages of theorising instead of field-testing ;)
It's flip-flops where I come from and thongs are a type of underwear, which was fun when we arrived in Australia!
I don't wear them myself as I find them way too uncomfortable. The cheap nasty ones my mum would buy us in the summer used to give me sores and blisters between my toes, so that probably also put me off them.
I had a bit of a nasty accident while wearing some one year in my youth. Tore something in a foot that took years to heal, after the front of the jandal caught on something and wrenched my foot.
After that, when I had kids I never let them wear any while they were growing.
lol, now all the horror stories are coming out :D
Ouch!
I refused to let my girls wear them growing up too. They have started wearing them this year though as their own choice at 14 and 16. At least they've pretty much finished growing.
It always amazes me how Aussies can run in them! I couldn't run in anything not firmly attached to my foot!
And certainly not quietly, lol. slap slap slap slap slap
Very many years ago crafty Singaporean sidewalk shops had a deal where they took truck [and maybe car] tyres, and with a very sharp knife would cut new treads in worn out tyres.
These were sold at a cheaper price than usual, when the tyres had worn flat again and there wasn't enough rubber left to cut another treed in the cut them into Flip Flops.
These were worn by the Coolies as they unloaded all the cargo from the ships in the Harbour to the Warehouse.
It was worth standing and watching the little bloke cut away, they could do a 45-degree tres pattern all the way around the tyre and match exactly when the reached the start.
Wow, that must have been quite something to watch alright.
I'd forgotten about old tyres being turned into footwear. I wonder just how comfortable they would be, especially the straps.
I don't know how comfortable they were, but they were cheap, the coolies couldn't afford much, just the leaves they chewed on to quench the hunger, a form of cocaine maybe.
It produced a lot of salivae, and you could clearly see which wharf and which shed was being worked by the bright red trail of spit on the ground.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, lol
I can only say "jandals" in a Kiwi accent. Also, that word cracks me up. Interesting to see all the other words for them and that lefties are the ones that get lost the most.
Kiwis don't have an accent .... everyone else does. ;)