What are overshoes?

Overshoes are an article of rubber footwear that wears regular shoes. They are used as protection against water, mud or cold and are commonly known as galoshs. Overshoes are weather resistant and are made of durable and strong rubber. They are used to keep warm legs or to protect a nicer pair of shoes from elements. The rubber overshoe insulates the foot from the cold of snow. The thickness of the shoe keeps water or mud in penetration into the inner shoes. Galoshes fits on the shoe when a shoe or a sock fit on the leg. They are often black rubber and are simply designed with small or no signs. They are usually not attached and generally fit on the shoe freely and are tightened in the elements.

Overshoes are also known as Galoshes, from the French word Galoches . It is assumed that these shoes come from the Middle Ages when the nobles wore shoes called guulish , which were wooden soles covered with a leather shoe to the ankle.

rubber, now the standard worldwide, first appeared in the United States around 1890. Overshoes were created by volcanized rubber, which was resistant and easy to form compared to other forms of rubber that would break and cracked in more bad weather. These vulcanized rubber boots were first introduced by Charles Goodyear, the first American Vulcanize Rubber, at the beginning of the century.

Overshoes were necessary for many in the bitter cold of Siberian, Russia. They are sold and produced most in this region and help the inhabitants of the area to keep their feet warm ad active in trekking terrain under zero. Because of use in places like this, as researchers and passengers at the poles and Arctic, the children in the United States got to know each other as "Arctic".

Another popular type of overshoe, sometimes used synonymously with them and Galoshes, is Wellington Boot. These shoes are generally just below the highKnee and for the first time were popularized by Arthur Wellesley, 1. Duke of Wellington, in the 18th century.