Tosomehow I came across an old photo of the 20s of the last century with newlyweds from Great Britain. If you look closely, you can make out the inscription “Just married” (newlyweds) on the plate on the car, as well as ... a boot, shoe or shoe tied to the car in the area of \u200b\u200bthe right rear wheel.
A wedding tradition with deep roots
The reason for the appearance of this shoe interested me, and further study of the issue showed that the shoes on the cars of the newlyweds are the tip of the iceberg.
It turned out that the tradition of tying shoes to the wedding car comes from an earlier tradition of throwing shoes after the bride and groom. But both have a deep meaning.
In the book "Traditions and Customs of Cheshire" (1937) by Christina Hole has an interesting drawing that was made long before the book came out. In the picture below, you can just see the old English tradition of not yet tying shoes, but throwing shoes into the “wedding procession” of the newlyweds.
A symbol of power: the background of the tradition of tying shoes No. 1
Fletcher Moss, creator of the Manchester Botanical Park and folklore researcher in his book "Folk Tales: Old Customs and Stories from My Neighbors" (1898) described the custom of throwing shoes after the newlyweds as they left the bride's house.
It should be said that the custom itself was widespread much earlier than the researcher described it. According to him, “our great-great-great-grandfathers” did this.
Quote from Moss's book:
This is a symbol of power that is given to the groom or thrown after him when he takes the bride from her house, which means that he should rule over her ...
Apparently, this tradition is associated with the belief that owning someone's shoes gives you a certain amount of power over that person. History from travelgide.ru, for example, in 1644, a Scottish court tried Patrick Malcolm for witchcraft. He was accused of trying to take possession of a woman's left shoe in order to control her actions and force her to follow him.
A cast of the image of a person: the background of tradition No. 2
People believed that shoes are a kind of cast or imprint of the essence of their owner. When a person wears shoes, it is filled with his essence, strength and life experience. And this power can be transferred.
AT "Encyclopedia of superstitions" (1948) Radford just mentions this issue:
Shoes were often abandoned when ships left port, or when people started a journey, or a new venture, or started a new job...
By doing this, people passed on good luck ship or person, probably because they are a little endowed them with their own life force.
This explains why, in a drawing published in 1854 in Punch magazine, Queen Victoria throws her shoes towards her soldiers as they are sent to the next military company. She simply gave them some of her power and wished them good luck.
English folklorist Edward Lovett in his book "Magic in Modern London" 1925 wrote:
The shoes used in the "old times" were old and worn. In addition, it was worn by the elderly who led a good and useful life...
When people threw away their shoes, they wished that the life of the newlyweds would be as happy and as long as the owners of these shoes.
Therefore, by tying shoes: a boot or shoes to a car or throwing them after the bride and groom, you give them some of your luck and strength. And this is a very good wedding gift ...
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