By Rafe Calder
One block of wood. A hand axe, a sharp knife and about three weeks of drying. That is how DutchReview describes the traditional clog, and the other sources fill in the rest.
Where the first one was found
DutchReview says clogs go back to the early thirteenth century, and that the first form had a wooden sole with leather strapped over it before the shoe was carved wholly from wood.
Which wood
DutchReview names willow or poplar.
How a pair is made
DutchReview describes the traditional steps. A block of wood is shaped roughly with a special axe, dipped in water to prevent splintering, refined with a sharp knife, hollowed inside and left to dry for about three weeks before painting.
Different jobs, different shapes
DutchReview says clogs differed by trade. Peat diggers wore larger, squarer-nosed clogs so they would not sink. Fishermen wore sharp, pointed ones, which, it says, helped them sort fishing wires. Workers’ clogs were plain.
Who wears them now
DutchReview says clogs are rarely worn in Dutch cities except by rural farmers and gardeners, and that tourist-shop versions are the ones most often seen in towns.
What it means for a buyer
Our view is that a clog is easiest to judge by its wood and its making. Ask what the clog is made of, and whether it was carved by hand or cut by machine. The sources show both exist. If a seller offers a plain working clog or a painted decorative one, ask which it is.
Roam first. Shop later.