Most young people would not possibly know what a shoe horn is
A shoe horn is a tool with a short handle that flares into a longer spoon-like head meant to be held against the inside back of a snug-fitting shoe so that a person can slide the heel easily along its basin to the inner sole. Shoehorns have the same basic shape but the length or strength of the handle varies.
'Back in the day' when I was a keen horse rider, we had a long handled shoe horn used to put on riding boots. To this day we have the cutest shoe horn with an ebony staff featuring a bronze horse's head as the handle.
Nothing worse than being at an airport where one has to remove one's shoes and then having to put your shoes back on and the heel refuses to comply!!
Anyhow during a recent foray HeeHoo, with his eagle shopping eye and quest for comfort, spotted a shop called Skechers where they had beautiful shoes called 'Slip-Ins'.
Skechers Slip-ins are hands-free because the back side of the shoe has a moulded heel plate that creates a firm, supportive backing to the shoe and allows you to slip your foot in without the use of hands.
No bending, no stretching, no snarling with frustration. And if thats not enough, they can be thrown into the washing machine!!!
This morning as HeeHoo dragged me out for a walk, I was putting on my ancient 'tackkies' donated to me by She Hoo Must Run, way way back when she insisted on running the Comrades Marathon. She had a wonderful sports shop in Perth who would give her a new pair for every 100 km she ran, and I was the lucky beneficiary of the old ones!!
Now when one matures one develops substantial cushioning around the midriff and this makes putting on one's tackies a breathless task, hence my need for the shoe horn, just in case you were wondering!!!