Come on, gentlemen: in the name of civilzations shoe up yourselves! The camping against the barfoot on the first half of the 20th century

Abstract

 Since 1928, the Portuguese Social Prophylaxis League has led what would become one of its most emblematic and long-lasting campaigns, the fight against the “unseemly, unsightly and unhygienic habit of bare feet”. The initiative came about as part of the awareness of the high mortality rate, deformities and amputations of the lower limbs caused by tetanus, to which bare feet were continually subjected. The aim of this article is to analyse how the problem of bare feet was addressed, both by the League and by the municipal authorities, in the political and social context of the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, we intend to analyse the factors that explain the reception and/or social resistance that formed around the project to eradicate this public health problem during the period in question2 . The main source of information consulted was the Portuguese Social Prophylaxis League Fund, housed in the Oporto District Archive, which holds a huge collection of documents on the League’s initiatives in this area. The League’s initiatives, through conferences, leaflets, posters and newspaper articles, decisively influenced the political powers to take action against this problem. At the same time, we can see that the dynamism of this institution played an important role in educating and sensitising the population to adopt hygiene and public health practices. The problem of bare feet took on a dimension that went beyond the field of public health. It was also seen as a socio-economic, civilizational and even patriotic problem, which explains why the campaign was so well received at the beginning of the 20th century in Portugal.