18 Mar 2016

New Zealand's Oldest Gumboots: Part Three

From Country Life, 9:17 pm on 18 March 2016

Celeste Ventura of Ohakune still has her mother's ankle height, fabric rimmed, gumboots which were first worn on a trip to Ruapehu in 1952. She says her mother would've worn them with stockings, as socks were not on her fashion radar. In fact that trip was the first time Celeste had seen her mother wear trousers.

Neville Connolly has gumboots that he bought in 1959 or 1960. While only used for washing the car these days, they have been dipped in formaldehyde, used to spray 245T, and along with the owner, they've ended up in a cheese vat, and sheep dip containing dieldrin.