PINK LOVE

When I was a kid, a really big deal for me and my siblings would be the day we selected our official shoes of summer. 

Yes, it was the day mom would buy us our THONGS!!!! 

NOTE:  For you young whipper snappers who are reading this post, we DID call them "thongs" in the olden days--- we didn't call them "flip-flops" until THONGS became the label for skimpy undies.

Anyway, the day we slipped our winter weary tootsies into those brand new, and still cushiony soled shoes,  was officially the start of Summer Vacation!!

The three of us kids could pick out ANY color we wanted---they just all had to be different colors to avoid any issue of ownership down the road.

We became quite adept at keeping those shoes on our feet while doing nearly anything.  We could ride our bikes, run races, dig for worms, chase after lightning bugs in the dark on dew slickened grass-----even climb a tree while keeping those shoes on our filthy summer feet.  

The sad day usually came, well before summer had ended, when the strap that went between our toes would pull out of the sole of one (or both!) of our "thongs".

We became inventive in ways to reattach the straps, but no way really worked that well for any length of time. 

It was at that point that, even with the color coding ownership technique in place, we would be forced to "borrow" the "thongs" of another sibling on occasion---even if it meant doing so without permission or concern about proper fit or the fear of sibling retribution.  We would get desperate!

Many a shoe spat ensued over "who took my thongs". . . . we soon learned to hide them if they weren't on our feet.  While the thongs were cheap when I was a kid,  money was usually very tight.  We had one pair per summer.  The end. 

These days, I have lots of those special shoes of summer.  The amazing thing is that now, when I don't really need more than a pair, that I have this pile.  The time when I needed the extra shoes was years ago--when I really put the wear and tear on them.....when I broke one before the summer had ended...when I had to wear my "school shoes" in place of the THONGS because they were the only shoes I had in my closet that would stand up to the rigors of "play"...and they were usually a bit too small because they had been purchased the previous fall, but they were what I had.......

Well, truthfully, I usually owned a pair of white tennis shoes, too, but I always liked them to stay looking as "new" as possible, so I didn't wear them except for "good".  And that leads my mind in a different direction....did any of you ever put white shoe polish on your white tennis shoes?  My sister and I did---after we would wash them and dry them in the sun,  there would always be a discoloration around the part where the rubbery stuff came up to meet the canvas (I think we didn't always get the soap rinsed out when we washed them).  Anyway, we solved that problem by applying white shoe polish to them to cover up the funky color.  Yes, the white shoe polish would soon be all over our ankles as we would touch our shoes to them inadvertently.  Ah, the memories of summer. . . . . .back to the topic. . . . .

Now, as an Elder Gal of Summer, I have Flip Flops with a patriotic look . . . . . .

and Flip Flops just to wear when I "garden"........

I even have a black pair with sparkly sequins on the straps  for those festive summer outings. . . .

and some with fluffy stuff wrapped around the straps to slip on after a bath or shower.....

THE STONE RABBIT listened intently as I shared my tale about flip-flops, then . . . . .

he reminded me about the day I sat outside with my little grand girl.......

and cuddled and snuggled as. . . . . .

she showed me her first pair of flip-flops. . . . .

and they were PINK. . . . with sequins.

Then I realized how great it is that she and I, while separated by 50+ years in age, have yet another bond . . . .  the love of Flip Flops.  Especially PINK ones.

For more PINK SATURDAY fun, visit Beverly's at How Sweet the Sound!!!!

DANA

Comments

[Sandy]

How sweet is that? The grandgirl has excellent taste just like her Grandma. I also remember fighting with my sister when one thong would break. We usually picked out the same color each summer. Our local grocery store always stocked them in the first isle as you entered their store. I don't recall a variety of colors, so that is probably why we ended up with the same color most of the time. But it never failed... as soon as you had worn them for awhile and they were nice and comfy...yep that darn thing between your toe would pop out. Guess Mom didn't know about Super Glue yet, or it probably cost more than buying a new pair of thongs....
Thanks for the memories and have a great PS.

[Linda C]

Yep,yep,yep---to the thongs for summer and shoe polish on the white tennis shoes - and the breakage of the thongs- and I also remember really skinning my big toe on the sidewalk one summer, while wearing thongs-that hurt!

Just like Barbies- I had one-my daughter has a bazillion Barbies and flip flops.

And just look at those sweet little feet in those sweet pink flip flops- what a great grandma you are-and hey- you have some great looking feet there:)

Happy Saturday to you:)

Linda C

[Caren]

Oh, I remember all of this! Thongs/flip flops that broke and white shoe polish on your tennis shoes to cover the yellow. Thanks for bringing those memories back to me. Come by for a visit at my blog - I'm having another giveaway!

Happy Pink Saturday.

[Donna]

Yes, I owned "thongs" as well! Grand Girl sure has some snazzy flip flops!

My great-aunt said it has been very hot in Kansas. It's been in the mid 80s here in Los Angleles-NOT typical at all! It's usually in the 100s by now :) I'm not looking forward to a "warm up". Have a great weekend-Stay cool!

We are screening Wizard of Oz on Sunday night.

[Ceekay]

My granddaughter just got her first pair of flip flops...pink with butterflies. She told me I needed some too! It was tooo cute!

[debbie ragan]

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY TO YOU DANA, GRANDGIRL, AND STONERABBIT,
I often wonder why it is the things I seem to have more than enough of now, I didn't have when I was younger. I never knew my sister and I were poor because everybody we knew only had one pair...we use to try and fix ours with rubber bands but that hurt.
those were the days.
I love Grandgirls thongs....I would have to have some of that glitter.
hugs
debbie
my daughter is the queen of thongs....so is her great dane gracie....last year gracie chewed up 8 pairs of thongs but only one thong per pair....we took the other 8 thongs and attached hooks to them and put them on the wall by Amy's back door....great for leashes, etc.
hugs
debbie

[Sherry Smith]

Happy Pink Saturday Dana!
I am Debbie's Sister, Sherry at Country Wings in Phoenix. How ironic I would post behind her. We are on the same rabbit trail. I loved your post. Yes, we too called them thongs. There were no flip flops then. Please stop by and say "hi". I am adding my name to your Followers, and I hope you will do the same. "Country Hugs", Sherry

[Beverly]

Happy Pink Saturday, dear Dana.

It must be wonderful having your very own grandgirl. Those are some darling pink-clad tootsies there. ;-)

You know, we called them flip-flops when I was a kid. And, I've always loved them, too. In fact, I just realized that I don't have a single pair anymore. Do I need to go shopping?

[Gabriela]

Happy Pink Saturday!

This is great! You are giving me an idea...

~ Gabriela ~

[~*~ Patty]

Thanks for the blast from the past. I remember the first few days of toughening up between the toes = ouch and then everything was great...until you had a blow out LOL!
~*Happy Pink Saturday*~

[Ita]

how sweet is that...love it..happy ps

lots of luv,
Ita

[Terri]

Dana, how adorable. I am of the generation that called them thongs as well. I also had my Keds, and yes, we did the white shoe polish thing all the time. I knew exactly what you were talking about!

[Robyn]

HI Dana, I'm a "thong" girl, too. I also washed and polished my Keds. You have a lot of snazzy pairs now and Grandgirls little tootsies sure are adorable! ~ Robyn

[nola the the alamo]

Your story is the same as mine; we got ONE pair per summer, and it was a big deal to pick out the color for that ONE pair! And of course, the first week you wore them, you had HUGE blisters where the rubber rubbed the skin off between your toes.
Aren't those Croc thongs the best? So sturdy and comfy, I garden in mine, too.

[Sandi]

Very cute post! Happy Pink Saturday, Dana! Enjoy your weekend.

[Deanna]

¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*´¨)
(¸.·´ (¸.·´ Happy Pink Saturday

What wonderful memories you brought back for me! I lived in thongs and Keds in the summertime when I was a whipper-snapper. I loved the photo of you and the grandbaby in your thongs...so sweet!

Hope your day is full of Pink happiness!

Deanna :D

[Shelia]

Just loved this, Dana!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :0

[Leslie T.]

Great memories. At our house, we called them beach walkers. Most other people called them thongs. A few even called them zories.
Like you, we got our one pair for the summer and that was it. One year my sister left hers outside overnight and the dog dragged them under the house. My mom made my sister climb under the house and get them out, and that was a huge trauma, oh my gosh I didn't think we were gonna live through it. Heh. It took an hour to get my sister over the hysteria of the imagined spiders living under there. Needless to say, she never left her beach walkers outside again.
When it came to tennis shoes (funny how we all called them tennis shoes, when nobody played tennis) I usually opted for navy blue sneakers, cuz I didn't get along with white so well. We were not a good combo, me and white. No amount of shoe polish could have rectified what I managed to do to a pair of tennis shoes.
Thanks for the summer footwear memories!
Leslie T.

[CC]

As always..your story was wonderful and brings back sweet memories.You and your little sweetie are so cute with your pink thongs.. :)
Happy Pink Saturday and have a wonderful weekend.

[Lynn Wheeler]

Hey Ms. Dana, A delightful post as always. Our official start of summer was when we were finally given permission to go barefoot....ouchies...with the first sting of the summer from the bumblebees in the clover. Happy Pink Saturday. Come visit....I have a stone rabbit too and we are having a MAD tea party. xo Lynn

[Lynn Wheeler]

Oopsie...I forgot to say my sweetieheart grand-daughter is flying in for a visit tomorrow and I bought her pink flipflops. I gussied them up with pink bows. How fun!

[Claudia]

I remember Thongs - that is what we called them, too! I would wear them as I walked 5 blocks to our neighborhood pool. That was in the days when you could go just about anywhere and your parents didn't worry! I also put white shoe polish on my tennis shoes! Btw, it is still hard for me to call them flip-flops - but thongs denote something else nowadays! Happy Pink Saturday!

[Diane]

This is great Dana! I loved my thongs, but I always got blisters between my toes at the beginning of summer! I tried so hard to keep my white tennies WHITE & got so upset whenever someone stepped on my toe. I'd wash them, then polish with white shoe polish too which of course rubbed off on my bony ankles. When they were washed again, they looked really bad... ☺ Diane

[Rosie]

Oh, my! I remember my very first pair. They were black, and I thought they were gorgeous!

[heather]

cute cute cute! we love flip flops here too! that's all i wear from spring until late fall :) i try to stretch out my wearing them as much as possible. often i'm still wearing them with jeans and long sleeve shirts, lol!

[Carla]

AHHHHHHHH! How cute! I love the pics of you and the girl with your pink flip flops! Those are her first pair of "impractical shoes"! TOO CUTE! Love, DIL

[Sue]

You had to rush to the store at the very beginning of summer to pick your favorite color of thongs otherwise you were stuck with the ugly colors that were left. Yup, it happened to me.... ugly dull red ones-yuk!
As for the white tennies- the trick was to polish them when they were still wet- because, yes, the white came off on your ankles and toes if you polished them dry.
Wow, isn't it funny how even though we were in different parts of the country, we all did the same things! :-) Sue

[Sares @ Loveleigh Treasures]

I was irritated when they changes the name from thongs to flip flops too. I think flip flops are one of the greatest inventions of all time! I practically live in them from June to October. They are so easy. I hate it when a favorite pair begins to break down though. Thanks for taking me down a stroll down your memory lane. Happy Pink Saturday and have a loveleigh weekend!

[Anne Fannie]

Hi Beverly,
How cute is that, sharing your flip flop moments with a grand daughter.
Happy Pink Saturday..
~Ann

[Bette]

oh this is such a sweet post - sweet memory from the past and a sweet moment with the little one. been thinking of posting my little girl's slippers but could not schedule a photo shoot with them. one day...

"We became inventive in ways to reattach the straps, but no way really worked that well for any length of time. " - i can relate :D.

[Brenda]

Such sweet, sweet memories...I love flip flops too! And those cute tootsies in the pink spakly ones? Just darling! Thanks for sharing,B=)

[karen cox]

Oh Dana, thank for a stroll down shoe memory lane. I remember wearing flip flops with great big daisies on them. My friend Linda Isby and I had matching ones. I loved them too. Now you have a little grand daughter to share your love and to teach her the tricks of flip flops. They have way cuter ones today than I remember having.

Thanks for a lovely Pink Saturday Post.

Karen

[Nancy]

Hi Dana - Love the pictures of two generations of tootsies and thongs. Of course I remember thongs...but I've never been comfortable in either kind. The shoe kind always made the space between my toes feel "violated" and the other kind...same thing. LOL I remember going barefoot most of the time and running from shade to shade down the burning street. Sandals and white tennies when I had to wear shoes.
Did you get some great bargains at the outdoor flea? Whew, I'll bet it was hotter than heck. Next year you and Bonnie need to head to Texas for Paper Cowgirl. I'm serious I think it's only about 450 miles. It is so much fun. I loved this year because the classes were at the hotel where we stayed so we were in the a/c all the time. I'm completely wiped out today but by next YEAR I'm sure I'll recover. Haha.
Love ya, Nancy

[beansie]

Oh that is just the sweetest thing!! I have quite a few pairs myself, but they are accumulated through the years! They don't get worn out, because there are so many pairs. I probably wear each color maybe twice a year!!.. oh dear.. LOL! BAD BEANSIE!!! (0; Talk about confessions of a shopaholic!!

[Patti Cakes]

Lovely, lovely blog! Thanks for sharing.

[Jean]

I too remember putting shoe polish on my white tennis shoes. Hey, it worked! I don't remember thongs until I was out of my teens and married. I didn't like them because of the "blisters" between my toes!
Your grandgirl's pink flipflops are too adorable!

L,
Jean

[Vickie]

Wonderful post! Happy (late)Pink Saturday. Thanks for sharing.