Curiosity

The majority of people that report having received / witnessed the slipper nearly always refer to size 11 or 12. The average shoe size for a man is between 9-10.5 a slightly larger size range, than back in the 50/70’s.

So my question - was this an erroneous belief , the famous slipper looked larger in size to a child than it actually was, exaggeration, or if correct, where did all these large slippers materialise, most slippers were well worn and not all donating PE staff were large hunky specimens,

Ketta

When I got the slipper it was my own - the headmistress demanded I hand one of mine over (we called them "pumps")

Our Honorary Life Member, Fran of Wembley, was only too pleased to be able to mention the size of the slipper. She wrote:

The force of strokes felt as though they would knock me over (It was a mans big plimsole and I am quite small). It was also quite noisy, the sound of the whacks were very loud and echoed round the room.

KETTA


The one & only slippering I got was in 1st year at Grammar. I was an 8 then, the slipper used by Nogger Knight, Woodwork Master, ex-Desert Rat, and present-psycho looked suitably flipping enormous.

I estimated it in Oct 1963, when it occurred as a size 11 & I've seen nothing since to convince me I was far wrong!


Steve M

When in Sec Mod it was usually a size 9.
Strangely we had a little ditty at one time, it went " you get more whacks from a size 9 slipper to whacks more" etc sung to the tune of the Knorr soup advert ( more soup from a packet of Knorr" etc.
Now in hindsight where did all those worn shiny soled size 9s come from, most of us had smaller feet and in any case I cannot see any of us donating them to the slipper fund. Also what happened to the left foot ones?
Was there some kind of speciality worn soled plimsole supplier? Perhaps the Gym teacher wore em out quickly and auctioned em off?
Curiouser and curiouser as Alice would say or was it the Cheshire cat.
Thinking on the slippers seemed great big things especially considering the target size, unless of course some particularly broad beamed older girl got it

At a mass slippering for messing about in the changing rooms about 8 of us were lined up in front of the rest of the boys. The P.E teacher asked us in turn our shoe size and told the boy with the largest to take a plimsole off. He then whacked us with that one. I dont think it was bigger than about a size 8. This was in 1973 aged around 13 at the time.

When talking about size 13s in slippers bear in mind that (at least in the 1950s) there were child sizes in footwear going up to 13 so if a size 11 was used it could be quite a small one.

The two slipperings that I received at school were from a plimsoll.
On the first occasion the teacher used the boy's plimsoll on the front
desk, I'd guess a size five. For the second slippering the same teacher
found out who wore the largest plimsoll, size nine came out on top
and that was used.
My wife's headmistress used one of her old mule slippers to punish
her with, having seen her I would estimate her shoe size was seven
or eight.
But regardless of size we both found it uncomfortable sitting down
afterwards, as both teachers were very experienced in the art of
slippering.

Interesting question. In my early teaching days (around 1970) there was indeed a plentiful supply of old plimsolls in a lost property basket in the changing rooms. Trainers were not unknown but in school virtually all pupils had plimsolls and got through many pairs, swiftly worn smooth and discarded. I remember selecting for myself two or three very suitable slippers - odd that we only ever called them slippers when they were employed for punishment, never when worn - and keeping them handy in a locker. Because they were pupils' plimsolls, they did indeed range from small - size 2 or 3 - to medium/large - size 7/8/9, but the majority would not be larger than about 6 or 7. That is actually quite a good size: the sole is wide enough to cover a good area, and more importantly the heel end is small enough for easy grip.

I recall occasionally asking a boy for his own gym shoe, but only when I could see he had a suitable one. I remember once telling each of the three boys in front of me to supply a slipper, and then choosing the most suitable. Flat smooth soles were always preferable to ribbed or patterned ones, and also fairer on the victim's bottom !

A few colleagues, even if not involved with PE or Games, had acquired themselves a favourite slipper which they kept in a drawer or cupboard, and some gave them names including Tonker, Mr Slap, and Sammy the Slipper.

In boarding, we more often used a carpet slipper. In the junior house there was one specific one, conveniently hanging in a little staff cloakroom under the stairs between boys' and girls' quarters. It was thus easily to hand for immediate use or - since the cloakroom was not locked - a pupil could actually be sent to fetch it. It was no larger than maybe a size 8, with springy rubber sole and classic tartan upper; but someone (before my time) had actually cut away the heel fabric, to allow a better grip (and to leave nobody in any doubt of the slipper's purpose!). I remember the senior housemaster more than once actually showing the slipper to prospective parents, as evidence of the firm but "homely" regime in the boarding house. We did also sometimes reach for any pupil's slipper which was handy when instant justice was required - again of smaller rather than larger size.

The slipper survived, both in day and boarding, for a good few years - beyond the 1987 ban which of course only applied in state schools. We phased out the rather random and casual use by staff in classrooms and changing rooms, limiting it to two or three specific staff who would apply it in their office. In boarding I cannot recall the exact last time it was applied, but it reduced from an almost daily application in the 70s to perhaps half a dozen times a term by the end of the 80s. But, significantly, the slipper outlived the cane by several years, and rightly so: it was always possible to deliver a slippering which made a smart point but did no damage, and left no real ill feeling, whereas the cane by definition was more severe.

I hope this is helpful.

Yes, it is very helpful. Thank you for writing in and welcome to our happy, Happy Circle.

I feel i must correct this. The use of a smooth slipper was described as "fairer on the boys bottom." I think this is rather misleading. The reason teachers used a smooth sole slipper was that a greater part of the sole made contact with the boys bottom, rsther than just the tread, and this made it sting more. It was not as if a shoe with tread marked the bottom any more than a smooth one.

Their was great diversity in slippers/shoes that were used, as unlike the cane it was an unofficial punishment, and the impliment did not have to be approved.

As head i did use a slipper. I used it when i felt the offence did not deserve a caning but deserved something stronger than a lecture or detention/lines.I did have a proper slipper, with the top cut off, a size 9. By a proper slipper i mean one that started life as a house shoe.Mine dated back to about 1930 and in those days they had a fairly thick, but flexible leather sole. In most cases two whacks with this across a boys pants was enough, provide a short sharp sting. It was very rare for me to slipper a boy on his bare bottom.

i do recall one time when a new boy was sent to me for the slipper for flicking a rubber across the room. At his od school the slipper had been used across trousers, and on his way to my office,put on an extra pair of pants. Needless to say he was shocked to learn that i slippered on pants and he had to take his trousers down. Of course i saw the extra pants and the punishment increased. Instead of two on his pants he got four on his bare bottom. The slipper on bare flesh does not mark or hurt so long as the cane, but for a few seconds after contact it stings more than the cane as a greater area is whacked.

As regards the size of shoe used, it did change from teacher to teacher. Those that used it in the classroom, tended to have one that they kept in the desk. These slippers were mainy about size 9, as this was thought ideal for whacking most of the most receptive part of the boys bottom each time. These slippers were given names like "Charlie", "Fred" or "Mr Sting".

I always found that PE staff made the greatest use of the slipper. In most cases this was a gym shoe that was in lost properity, or one borrowed from another boy. If this was a junior school, the chances were that the slipper was fairly small, may be as small as a 4 OR 5. If the boy was young or of small build this whack most of his bottom each time as was prefered to a larger slipper, which woud be heavier and more likely to bruise a young bottom, certainly where the tip landed. This may result in a parents complaint if they saw the bruise on the boys bottom when bathing him. Some PE teachers used the smallsize slipper on larger boys as it was less likely to bruise, but here one of the slipper meant one whack on each cheek. Many boys found it stung a lot more when a small slipper was applied just to none cheek rather than a larger one right across the bottom.

I do think most teacher took care to select a slipper that was suitable for its purpose. Having said that for a short while some teachers used large Green Flash plimsolls that hadva thick, chunky rubber sole. These tended to leave a bruise in the shape of the sipper on the boys bottom.

One thing needs noting. Most PE staff just used the size slipper that as handy at the time not one kept in a special place just for the purpose. It is also worth noting that they did it on the boys shorts, and as pants wre not allowed in most schools for PE/games the sting was much more intense. PE teahers often said they would slipper the boy bac in the changing room. Many called the boy for the slipper just as he was going for a shower or was drying himself. The boy would then have to take it on his bare bottom. From the pe teachers point of view the less grip on the slipper the better as it would sting more. It was often more painful to have a size 6 with no grip than a size 9 with plenty of grip. PE teachers often use to pride themselves in just how hard they could slipper a boys bottom and make it hurt. Of course the slipper also had a strong deterent effect when used by the PE teacher. Many would rather use a larger slipper that would whack both cheeks each time, than use a smaller on, leaving a small red mark where it was applied to just one buttock at a tie. The reason being, the boy would have to shower and so the rest would see the marks. A completely red bottom was more of a deterent to others than one that just had a small red mark on each cheek.

I do think the tales of size 13 adult slippers being used may not be entirely true. These would be very heavy and more likely to bruise. On a more practical point the heel whould be ard for the teacher to hold, unless, like his feet he had a large hand.

Thank you for this detailed response and for your contribution to the 'Cane Size' thread, George. It is always good to hear from you.

It was great to see slippering teacher and george comments on how they issued and saw the slipper being used (and yes can remember we all thought at the time why did the PE teacher always say he would use the slipper when it was always a gym shoe but no one every was brave enough to point this out to them!).
PE teacher were the cause of most lads getting slippered at some point in school (mid to late 70s) but part of that I am sure was down to the fact they were in a less controlled enviroment and with lads often out of direct view unlike in a classroom and needed to establish just what the limits were.(Craft/woodwork/metalwork teachers could be known for using the slipper quickly too) As George says seeing a lad or lads get slippered there and then as PE tended to do soon made the rest of us tow the line and behave. I would say most of the extensive use the PE masters put the slipper too certainly to let the lad feel it but was often a warning to sort them selves out and a warning that if they or anyone continued to mess up a fuller "of the best" slippering would be given out and they certainly didnt worry about given out a real hiding when they deamed it deserved - my only real gripe would be that PE teachers were more often into group punishment and didnt worry about finding the wrong doer - if there was a group of lads together a disturbance they often the whole group found themselevs doing press up, gym laps or even at times each getting a quick few strokes of the slipper.

I would go so far as to say that the PE teacher in my senior school, as well as being a vertically challenged taffy person born out of wedlock, was also a sadistic bully.
He managed to slipper many lads every lesson if not the whole class. If he performed the same with other classes I would guess he used the slipper at least 60+ times a day.
Beyond any comprehension that someone could fuel his predilictions so easily.
As for slippers, technically speaking a smooth slipper does not have any air cushioning the blow on impact. A good noisy stingy whack followed producing a red imprint. The use of the " green flash" type tennis shoe with more pronounced tread produced a duller more bruising effect.
If anyone is in doubt then try it out! ( rhymes)