Qingwei | saw the shoe sample and remembered her mother
Some time ago, back to the countryside rural hometown provincial relatives, when packing things, found two thick old books bulging sac, do not know what "secrets" are hidden inside, open a look, it turned out to be the mother to make cloth shoes used paper shoe samples, cotton shoes single shoes, adults and children, there are dozens of sets, neatly sandwiched in two old books, looking at these paper shoe samples, I recalled the scene when my mother made cloth shoes by hand when I was a child.
In the early 1970s, some rural areas on the mainland were still relatively poor, people did not have money to buy shoes, rural women made their own cloth shoes to wear, whether it was single shoes or cotton shoes, whether it was shoes worn by adults or shoes worn by children, people made them themselves. At that time, the standard for men to find a daughter-in-law was not to see whose girlfriend was beautiful, but to see whose girlfriend could work, especially to make shoes, if any girlfriend could not make cloth shoes, it was difficult to find a good mother-in-law, and people also laughed at his family's "girl stupidity". When many rural lads meet their daughters-in-law, they must first ask the woman whether she will do needlework and whether she will make shoes, and if the woman says that she will not make cloth shoes, this family affair is likely to be unsuccessful, which shows the importance of rural women making cloth shoes at that time.
Mother is the village handmade cloth shoes "expert", made of cloth shoes are both good-looking and heel, comfortable to wear, so there are many shoe samples, neighbors make cloth shoes, often go to our home to find the mother to transcribe shoe samples, or ask the mother to make cloth shoes "experience". At this time, the mother will teach hand in hand, patiently and meticulously explaining the "secret" of making cloth shoes. Especially in the winter to do cotton shoes, because the sole and upper are relatively thick, the sole of the shoe to do the upper is a "hard work", the small sole of the hand is impenetrable, a little attention will also break the steel needle or be punctured by the steel needle, blood DC.
At that time, everyone from small to large needed cotton single, large small, various and other more than a dozen paper shoes. Paper shoe sample is generally divided into two parts of the sole and upper, there are men's, women's, adults, children, cotton shoes, single shoes, square mouth, round mouth, pointed mouth, toddler tiger head shoes, etc. Multiple sizes and styles, the material for making paper shoe samples, most of them are old newspapers, old textbooks for students, homework books, book covers, etc., various, what kind of cloth shoes are worn by people on the street, what kind of paper shoe patterns will be there. However, although the paper shoes are the same, the cloth shoes made are also very different due to the uneven craftsmanship skills of individuals. Some female comrades made cloth shoes are good-looking and heeled, and some of the cloth shoes made are neither good-looking nor easy to wear, this main "technical work" in the upper, the upper is too large to fit with the sole, the upper is small, the shoes are small, and the shoes cannot be worn. Therefore, rural women also have great "learning" in making cloth shoes.
People in our time all wore such cloth shoes made by their mothers, because there were many children, mothers had to keep making cloth shoes, and in winter, they often woke up from a sleep and saw the figure of the mother still holding the soles of the shoes under the kerosene lamp...
Now, decades have passed, with the continuous development of the economy and society and the improvement of people's living standards, people have long stopped making cloth shoes by hand, all buy ready-made leather shoes, sports shoes, children's shoes and other kinds of shoes to wear, handmade cloth shoes in some rural areas almost "lost". However, the mother has preserved so many paper shoe samples intact, and it is also a symbol of the mother's diligence and frugality, and it is a mark and historical witness of the real life of people in that era.
Today, my mother has been dead for more than three years, but whenever I see the paper shoe pattern that my mother used to make cloth shoes, I will think of the scene when my mother put the sole of her shoe under the kerosene lamp, think of my mother's voice and smile, and my mother seems to have not left, has not left us, as if she is right next to us...
One point number One pink spring sheep