A shoe tree, not to be confused with the shoe-preservation device of the same name, is a tree (or, occasionally, a powerline pole or other wooden object) that has been festooned with old shoes. Shoe trees are generally located alongside a major local thoroughfare, and may have a theme (such as high-heeled shoes). There are currently at least seventy-six such shoe trees in the United States, and an undetermined number elsewhere.
A cottonwood tree in Middlegate, Nevada, about 100 miles east of Reno, said to be the largest shoe tree in the world, was cut down by vandals late December 2010.
During the summer of 2010, a well-known shoe tree located just outside of Nordman, Idaho burned to the ground.
A shoe tree in Eureka Springs AR was recently cut down across from a KOA, where it was believed that a group of teenagers went into the campground, stole everyone's shoes and started their own tree. This tree was a landmark in the little town.
Read more about this topic: Shoe Tossing
Famous quotes containing the words shoe and/or tree:
“A little neglect may breed mischief ... for want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“Our courage breaks like an old tree in a black wind and dies,
But we have hidden in our hearts the flame out of the eyes
Of Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)