Galoshes, also known as gumshoes, dickersons, or overshoes, are a type of rubber boot that one slips over shoes to keep shoes from getting muddy or wet. The term originally referred to a wooden shoe or patten, or merely a wooden sole fastened to the foot by a strap or cord. In the middle ages, "galosh" was a general term for a boot or shoe, particularly one with a wooden sole. In modern usage, it is an outer shoe worn in inclimate weather to protect the inner one, and keep the feet dry. Galoshes are now almost universally made of rubber, and in the United States they are often known as "rubbers." In the bootmakers' trade, a "galosh" is the piece of leather, of a make stronger than, or different from that of the "uppers", which runs around the bottom part of a boot or shoe, just above the sole.

An unconfirmed legend states that galoshes were invented by an Englishman Radley. He suffered from rheumatism and wanted to keep his feet dry. While reading De Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar he noticed a description of protective cloth overshoes "gallicae" and decided to capitalize on the idea. He patented cloth overshoes reinforced with rubber to keep feet dry.

There is also records of a black inventor by the name of Alvin Longo Rickman, who received a patent for an overshoe in 1898.

There are two basic types. One is like an oversize shoe or low boot, made of thick rubber with a heavy sole and instep, designed for heavy-duty use. The other is of much thinner, more flexible material, more like a rubber slipper, designed solely for protection against the wet rather than for extensive walking.

In Russia, galoshes have been an indispensable attribute of valenki. In the upper U.S. Midwest, school children know the black rubber, over-the-shoe boot as "four-buckle arctics".

Footwear

Galoschen | Калоши