The galosh situation.

When I was a kid, galoshes were a thing. Now they are not a thing. What happened? 

Actually, they do make a lot of galoshes still. One can be as galoshed up as one wants. But does one?

So, back in the paleolithic era of my childhood, when I attended P.S. Ogg, it was hardly unusual for kids to wear actual shoes instead of sneakers to school. But all kids were expected to have some kind of galoshes or rainboots for hard weather. They would typically be stowed someplace near the entrance so that we wouldn't get the halls slippery with snow, ice, or just lots of water. 

Every office worker had some kind of galoshes, because they didn't want to schlep around the joint in wet shoes. Even my blue-collar dad eschewed boots, preferring to wear big rubber galoshes over his usual work shoes. Those things were almost waders. 

For such big ol' galoshes (mine were halfway up my shin, just like the ones shown above) you wanted some genuine Baggies, the plastic bags made in those days by the plastics division of Mobil. Unlike Ziploc bags they had no seam, so they were perfect for putting over your shoes so they would slide right into those gum boots. And they offered an extra layer of waterproofing.

By the time I was in high school, of course, you'd rather die than not walk to school in your sneakers, at least if you were a guy. 

For a few years in the early part of my fabled career, when men still wore suits to work, I would use galoshes to protect my dress shoes. Later on I just kept a pair of decent black shoes in the desk and wore boots. Still later I got boots that were nice enough to wear with the casual dress required, but could still change to those desk shoes if it was a particularly messy trip in. 

Since then, galoshes have played no part in my life. People wear jeans to the office, and I work from home now anyway. I don't think I'm alone in saying my galosh days are likely over. 

But you never know. Weird things pop up all the time to help us deal with winter weather, and galoshes may make a comeback. Look at this thing from Cotosen:

As a ski hat it is kind of brilliant, combining head warmth and ski goggles into a single package. On the other hand, I think it would make you look like Dumb Donald. 

Styles change, but I don't know that they'll ever change that much. 

🥾👢🥾👢🥾👢

P.S.: You will never believe it, but the strange and wonderful word galosh may actually share a root with the word artery. Here's Merriam-Webster on the etymology: 

Middle English galoche "kind of sandal or clog with a wooden sole held to the foot with leather thongs," borrowed from Anglo-French & Middle French, borrowed from Old Occitan galocha, perhaps going back to Gallo-Romance *caloctium, borrowed from Greek of Massalia (Marseille) *kalóchtion, altered from *kalórtion, from Greek kâlon "wood, timber" (of uncertain origin) + -ortion, compound form (as in Middle Greek cheirórtion "glove," podórtion "gaiter") of Greek artḗr "kind of shoe," probably derivative of aeírein "to bind" with -tēr, instrument suffix — more at ARTERY

There's one for the philologists!