European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Holland Oci tofsted dutch Shoemakers beset by cheap imports by on Henley the associated press the dutch wore wooden shoes before they even had roads let alone windmills or tulips. But modern times have not been kind to the archetypal dutch footwear. Wooden shoes never fully recovered from the Advent of the rubber Boot in the last Century and now Are threatened by cheap asian imitations. ,.  dogs still have a lot going for them. They Are dry environmentally sound and Don t collapse when a cow Steps on them. Roper wooden shoes Are Good for your feet. They encourage blood circulation and let the skin breathe. Also they exercise your foot Muscles in a healthy  Harry Van Der Leuten unfortunately they also Are Loose draft and can cause calluses of unaccustomed feet. There s nothing As essentially dutch As a wooden shoe said Harry Van Der Leuten Secretary of the Netherlands association of wooden shoe manufacturers. But the chinese and koreans Are dumping them Here. We re a Small Industry and we can t afford to take out advertisements that say cheap foreign clogs Warp and  Van Der Leuten who has made wooden shoes for half a Century says asian clogs Are produced from inferior Wood but Are hard to distinguish from the genuine article because they frequently Bear made in Holland labels. Proper wooden shoes Are Good for your feet he said citing a study by the orthopaedics department of Minster University in Germany. They encourage blood circulation and let the skin breathe Van Dor Leuten declared. Also they exercise your loot Muscles in a healthy  dutch clogs Are made of native Poplar about 75 pairs to a tree. They Are carved on specially designed gouging and sanding machines Cost about $17 a pair and last from six months to a year. Asian imports sell for one third As much. Nearly -1,000 Domestic factories turned out 10 million pairs of clogs a year Early in this Century three for every dutch Man woman and child. Today Van Der Leuten s family owned Plant is one of Kow and Row of wooden show adorn a Wall in a store in Zalame schans Netherlands. Only 50 and total production is 4 million pairs a year half of them for the souvenir Market. Wooden shoes came North from Belgium and France six centuries ago. They soon became the footwear of Choice because they were better than medieval leather at protecting against water. Holland is a pretty soggy place said David Bosboom who carves the shoes by hand for Sale to tourists. Clogs were cheap easy to put on and take off and did t give Way when a cow stood on your foot he said. More than 1 million dutch Farmers factory workers fishermen and gardeners still Wear them. With government assistance the wooden shoe Industry runs training courses to attract new people and make sure the old techniques Are passed on. Some of the shoes Are exported to Australia new zealand and american states such As Michigan where dutch immigrant communities settled but to be honest the Export Market in t huge said Van Der Leuten s son Cor. You can t expect to sell Many wooden shoes in a Detroit shopping mall he said. $4sjlmdeftilm vis tors Check out the wares in a a manse schans store. 8 Stripe Ting dint february 25, 1993