Moonshiners and Spies Had Special Shoes to Avoid Being Followed And Tracked

In the United States alcohol was prohibited from 1920-1933 in an age known as Prohibition. Moonshine (a type of strong, homemade whiskey) was usually made by bootleggers in the center of a forest or in places middle of nowhere to avoid detection. So the moonshiners would wear cow shoes like you see above to avoid drawing the attention of police looking for activity in the woods.

In this old law enforcement photo from 1924, we see a police officer trying to wear a ‘cow shoe’ used by moonshiners to hide their footprints.

And there is another example of Allied Spies during World War II to mislead the Germans and steer them in the opposite direction. During World War II those spying for allies had to go through significant trouble in order to make sure that they weren’t found by the Nazis while taking on Axis secrets.

It involved the perfect type of clothes that didn’t make them look too English, they occasionally had to resort to cheating shoes like these to throw Nazi forces off their tracks. [h/t Kanagawabatice on reddit]