Wrap it up
What did we use before socks?
Socks nowadays are pretty much all machine-made. Before that, they were hand-knitted, and knitting only became widespread during the 16th century. Now, I hear you say; we've had clothes for over a hundred thousand years - I just read this in your last post!
Without getting into the details, we've been able to weave fabrics for millennia,[1] but have only knitted for about a thousand years.[2] Weaves unfortunately don't allow for much articulation, and so are ineffective for the movement that socks require and knits provide.
So the question is - what did people use to keep their feet warm instead of socks for all those years? They used footwraps.[3] That is, simple strips of woven cloth wrapped around one's foot.
What is truly remarkable is that the conscripted Russian soldiers during the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 were issued these instead of socks.[4]
Or even more basic - stuffing cloth into the soles of their shoes. ↩︎
https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/531831-mobilizovannym-v-rf-vydayut-portyanki-vmesto-noskov-stratkom-vsu-video. ↩︎
