Turns out that there is fierce competition to make the papal footwear. So many variations on a simple loafer. And then, did you ever wonder what the pope wears on those little hiking trips around the Palatine Hills? Well, look no further. All images from the mother lode of historical liturgical vestments. Please note that some of the footwear featured here is no longer in fashion. Not since Vatican II, anyway. And some others are actually cardinals’ or bishops’ shoes. But most are papal. Oh, and yes, the pope ALWAYS wears white socks.

Along with Muhammad Ali (“Don’t Do Drugs!”), the Keep America Beautiful campaign to stop littering (“Don’t be a litterbug!”) and President Jimmy Carter urging us to turn down the heat and put on a sweater, Smokey the Bear factored in quite prominently to my formative years. Thanks to him, to this day still I have an outsized paranoia of unwittingly setting the forest on fire. This sign is posted on the side of the firehouse in Jeffersonville, NY. The last I knew it had been removed to make way for a more contemporary mural. I was so happy to see that he’s back in place. And don’t you just totally dig his pants!

Get out there and vote! Vintage FDR pins courtesy of Wayne P.

Thanks Julia and Robin for posting this. Lesley Gore wrote this song in 1964. Still fighting the same fight. Really?

Correction: My mistake. You Don’t Own Me was in fact written by John Madara and David White, but recorded by Lesley Gore when she was only 17. Thanks Matt!!

I wonder how Sergio Mian feels about having his Baba Barstool co-opted by Clint Eastwood, the  RNC and Invisible Obama.