Animals from Down Under really seem to inspire the people who market products for down under your ankles. Maybe shoe industry folks watch a lot of nature shows from Australia, because we’ve had Dingo boots, KangaRoos shoes, and of course, Wallabees.

During the 1970s Wallabees were everywhere. With their thick, yellowish-beige, crepe-style soles and their homey, brown suede uppers, they were unmistakable. On some types of flooring or pavement, they even squished.

Wallabees were ugly-cool earth-shoes for kids. Their moccasin-like colors brought to mind the pioneer days of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Kids loved ‘em. Your average neighborhood three-year-old might only have been running after pigeons, but wearing those Wallabees the little tyke could just as well have been trapping raccoons or hunting elk.

Wallabees came from Clarks, the shoe company that had earlier brought out the desert boot of the 1960s. First discovered by the hippie set, Wallabees soon became the shoes you just had to have as you were slogging through your adolescence. They matched up perfectly with those brown corduroys and beige turtlenecks, and they even gave you kind of a bouncy feeling. It probably helped counteract all that teenage angst.

Inevitably, other companies came out with Wallabee knock-offs, and people began to think of any shoe with a gummy sole and a suede top as a “wallabee.” But there was only one true Wallabee. It was made by Clarks, and it came (at least in spirit) from the Land Down Under.