My oldest is 33. He had bells. They were so cute! My younger kids did not.

Anonymous wrote:Born in the early 70s and I don’t remember ever seeing these. Seems like it would be insanely annoying out at a store or playground with all these jangly kids! I was from a big family so maybe my mom was hoping to lose a few of us…..
I only remember getting lost about 3 times. Usually someone just left me someplace.

Where did you grow up?

I’m from Baltimore City. They were common in the 1970s.

Born in the early 70s and I don’t remember ever seeing these. Seems like it would be insanely annoying out at a store or playground with all these jangly kids! I was from a big family so maybe my mom was hoping to lose a few of us…..
I only remember getting lost about 3 times. Usually someone just left me someplace.

Anonymous wrote:No bells for me, but my kid had squeaker shoes.

I don’t remember having bells (born 1982), but my kid also had a pair of squeaker shoes. We got them specifically for the character that was on them and thought the squeaker was hilarious. When people would comment on them while we were out I joked that they are like cat bells, it had no idea that was a real thing!

I was born in 1975 and had the hard white lace up shoes w/ the bells. My mom kept my 2 littlest pairs and then my first Mary Janes. In all the photos it looks like I graduated from the white shoes to Mary Janes (navy, white or red) and keds red or blue or yellow sneakers. I grew up in DC

Anonymous wrote:I was born in 1975 and did not have bells. My two younger siblings were born in 1977 and 1979 and also did not have bells.
I do not recall ever seeing (or hearing) a child with bells on their shoes.

I was born in 1956 and bells were common back then. It was just a way to hear the child running around. Especially out in public

Weird -- I forgot all about this, but had them. Late '70s, Virginia. Agree that they go with the hard white shoes that kids don't wear anymore.

I remember seeing them a lot during the 80s — when kids still wore those hard white baby shoes. It was even more common for infants wearing soft shoes, because they enjoyed the sound when they kicked their feet. With toddlers I think it was a combination of cuteness and being able to hear them when you couldn’t see them. I stopped seeing/ hearing the bells when toddlers stopped wearing those white shoes, although I’ve occasionally seen them on infants more recently.
From DC, and also seen in Mid-Atlantic states and cities.

Anonymous wrote:I had the hard-soled, high top, belled white shoe as a toddler. My mom was adamant that my oldest needed the same, but didn't mention the bell. I grew up in western PA and most of my family is from Ohio. She also looked for glass bottles. No thank you on both accounts.

Same with the hard-soled high top shoes with bells and mom wanting to get them for the first grandchild. Also grew up in western PA.

Anonymous wrote:I had the hard-soled, high top, belled white shoe as a toddler. My mom was adamant that my oldest needed the same, but didn't mention the bell. I grew up in western PA and most of my family is from Ohio. She also looked for glass bottles. No thank you on both accounts.

Glass bottles came back in the aughts.

Grew up in MoCo. I remember my brother having these (he's 51).

I had the hard-soled, high top, belled white shoe as a toddler. My mom was adamant that my oldest needed the same, but didn't mention the bell. I grew up in western PA and most of my family is from Ohio. She also looked for glass bottles. No thank you on both accounts.

OP here, 3rd generation NYer, 1st to be raised in the suburbs. (Sorry to whoever wanted this to be a southern thing.) It was definitely so my parents could “keep track of me”. Funny to think of how ineffective it must have been and also how today it sounds right in line with free range parenting. The example above looks just like what I had. Unlikely to have been a choking hazard as the bell is attached to a larger white plastic piece.

54, sibling is 52. No bells for either of us, grew up in a NYC suburb

They still exist. https://sikesshoes.com/products/keep-ty-bells