Walking Sticks

1916

Walking sticks have been used by men from Bible times down to the present age. These have come in all varieties from the plain staff to the gold and silver mounted ones according to the fancies and customs of the age.

When, in 1700, footmen attending gentlemen were forbidden to carry swords, these dangerous weapons were usually replaced by a staff with a large silver handle. This was called a Porter's Staff. Some thirty years later gentlemen began to discard their swords and to carry large oak sticks with thick knobs, whereon were carved ugly faces. Before long a competition arose between long and short walking sticks. A writer of that time describes the long ones as "leaping poles," while others preferred a yard of varnished cane. This latter is still in vogue, ornamented to suit the taste of the wearer.