Wellington boots, or Wellies as we like to call them, have a long history. They started out as a modification to the Hessian boot and it was the Duke of Wellington's cobbler that made the first modifications, creating a calfskin boot that was immediately given the monicker, Wellingtons.

Up until the 1850s, Wellington boots were generally made from leather, like most dress boots are today. But during the middle of the 1800s an American businessman named Henry Lee Norris, was working with making shoes and boots out of vulcanized rubber. After moving to Scotland, Norris bought a mill in Edinborough and proceeded to manufacture his own modification of the Wellington boots at his company called the North British Rubber Company.

Having changed hands multiple times over the years, the company is now know as Hunter Boot Ltd and their boot is officially known as Hunter Wellington Boots.

Whether you call them Welly, Gumboot, Rubber Boot or Topboot, one thing is clear, the boot originally designed by the company now known as Hunter Wellington is one of the most popular rain boot designs that the world has ever seen!

They're worn by farmers in Australia and New Zealand and were considered the the correct boot for all good Socialists to wear in Soviet Russia. Alas, the poor gumboot has fallen out of favor in Russia, but maybe some day it will rise again.

And of course, should I even mention? There are certain folk who find rubber rain boots to be rather erotically special? Yes, there are even Wellington boot fetishists in our midst! Everyone loves Wellies! Some more than most ;)