History Main / EatingShoes

Out of all the unusual things that someone can eat, shoes tend to be the most popular choice in fiction. Probably because they are the type of clothing one misses the least. Also, they tend to be made of leather (which resembles food the most out anything else you'll ever wear).[[note]]Unless, of course you happen to be Music/LadyGaga. Then it's [[IconicOutfit something else.]][[/note]] TropeMaker is probably Creator/CharlieChaplin, who did it first in his classic ''Film/TheGoldRush'' (1925). A subtrope of PovertyFood.

* ''PetAlien'': Gumper eats everything, including shoes.

Out of all the unusual things that someone can eat, shoes tend to be the most popular choice in fiction. Probably because they are the type of clothing one misses the least. Also, they tend to be made of leather (which resembles food the most out anything else you'll ever wear).[[note]]Unless, of course you happen to be Music/LadyGaga. Then it's [[IconicOutfit something else.]][[/note]] TropeMaker is probably Creator/CharlieChaplin, who did it first in his classic ''Film/TheGoldRush'' (1925).

''To find that [[MarshmallowDream his dream had come true]]"''

-->--'''Gary''' ([[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS1E15SleepyTimeSuds in his dreams]]), ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}''

* In ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' the manager of the restaurant in Ankh-Morpork, a former chef, is able to make meals out of mud and old boots (after Death steals his food stocks to feed the beggars) by a combination of skill and 'headology' (people will eat anything in a fancy restaurant if the menu is in French... Er, Quirmian). In ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'' it's noted that mud and old boots-based cuisine eventually caught on across the city's posh restaurants. You don't carry [[IndestructibleEdible Dwarf Bread]] to eat. You carry it so that your shoes taste better by comparison.

[[quoteright:232:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chaplin_6904.jpg]]

* ''Film/TheGoldRush'': Creator/CharlieChaplin and Big Jim, the man he's rooming with at an isolated cabin, are so starved that they start eating one of Chaplin's shoes. It seems to taste to him very well by the way, in fact it TastesLikeChicken. Fun fact: The shoe was made out of licorice. They shot so many takes, that Chaplin had to be rushed to the hospital for an insulin shot.

* German film director Creator/WernerHerzog literally ate one of his shoes because he lost a bet. He swore that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film ''GatesOfHeaven''. When Morris did Herzorg took the opportunity to let film director Les Blank film his activity, which was named ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: ''Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe'' (1980). If you're wondering, he boiled it with onions first.

* Film director Creator/WernerHerzog once made a wager with then-aspiring filmmaker Creator/ErrolMorris that if Morris completed his first documentary "Gates of Heaven", Herzog would eat his shoe. When the film premiered in Berkeley, Herzog made a public spectacle of having his shoe boiled in a garlic broth at a nearby restaurant and consuming all but the sole, saying "one does not eat the bones of the chicken." Fellow filmmaker Les Blank covered the event for the short film [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe".]]

* Film director Creator/WernerHerzog once literally ate his shoe because he lost a bet. Les Blank made it into the short documentary "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" (1980).

-->--'''???''', ''WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}''

->''There once was a man from Peru,''\\

''To find that [[MarshmallowDream his dream had come true]]''

-->[[{{SpongeBob SquarePants}} There once was a man from Peru]],
-->Who dreamed he was eating his shoe.
--->He woke with a fright
--->In the middle of the night,
-->To find that [[MarshmallowDream his dream had come true]].

* ''Film/TheGoldRush'': Creator/CharlieChaplin and Big Jim, the man he's rooming with at an isolated cabin, are so starved that they start eating one of Chaplin's shoes. It seems to taste to him very well by the way, in fact it TastesLikeChicken. Fun fact: The shoe was made out of licorice. They shot so many takes, that Chaplin got an upset stomach.

* ''Film/TheGoldRush'': Creator/Charlie Chaplin and Big Jim, the man he's rooming with at an isolated cabin, are so starved that they start eating one of Chaplin's shoes. It seems to taste to him very well by the way, in fact it TastesLikeChicken. Fun fact: The shoe was made out of licorice. They shot so many takes, that Chaplin got an upset stomach.

* ''Film/TheGoldRush'': Charlie Chaplin and Big Jim, the man he's rooming with at an isolated cabin, are so starved that they start eating one of Chaplin's shoes. It seems to taste to him very well by the way, in fact it TastesLikeChicken. Fun fact: The shoe was made out of licorice. They shot so many takes, that Chaplin got an upset stomach.

* In JanSvankmajer's short film "Food" two customers wait in vain until a waiter comes to take their order. They start eating everything in sight, including their shoes.

* ''{{Futurama}}'':

* German film director Creator/WernerHerzog literally ate one of his shoes because he lost a bet. He swore that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film ''GatesOfHeaven''. When Morris did Herzorg took the opportunity to let film director Les Blank film his activity, which was named ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" (1980). If you're wondering, he boiled it with onions first.

* In "CannibalTheMusical" the characters also start eating their shoes before eating each other.

* In The Milagro Beanfield War, Joe remarks about how he and his family are "tired of eating stewed tennis shoes instead of meat."

* TheSimpsons: In one scene in "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?" Herb Powell is talking to his fellow beggars sitting around a fire. One of them is Charlie Chaplin eating his own shoe.

* German film director Creator/WernerHerzog literally ate one of his shoes because he lost a bet. He swore that he would eat his shoe if Errol Morris ever completed the film ''GatesOfHeaven''. When Morris did Herzorg took the opportunity to let film director Les Blank film his activity, which was named ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" (1980).

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', an unlucky fisherman can catch FilletOfSole, and actually cook with it (though no Sim will enjoy eating the results.)

* Film director WernerHerzog once literally ate his shoe because he lost a bet. Les Blank made it into the short documentary "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" (1980).

* TheSimpsons: In one scene in "Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes?" Herb Powell is talking to his fellow beggars sitting around a fire. One of them is Charlie Chaplin eating his own shoe. Les Blank made it into the short documentary "Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe" (1980).

* Film director WernerHerzog once literally ate his shoe because he lost a bet.