Technical Tidbits

Did you ever wonder where the phrase, “The shoemaker’s children has no shoes.” comes from? It about drove me nuts wondering!

A more up-to-date version is, “The Shoemaker’s kids always go barefoot.”

What this means is:

Whatever a person’s skill or talent, those closest to her or him rarely benefit. The proverb appeared in John Heywood’s book of proverbs in 1546. It was used by Robert Burton (1577-1640) in “The Anatomy of Melancholy” (1621-51). The shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot and The cobbler’s children go barefoot are variants of the proverm. The word kids may be replaced for children or child.

1621-51
Him that makes shoes go barefoot himself - Rober Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy.

I found this in the following book:

Random House Dictionary of America’s Popular Proverbs and Sayings: Second Edition
Gregory Titelman
Second Edition
Copyright 2000 by Gregory Titelman
ISBN: 0-375-70584-8