If it weren’t for ya gumboots, where would ya be?

Ever wondered why they’re call gumboots? Want to know how big the largest gumboot is? How about competing in a gumboot throwing contest?

Here are some fun facts about gumboots you may not know!

• They were named the ‘Wellington‘ boot (also nicknamed ‘wellies’) after their inventor Arthur Wellesley – the first Duke of Wellington – in the early 1800s.
  
• In 1852, Hiram Hutchinson began producing rubber Wellingtons, made from gum-rubber harvested from the rubber tree – hence the new name, gumboots!

Watch the fascinating process of how rubber is harvested! Can you believe it starts out looking like milk?

• The World’s Largest Gumboot is unfortunately not the giant tin gumboot in Taihape… its actually a Golden Gumboot located in North Queensland that stands 26 feet/8 metres tall.

• Gumboot throwing is actually a sport! Often called Welly Wanging, it involves throwing a gumboot (or a wellie/wellington boot) as far as you can from a starting line. The World Record for a gumboot throw is 209.9 feet/63.98 metres!
  
• Kiwis love gumboots so much, we’ve even made a national holiday for them! Gumboot Day is the Tuesday after Easter every year in Taihape, the Gumboot Capital of NZ.

Surely you all remember the iconic gumboot song…