Jaxlore: Jiffy Feet – A comprehensive history

[Tacachale]

Jaxlore is a column by Bill Delaney on the folklore, urban legends and local traditions of Jacksonville and the First Coast. In today's edition, we look at 'Jiffy feet,' a term for dirty bare feet that's been part of the local lexicon for more than 40 years.

Read more here: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/jaxlore-jiffy-feet-a-comprehensive-history/

[sandyshoes]

This is the first I've ever heard of "Jiffy feet" and I was born/raised here in Jax.  Loved the photo of the ankle bracelet on bare, dirty feet.  I knew people went barefoot on hot pavement, but never knew there was a name for it.  You can understand why the trend of wearing "toe rings" really grossed me out in the early/mid 2000s...ugh. They shoulda just got pedis with the $$$ instead of buying gold toe rings.  Enjoyed the article. 

[Snaketoz]

I'm another local native that has never heard of "Jiffy Feet".  As a kid, I went barefoot a lot.  So I guess I had "Jiffy Feet" and didn't know it.

[blizz01]

Oh, I remember Jiffy Feet for sure.  I believe that the Huntley family lived in the Palmolive Mansion or whatever it's called over by Club Continental in OP.  Think that was also featured in the Orange Park piece you guys did.  I do know that the Huntley family was heavily philanthropic and big in the LDS community.  Taking it way back, does anyone remember Handi-Way ahead of Jiffy - in most of those same buildings?

[JaxAvondale]

Haha! I was literally talking about Jiffy feet with my staff last week.

[Adam White]

It was "Jiffy Foot" when I first heard it in (I believe) the early 90s. It would be interesting to see when the term arose. I always assumed it was in the early 90s, but I guess it could've been earlier.

I kind of miss Jiffy stores. They weren't anything special, but were a feature of my youth.

[opfoodie]

I grew up in Orange Park and remember this term from the early 80s.

[Jason]

Love this!!!  I grew up in Daytona Beach and this term was commonplace for us jiffy-footed beach bums. 

[sandyshoes]

blizz01 (Reply #3):  I don't recall Handy Way, but I remember all the way back to Jackson's Minit Market. (That's how it was spelled). It was a white-tiled little building with a red-tiled bowtie in the middle, and a huge one on top with the name beside it.  The same man worked at the one on Melvin Road for eons, and wore dress pants, a white button-down shirt and a red bowtie.  And there was no air-conditioning.  We rode bikes there and got goodies.  Coke Icees were my favorite, long before brainfreeze began occurring.  (Now I can't even enjoy Sonic grape slushees anymore, darned tooth-colored fillings really conduct the cold). 

[JaxJersey-licious]

Yeah I guess for me it was more a case of Lil' Champ/Magic Market feet growing up but the concept of having Jiffy Feet shows the inconsistency of parenting back in the early 80's in Florida. It was a lot of don't you dare listen to rap or heavy metal music and they'd call it a day.

[blizz01]

There were 2 on/in Fleming Island in the mid-eighties.  As a middle-schooler, those were literally the ONLY places that you could spend money.  One on the North end of 17 had VHS rentals and a tanning bed.  The one to the South had a pinball machine and Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

[CityLife]

This is the first I've ever heard of "Jiffy feet" and I was born/raised here in Jax. 

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Mandarin and Orange Park in the 80's/90's and it was pretty widely used. Spent a lot of time as a kid barefoot playing sports or exploring neighborhood ditches, and was common for parents to yell at their kids and their friends to not come inside with Jiffy Foot or go wash your Jiffy Foot before you come in. My parents aren't from Jax, so they never really used the term, but it was commonly used by natives.

It's also surprising how widely known it is around the state. At FSU, friends from all over the state either knew the term well or learned it in Tallahassee. I'm not sure if my social circle invented the term, or stole it from another group, but at some point we started calling it (and still call it) "Pub Foot", which was a play on Jiffy Foot and came from a Irish Pub, a dirty bar on the strip with cheap beer nights that the underage kids got sloppy at. If you wore sandals there, your feet were ruined for the night.

Good piece Tacachale!

[Captain Zissou]

^In Gainesville we called it "Grog Foot" because wearing sandals to beat the clock or penny pitcher night at the Grog House in midtown was always a bad idea.

[Ken_FSU]

I'm not sure if my social circle invented the term, or stole it from another group, but at some point we started calling it (and still call it) "Pub Foot", which was a play on Jiffy Foot and came from a Irish Pub, a dirty bar on the strip with cheap beer nights that the underage kids got sloppy at.

Don't forget the communal Hungry Howie's Pizza they'd occasionally put out on tables.

Stuff looked pretty rough by the end of the night.

The thought of it makes me shudder in a post-covid world.

[JeffreyS]

I have definitely heard and used the term since I was a kid on the westside.  We always said "Jiffy Foot".