"bootstraps" btw are little tabs of extra leather sewn on each side of a boot, to help pull your boots on. .. and back then, "everyone" wore boots in the USA (usually called cowboy boots) The constant tugging on the sides would wear the plain boot out. You can also, when sitting, grab onto bootstraps and use them to pull yourself up from a chair or the ground, like you might grab your knees nowdays...

"You have the right to say, "No."