Jaxlore: Folklore, Urban Legends, and Regionalisms

7. Jiffy Feet: No Shoes No Problem
Orange Park and regional



Images courtesy of R. Land
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“Jiffy Feet” are familiar to all Jaxsons even if they don’t know the name. It’s the accepted local designation for that beautiful layer of dirt and asphalt acquired from walking around barefoot, as when your hankering for a Squishee at the neighborhood convenience store doesn’t quite abrogate your desire to avoid shoes at all costs. This colorful colloquialism is specific to the First Coast, and speaks enough to stereotypes of Florida’s shoe-shirking rednecks, beach bums, water kids, and unwindulaxers that it has become iconic.

Jiffy Feet are named for the erstwhile regional convenience store chain Huntley’s Jiffy Stores, better known simply as Jiffy stores. The Orange Park-based business was founded in 1965 by Louis and William Huntley, and grew to include 342 stores in North Florida and southern Georgia by the time the brothers sold it in 1990.  The stores were so prolific, and their name so apt, that “Jiffy” became a generic term for this kind of shop in the First Coast.
 
The phrase “Jiffy Feet” dates at least to the 1980s, and has seen an upswing in popularity in the 21st century. It became a source of artistic inspiration in 2008, when R. Land, a Jacksonville-born artist now based in Atlanta, created a memorable “Jiffy Feet” installation series that popped up all across Jacksonville. The project featured black-soled wooden feet crafted in the artist’s characteristic vivid, cartoony style. The pieces first appeared on Riverside telephone poles, and eventually came in hundreds of variations.


Jiffy Snowman. Image courtesy of R. Land

Land, who often incorporates Jacksonville imagery in his work, sees his feet as celebrating something distinctive about life on the First Coast.  The pieces brought wider attention to Jiffy Feet, particularly after Folio Weekly and the local blogosphere covered them in 2009.  Other instances of Jiffy Feet entering the public consciousness include the photo website Jiffyfeet.com and a beer at Jacksonville Beach’s Green Room Brewing. Jiffy Feet have become ingrained in local culture like so much blacktop on Jaxsons’ collective soles.