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Bobos

Boat shoes, i.e., Keds.

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Nah, thats wrong. Keds are a brand name. BoBo's are not. They are cheapo's. Sneakers that you would find at Fava-fall-aparts. Remember the song? "Bobo's, they make ya feet feel fine. BoBo's, they cost a dollar forty-nine"

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Bobo's are not boat shoes. There the cheeps shoes that you could find at the stough.

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You nevah wannah be caught with bobos on..you'd get wicked harassed

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I wear my bobos all the time...they are comfy...and they go with everything!

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I am laughing hysterically at this thread. I grew up in Turkey among Americans and some of the poorer ones wore bobos, and were subject to the following song...Bobos, they make yer feet feel fine!Bobos, they cost a nickel and a dime!Bobos, they're meant for hobos!....I can't recall the last line.My daughter came in wearing a pair last night though, and I just about died with laughter!

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I have never heard of bobo's. I have lived right up on the north shore my whole life. Around here we call them decks.

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I'm from the dirrty dirrty south and I know "bout some bobos. Beacuse people wear bobos in Tn and Ky.

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Hey you guy's!!!!!Im from crisfield, and yea we hear that song all the time so i thought about it the only version i herd was bobo's make your feet feel fine, bobo's cost a dollar 99 (now 39.99 because of inflation laph out loud (lol)) I was woundering what was the rest of the version??? If you no the rest of the version can you email me at [email protected] u do i will be very pleasedthank you very much and have a great day!!by:Brad Taylor

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I used to dread going to the supermarket with my mom, when we would go down the cat food isle I just knew what was next (we didn't have a cat)....I was getting new bobo's. DAMN!In addition to the traditional bobo's song, my good friend told me of one that I was not aware of, it's sung to the tune of Eddie Grants 80's song electric avenue...."we're gonna walk down to k-mart 'n buy some shoes they only cost one dollar" I'm still laughing

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Bobos, they make yer feet feel fine!Bobos, they cost a dollar eighty-nine!Bobos, they're meant for hobos!So go get your Bobos today!I moved from one town to the next and in one they were referred to as Bobos and the other they called 'em Mickeys...

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Bobos also hail from Vurginya, too. And you were effed if you wore them.

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Bobo's are known the world over. We had em (not me mind you ;) ) in Cali when I lived there.

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Bobos are Red Chuck All Stars. Like Bozo the clown

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Bobos. The knockoff sneakers of choice for many years. Where I'm from, the best bobos were mockups of the original fishhead nikes, made of canvas with rounded rubber fronts. circa 1981.

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I have been laughing hysterically reading all of the comments posted here. I come from Southern Connecticut (much closer to NYC than Boston), but I am all too familiar with bobos and the famous bobo song! In the 70's there were Converse All-Stars and Pro-Keds knock-offs that had plastic soles rather than rubber and were sold in the discount stores - that's what I think of as "bobos"!

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I grew up in Southern Florida, and I most definitely remember some bobos. We also called them skillets and catheads- go figure.

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bobo's are the next best thing since slice bread. They are the coolest.I were mine all the time. I get a lot of were out of mine.

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bobo's are the next best thing since slice bread. They are the coolest.I were mine all the time. I get a lot of were out of mine.

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Sub-generic Bobo's are from Bob's Discount in Revere, or Building 19. they had yellow glue marks were the GLUED the sole to the sneaker. You were screwed if you got caught with them.

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I'm from PA and was in Junior High singing the Bobos song back in 1984. It is actually a British military tune called Colonel Bogey's March. It was whistled (heavily)in the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" and they showed it to us in school..We ALL recognized it as the Bobo's song and whistled it for weeks. They regretted showing it to us. Good times!

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I'm from PA and was in Junior High singing the Bobos song back in 1984. It is actually a British military tune called Colonel Bogey's March. It was whistled (heavily)in the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" and they showed it to us in school..We ALL recognized it as the Bobo's song and whistled it for weeks. They regretted showing it to us. Good times!

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I'm from PA and was in Junior High singing the Bobos song back in 1984. It is actually a British military tune called Colonel Bogey's March. It was whistled (heavily)in the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai" and they showed it to us in school..We ALL recognized it as the Bobo's song and whistled it for weeks. They regretted showing it to us. Good times!

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I remember having to wear those when I was a kid. Our gym teacher kept a large box full of Bobos for all the kids whose parents couldn't afford real shoes. Most days I wore different sized shoes or even two left or right foot pairs because shoes would get lost or fall apart.That song is forever burned into my childhood memory! Too funny! I'm glad the internet could bring us Bobo wearing fools together.

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im from philly area up der bobo's are filas and when i moved to south florida everybody had dem on i was like eww yall no yall is wherin bobo's

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I've lived in New England all my life, most of it in Mass and I've never heard the term Bobos. Boat shoes are leather - they have those rawhide laces, but you don't tie them. The best ones look as if you've been wearing them for 100 years. Keds are a name brand of casual sneakers - the best ones were white leather and they also came in white canvas. Now you can get them in other colors and even fun plaids and prints. Both boat shoes and Ked were preppy wear. There are knock-offs you could get at Caldor or Ames or Rich's (remember those?).

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Gotta love Bobo's!U know it bree, soooo jeoluse i bet t-weed loves them. hahahahha Bobo's there soo fine,Bobo's they cost a sent and a dime, bobo's are for hobos! so go get some bobo's!!!

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i love bobos they are so confortble on my feet

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Nahh, Bobos aren't Keds or boat shoes... They were the $1.99 no name sneakers. Kids with the Bobo's used to get cracked on hahd.

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We were just singing that song in the office!

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Bobos are not boat shoes. Keds however were once owned by Uniroyal (United States Rubber Company), which manufactures automobile tires. Uniroyal initially wanted to call the shoes "Peds" which was derived from Pedibus, the Latin word for feet. However Peds was already trademarked, so they named the shoe Keds instead.

Uniroyal also owned Sperry Top-Sider starting in 1940, which was the original "boat shoe", and had a VERY popular canvas model in the late 70s/early 80s. The leather model were the classics however, because - even better than sneakers - they lasted longer, and the longer you wore them, the more comfortable they would become on your feet, like moccasins. I owned one leather pair, but then bought several canvas pairs during my high school days, as they became popular during the "New Wave" years then, with blue jeans, button-down oxfords never tucked into your pants (and the sleeves never buttoned at the cuffs but rolled up to just below the elbow), or surfer hoodie-sweatshirts. The leather Top-Siders were too "yuppie", a more casual transition from penny-loafers, while the canvas shoes matched the more casual New Wave style, as they would become frayed and develop worn-holes, just like we all wanted our jeans to do. They matched perfectly.

In 1979, Stride Rite Corp. purchased both the Keds and Sperry Top-Sider brand shoes from Uniroyal. So when the original poster is talking about Keds, and "boat shoes" in the same breath, he/she may simply be talking about both brands of shoes owned by the same manufacturer....

Bobos as you say, were never "boat shoes". I remember in junior high and high school, Bobos were cheap plastic-y shoes that were sold by K-Mart and other low-sticker retail stores. They were canvas shoes at beast, but often were entirely plastic, and were of terrible quality.

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The one my friends always sing is" Bobos, they make your feet feel fine, bobos,they only cost a dime. Get your bobos at the salvation army today!!!" LOL :)

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came here in search of some recorded version of the song so I could share with my sons as I told them about the shoes and the song.
I grew up wearing them. My mother bought them for us at the ACME and Pathmark despite our pleas. The only thing that saved me was that I was faster than the other kids. So they couldn't make fun of the bobos without making themselves look bad.
here is the complete song:
Bobos, they make your feet feel fine.
Bobos, they cost a dollar ninety nine.
Bobos, they are for hobos.
So, get your Bobos for hobos, today.

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Thank you So Much for sharing the lyrics! I could only remember up to the dollar ninety-nine!! I remember all the kids singing this song, not that I wore them. I was telling my friends here in the DMV (DC, MD, VA) about Bobos, but they didn't know the song, nor knew what they were. I'm enjoying reading this string!

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omg this is so funny cause im only 20 years old and i remember the bobo song ......... i was sitting here with ma little cuzin and we were looking for him some shoes online and i told him he should get some bobos and started singing the song and die laughing

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Grew up in South Jersey, remember bobos, 'Bobo's they make your feet feel fine, bobos, they cost a dollar eighty nine, bobos, they're made for hobos, so get your bobos for hobos todaaaayyyyy!!'
The only thing more dreadful than bobos were what we called 'high waters', pants whose legs reached above the ankles...! The stylish sneakers back then where white leather 'Pony's' , Puma's and Converse (John Havlecheck) if I do recall, which my parents could never afford for me, being a 76'ers fan, I hated ole Johnnie...LOL

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Bobos = knock-off sneakers (e.g., four-striped "Adidas")

It was a popular term in NEPA when I was growing up. The song there was:

Bobos!
They fit your feet just fine
Bobos!
They cost a dollar-forty-nine
Bobos! They fit your feet okay
So go out and get your Bobos today
They're available at every IGA!**
BOBOS!

**IGA = Independent Grocers Assoc, an affiliated network of groceries and supermarkets. Generally found in less affluent communities.

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Bobo's were not name brand or fake ones, as mentioned above, the 4 stripe adidas.

My version were from K-Mark in the 90's. When everyone once else has 'Air Force 1's'...I had "Attack Force" And the logo was "AF" which the kids turned into a pair of "Ass Fuckers"

them were some rough times.

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I grew up wearing bobos in elementary school in the Philippines on an air force base and I just sang the song for all my in-laws, we are drunk and im mot sure how we for on the subject. Where can I buy a pair of BOBOs damn it???!!!!

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bobos make you slip bobos make you bust you lip bobos cost 9.99 bobos make yo feet feel fine

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Bobos, they make your feet feel fine. bobos, they cost a $1.99.
Bobos, they are they best, cuz you can get them at morgies for less.

We always said morgies as a kid, referring to the Morgan memorial Goodwill store.

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