I am doing research for a theatrical production of "the Drawer Boy" in the script there is reference to "they had three boots between them" none of our research so far has yielded where or what that phrase actually means. We speculate that the phase is a saying for the fact that the characters were not prepared for fighting during the war (WW II). the author is Canadian and there is other reference to the "Prince's Pats'. a celebrated Canadian fighting group.....Any assistance on the actuall meaning or origin of the phase "they had three boots between them" would be gratly appreciated thanks
Welcome to the forums - and I hope we will be able to help.
Could you possibly put up the section of dialogue in which this appears - it may help to have some more context.
thanks for your reply......the lines are part of a "story" that is being told...... ''And then they both got called up, both went off to Europe. No school for the one, no farm for the other. They managed to stick together. They fired their guns straight up in the air, and yelled to each other the louder things got. When it got so loud they couldn't hear, they sang. They had three boots between them."
I found this in a review: Healey’s script is also full of vivid images and memorable details, such as the pails of raspberries on the car seat or the three boots shared between the two men during the war.
It seems to imply that it is the literal fact that they only had three boots between them.
thanks for your help........maybe it just is what it means in the script and I'm just over analyizing.......but that is the fun part of the theatrical process for me thanks again