The Boy with the Leaking Boot is a recurring theme of statues that appear throughout the United States.
There are at least 25 documented examples, and probably hundreds more.
Yet, nobody knows who the boy is, and why does he hold aloft his leaking boot.
Some believed that the boy was a real Italian newspaper seller who drowned.
Others said he was a Civil War drummer boy who brought water to wounded men in his leaky boot.
An old postcard shows the Boy and the Boot, in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
The original statue was created at J.L.
Its original name was “The Unfortunate Boot”.
The statue is also reported to exist outside the U.S., in Canada, and in several European countries.
The position of the boot varies.
The front of the Boy is sometimes completely stained from whatever impurities infuse the local water.
Some have been completely replaced by copies made of tougher metal or fiberglass.
