Hobbits and shoes

[davem]

Letter 27 (re The Hobbit):

There is in the text no mention of (Bilbo's) acquiring boots. There should be! It has dropped out somehow or other in the revisions - the bootings occurred at Rivendell; & he was again bootless after leaving Rivendell on the way home. But since furry feet are a feature of essential Hobbitness, he ought really to appear unbooted, except in special illustrations of episodes.

Of course, we have to be very careful not to automatically apply this to the Hobbits of the Legendarium