So Morris Dancers (in the north) mug little kids who tap dance and swipe their shoes?

Of course here even the kids usually give up that particular style of dancing by the time they're about 6 y.o., so maybe they'd have to mug a dozen little buggers to get an iron for each toe? (Assuming 5 toes per foot.)

"Heel taps" (the name in the comic book ads) were fairly common here, for kids, up to about the mid '50s, to avoid "run down heels," but toe taps for general wear were rare a long time before then.

Since making a horse shoe was always a "beginners lesson" for any blacksmith, it would seem like even a rank amateur with a propane torch (or maybe a MAPP?) and something to beat on should be able to make something pretty authentic in short order.

Of course it would be more fun to re-create a 500 year old smithy forge and all the trimmin's, but I don't have a good photo of how those were set up.

John