Patten (shoe) shoes of Japan and other Asian countries. What are in effect snowshoes for mud, as used by wildfowlers, boatmen, and Coast Guards may also be called pattens, or "mud-pattens". These are shaped boards attached to the sole of a shoe, which extend sideways well beyond the shape of the foot, and therefore are a different sort of footwear from the patten discussed here. "Horse-pattens" were used on horses, especially for ploughing muddy fields. The word was also used for ice-skates, as it is in French ("patiner", to skate). In London, the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers remains the Livery Company, formerly
James A. Patten James A. Patten James A. Patten (1852–1928) was an American commodities speculator, financier, and politician. The mayor of Evanston from 1901 to 1905, Patten is best remembered as a leading financier of the Gilded Age. James A. Patten was born at Freeland Corners, Illinois He attended the common schools and was early a clerk, a farmer, and an employee in the Illinois State department of grain inspection (1874–78), whence he learned the details and operation of the grain commission business. For 32 years from 1878 to 1910 he was a member of several firms. Patten was the mayor of Evanston