Patten (shoe) Patten (shoe) Pattens are protective overshoes that were worn in Europe from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. Pattens were worn outdoors over a normal shoe, had a wooden or later wood and metal sole, and were held in place by leather or cloth bands. Pattens functioned to elevate the foot above the mud and dirt (including human effluent and animal dung) of the street, in a period when road and urban paving was minimal. The word "patten" probably derives from the Old French "pate" meaning hoof or paw. Women continued to wear pattens in muddy conditions until
Don Van Patten Van Patten. Representative Van Patten was the original prime sponsor of HB1643 -FN, 2010 session, titled relative to requiring submission of a reduced spending alternative as part of the biennial budget process. This bill was designed to remove the legal requirement that state department heads provide bi-annual budgets that have zero or negative productivity growth through the maintenance budget process and to provide transparency to the budget process. Representative Van Patten announced that he planned to provide real time updates on the vote counts house of the Science, Technology & Energy Committee and the NH House or Representatives via Twitter.