I understand the significance of the poem, but if I'm going into Stride Rite to buy some new shoes for a baby, chances are I'm not going to want them to have been worn before.

Babies go through shoes extremely quickly. You can save a lot of money by re-using them. Obviously there are sanitation and wear concerns, but dress shoes (for instance) are going to be easy to find used, cheap, and in good shape.

Why? Small children have no concept of social signalling by having nice new things, it's wasted on them.