I live in a Northeastern city and with the current snow accumulation, transportation is incredibly difficult on some streets bordering on impassable unless you have 4WD. So in a particularly snowy winter, would you just not travel at all unless absolutely necessary? How did they transport essentials like food and liquor? And were there special snowboots people wore, or did they just generally put up with feeling much colder than we do today?
At least in the 1830s-40s American journals that I've looked through, it seemed that winter was the most social time of the year. It didn't seem unreasonable to go visiting friends or family in winter or even move residences in winter because it was relatively easy to get around. Farmers weren't busy working in winter so they had a lot of free time, and the ground was frozen and covered with snow that made it easy for horse-drawn sleighs to get around. Some rivers froze over and made it relatively easy to cross. (However, I've seen plenty of contemporary newspaper reports of people falling through river ice and dying, so it wasn't exactly a 100% safe way to travel.)
I think winter did limit the distances traveled however. No one would make weeks-long trips in winter because there'd be no forage for your animals. And being caught in a winter storm, of course, could be deadly. (I've also seen plenty of contemporary newspaper reports of people freezing to death in a snowbank--typically used as illustrations of the evils of intemperance.)
I'm afraid I don't know anything about winter footwear.