All About Shoes

All About Shoes

There is much evidence that a foot covering was one of the first things that our primitive ancestors. Necessity forced them to invent a way to protect their feet from the jagged rocks, burning sands and rugged terrain over which they were in pursuit of food and shelter.

The story of human development shows that the importance of protecting the foot was early recognized. Records of the Egyptians, Chinese and other early civilizations all contain references to shoes. The shoe is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in several cases with a legal significance, especially in binding a bargain. 

   Shoe on one side or the other is rich in legend and figure conspicuously in the folklore of different races. Estimates, up to today, continue to find the stories that have come down to us. The stories about the wonderful Seven League Boots, Mercury's Winged Sandals, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, and others who all have existed in some ancient and often nearly forgotten tongue, but is still a good knowledge of all children. The custom of throwing shoes after the newly married couple is but one of the many cases where the shoe, when used in accordance with the formula would bring luck.

   In its first form of assessment was just a simple piece of plaited grass or rawhide which was strapped to the feet. Among the relics of the early Egyptians, some sandals made from plaited papyrus leaves, beautifully and artistically wrought. Records show that sandal making was a known art early history of this country.

   Sandal still is the most common type of footwear in many warm countries. In form and decoration reflect the environment where it was worn, together with the artistic tastes of the people. In some countries the sandal continues to be the same simple kind worn since the dawn of history, while in others multiple straps and beautiful decorative work reflect the artistic, success and prosperity of farsightedness.

   The Japanese, long a sandal wearing people indicated the social status of the user by making distinctive sandals for the Imperial Household, merchants and actors, in fact the whole spectrum of disciplines and professions.

The Greeks emphasized design and beauty, while the Romans established a military type of sandal that enabled their legions to travel on foot throughout the then known world. In the more luxurious days in the late Empire the sandals were often beautifully wrought with ornaments of gold and jewels.

   The Moccasin is the foot protection of cold countries. The puckered seam which outlines the current batch Moccasin is all that remains of the puck ring strict time together and tied around the ankle. This peculiar seam still appears in the shoes of people in every cold county. The Moccasin of the North American Indian, the Eskimo, and Laplander all have it.

The shoe has always had an important place in costume. Until recent years, many shoes were made to be worn only occasions of great ceremony. Some of these were very beautiful in design and furnishing, lending importance and distinction to the official robes proud farsightedness.

   Throughout this development, comparatively little attention to fitting qualities or comfort. When the medieval guilds controlled craftsmanship in Europe, perfection in craftsmanship and extravagance in style seems to have been sought in shoes rather than foot comfort and protection.

Among the more conspicuous oddities of style in this period was the peaked shoe or Crackow, with one foot, so long that it made walking difficult if not impossible, and passage of legislation to prohibit its wearing was necessary before it was interrupted . It was followed by Duckbill shoe in Elizabethan times. The laws were adopted to limit the maximum width of 51 / 2 inches. These footwear oddities in turn was followed by a series of fantastic creations and shapes.

   As late as 1850 most shoes were made in exactly the same products, there is no difference between right and left shoes. Break in a new pair of shoes was not easy. There were only two widths to a size, a basic last was used to produce what was known as a "slim" shoe. When it became necessary to make a "fat" or "stout" shoe the shoemaker placed over the cone of the last block of leather to create additional foot room needed. 

Up to 1850 all shoes were made with virtually the same tools that were used in Egypt as early as the 14th BC as part of a sandal maker's equipment. To the curved awl, the chisel-like knife and scraper, the shoemakers of the thirty-three intervening centuries had added only a few simple tools such as pincers, The Dandy tone sticks hammer and a series of rub used for finishing edges and heels.

Endeavored to develop machinery for shoe production. They had all failed and it remained for the shoemakers in the U.S. to create the first successful machinery for making shoes.

   In 1845 the first machine to find a permanent place in the shoe industry came into use. It was the Rolling Machine, which replaced tone and hammer, previously used by hand shoemakers for pounding sole leather, a method of increasing wear by compacting the fibers.

This was followed in 1846 by Elias Howe's invention of the sewing machine. The success of this major invention seems to have created a chain reaction of research and development which has been going on ever since. Today there are no major surgery back in shoes that are not made better by machinery than formerly by hand.

   In 1858, invented Lyman R. Blake, a shoemaker, a machine for sewing soles to uppers. His patents were purchased by Gordon McKay, who improved Blake's invention. The shoes made on this machine was called the "McKay." During the Civil War, many shoemakers were called into the armies, thereby creating a serious shortage of shoes for both soldiers and civilians. The introduction of the McKay was set up in an attempt to remedy the defect.

   Even when McKay had perfected the machines, he found it very difficult to sell them. He was about to give up when he had spent all the money he could spare, when he thought of a new plan. He went back to the shoemakers who had laughed at the idea of making shoes by machinery, but who needed some means of increased production. He told them that he would put the machines in their factories if they would pay him a small part of what the machine would save on each pair.

   McKay issued "Royalty Stamps", representing the payments made on machine-made shoes. This method of introducing machines became accepted practice in the industry. Mention it because it had two important bearings on the industry. First, shoe manufacturers were able to use machinery without tying large sums of money. This meant that in the event of a new shoe style suddenly became popular and called for major changes in shoe construction methods and production equipment, the manufacturer is not left with a large investment in machinery overtaken by these changes - and the prospect of further investment in new machinery. Secondly, developed a type of service that has proven to be valuable in shoes and other industries.

 

   This unique service was used in shoe industry long before it spread to other industries. McKay quickly found that to secure payment for the use of machinery, it was necessary to keep them in operation. A machine does not work, do not earn any money to McKay. He therefore made parts interchangeable and organized and trained a group of experts could be sent when the machines needed replacement of parts or adjustment.

In 1875 a machine to manufacture a different type of shoe was developed. Later known as the Goodyear Welt Sewing Machine, it was used for making both Welt and Turn shoes. These machines became successful under the leadership of Charles Goodyear, Jr., son of the famous inventor of the process of vulcanizing rubber.

   Following McKay's example, Goodyear name associated with the group of machines that included machines for sewing Welt an Turn shoes and many additional machines that have been developed for use in connection with them.

Invention as a product of continuous research has evolved at an almost incredible pace ever since. This has required a large sum of money, sometimes more than one million U.S. dollars, the perfect shoe machine, and tireless patience and effort. Inventors have often mechanized hand operations that seemed impossible for any machine.