The story of shoes

"When I thought all was blue I tripped upon a single shoe" The history of human growth shows that the importance of protecting the foot was recognised early. Let us travel into time to know the history of the shoe, with shoes on, of course.

IT IS impossible to guess at exactly which phase in development on earth that man first thought of protecting his feet from the natural hazards of weather/climate and the rough ground that they walked on. Shoes have a very fascinating history.

There is evidence to prove that foot covering was one of the first things made by our primitive ancestors. The reason was to protect their feet from the serrated rocks, burning sands, and rocky terrain on which they roamed in pursuit of food and shelter.

The history of human growth shows that the importance of protecting the foot was recognised early. Records of the Egyptians, the Chinese and other early civilisations, all contain references to shoes. A shoe is also frequently mentioned in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in numerous examples with a legal meaning.

Shoes of one sort or another are rich in fable and figure noticeably in the myths of different races. A shoe, even in modern times, continues to figure in stories, which have come down to us as a legacy.

Though the stories of the wonderful ‘Seven League Boots’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Mercury’s Winged Sandals’ and others, all existed in some prehistoric and often nearly forgotten dialect, still these are well known to all children. We all know about the custom of flinging the shoe after the newly wedded couple, which is one among the many examples in which the shoe when used, according to history, hypothetically brought luck.

Japanese are known to be sandal-wearing people. A sandal indicated the social status of the wearer as characteristic sandals were made for the imperial household, merchants and actors or other professionals. Lower strata of society never used to wear sandals.

It was the same with the Greeks highlighting design and beauty, while the Romans devised a military type of sandal that enabled their legions to travel on foot throughout the then known world. In the more luxurious days of the late Empire, the sandals were often beautifully shaped with knick-knacks of gold and precious stones.

When we talk about costumes, the shoe always had an important place in it. Until recent years, many shoes were worn only on occasions of great ceremony. Some of these were very extensive in design and decoration, lending meanings and distinction to the official dress of proud wearers.

Greenbelt shoes tell their own story as they have travelled between four to six decades. By looking at the shoes, viewers can create their own ideas of what shoes like these meant to the owner and also gain awareness regarding their personal value, price, and how they differed from other shoes between 1937-1945.

In 1858, Lyman R Blake, a shoemaker, invented a machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the uppers. Gordon McKay, who improved upon Blake’s invention, purchased his patents. The shoes made on this machine came to be called ‘McKays’.

During the time of 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 speeded up in an effort to relieve the shortage. Even when McKay had perfected the machines, he found it very difficult to sell them.

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 the machine-made shoes. This method of introducing machines became the accepted practice in the industry. It had two important bearings on the industry. First, shoe manufacturers were able to use machinery without blocking large sums of money for either removing useless equipment or replacing these with newer machines. Second, it developed a valuable type of service in the shoe and other industries.

In 1875, a machine for making 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 management of Charles Goodyear, Jr. Goodyear’s name became associated with the group of machinery for sewing Welt and Turn shoes and other auxiliary machines,

Ever since, great sums of money and tireless patience and efforts have been spent to perfect one shoemaking machine. Inventors have mechanised the hand operations that seemed impossible for any machine. We have progressed a long way from the lasting pincer, a simple combination of gripper and lever.

It was the hand-shoemaker’s only tool for shaping the shoe around the form on which it is made, aided only by his thumbs and tacks. The lasting pincer is a good tool and is still occasionally useful.