Who Made the First Shoes?

The making of shoes is one of the oldest arts of which there is any human knowledge. Long before primitive man devised any method of recording his exploits or thoughts, he contrived—through necessity—a method of protecting his feet from the rough way or hot sands over which he was obliged to travel in his search for food and shelter.

That foot covering antedates clothing or ornaments is shown from the fact that the primitive savage to-day, devoid of clothing or ornament, is almost invariably found with a crude form of foot protection and there is scarcely a tribe or nation without it’s traditions of the shoe—its mysterious power for good or evil.

What Was the First Foot Covering Like?

The first foot covering devised was undoubtedly a simple form of sandal—a rough bit of hide, wood or plaited grass held to the foot by means of thongs, generally brought up between the toes and tied about the ankle. This form of foot covering is depicted in records of the greatest antiquity: in the ruined temples at Thebes Egypt, the ancient sandal maker is shown at his task; the Assyrian bricks show the ancient warriors and people of that time wearing the simple sandal.

The dispersion of the human races and the wandering of tribes into colder climates brought the necessity for more thorough protection for the feet and body, and that this was accomplished was shown in the gradual increase in the number of straps or thongs which held the sandal in place and, in the colder climates, in the contrivance of a bag-like foot covering—traces of which are found even now in the Indian moccasin and the foot covering of the Eskimo. In all colder countries this type of footwear is still in evidence, the seam around the outline of the foot being a relic of the puckering string which held the bag-like covering to the foot.

The sandal was developed and adorned by the Greeks, but it was not until the days of the Roman Empire that anything approaching the present form of shoes was designed. In this period a form of foot covering was developed—that was appropriated by the Emperor and worn by him only—which covered the entire foot with the exception of the toes.

The Boot Developed from the Sandal.

It was but a step from this form of foot covering to the boot which covered not only the foot but the lower leg as well and which came widely into use afterwards in the form of the Jack-boot.

Up to the fourteenth century there had been little in the way of development of foot covering, but it is well established that in the year 1408 there were shoemakers’ guilds in Europe. Some of these were semi-religious in character, the members working in communities and sharing in the general product of their toil. Guilds of this period were very generally dedicated to either Saint Crispin or Saint Crispianus (the patron saint of shoemaking), and even to this day the birthday of Saint Crispin is celebrated in some of the English shoemaking guilds on October 25. The ceremonies attending the celebration in the olden days were of a very elaborate nature.

In the process of time the shoes began to lose the crude nature and design in which the Dark Ages had held them and developed a style the first of which was apparent in the gradual elongation of the toes, the custom said to have been introduced by Henry, Duke of Anjou, and these shoes were known as “Crakrows” or “Poulaines.” The style finally ran to such extremes that effort was made to stop it by the church and government, but with indifferent success until finally its end was accomplished by the imposing of summary fines and threat of excommunication by the church.

Immediately the style went to the other extreme and the toes became very broad, as evidenced in the period of Elizabeth, and in some instances the shoes were as broad as six inches at the toe. They were made of velvet and were slashed to show the satin lining.

Who Made the First Shoes in America?

The first shoemaking in America is recorded when Thomas Baird arrived on the second voyage of the Mayflower in 1628. Baird was under contract with the Plymouth Company to make shoes for the colonists and brought with him divers hides, etc., for this purpose. It was recorded that in 1636 a planter in Virginia employed six shoemakers to make shoes for his slaves.

That in the early history of the country the art of making shoes had become of considerable importance is shown by the very summary laws passed by the different colonies regulating the industry. Particularly was this so in the Province of Pennsylvania which, in 1721, placed upon its statute book most drastic laws regarding the making of shoes and regulating the prices to be charged therefor.

Shoemaking in New England early received impetus from the arrival of one Phillip Kirtland, a Welshman, who came to Lynn, Mass., in 1636. He was an experienced shoemaker and taught his art to many of the colonists in his vicinity.

Shoemaking in this locality was further advanced by the arrival of John Adams Dagyr, who settled in Lynn in the year 1750. Dagyr was a celebrated shoemaker and was enabled, from his own means, to secure the best examples of work from abroad. He possessed the peculiar quality of being able to teach the art to those who came under his charge.

The fame of New England made shoes was due largely to the teachings of these men and the industry has continued to be one of the first in importance. In Massachusetts alone, according to the census of 1910, over 40 per cent of the entire value of shoes in the United States was produced.

The young man of this period, who essayed to learn the shoemaking trade, was ordinarily apprenticed for a term of seven years under the most rigorous terms, as shown in some of the indentures of that period which are still in existence. He was instructed in every part of the trade and, upon completion of his term of service, it was the custom for the newly fledged shoemaker to start what was known as “whipping the cat”—which meant journeying from town to town, living with a family while making a year’s supply of shoes for each member thereof, and then leaving to fill other engagements previously made.

It was soon found that the master workman could largely increase his income by employing other men to do certain portions of the work, while he directed their efforts, and this gradually lead to a division of the labor and was the beginning of a factory system—which has been in process of development from that time.

In the year 1795 it is recorded that there were in the city of Lynn, Mass., over two hundred master workmen, employing over six hundred journeymen, and that they manufactured shoes at the rate of about one pair per day per man.

Factory buildings, as the words would be known to-day, were practically unknown at that time. The small buildings, about ten feet square, were in the back yards of many homes and in these little shops were employed from three to eight men.

Strange as it may seem, prior to the year 1845 there had been little change in the tools employed in making shoes. The workman of that period, seated at his low bench, used practically the same implements that were employed by his prototype, the ancient sandal-maker of Egypt. The lap stone, the hammer, the crude needle and the knife being practically the only tools used. Not that there had been no effort to perfect machinery for this purpose; Napoleon I, in his endeavor to secure better shoes for his soldiers, had offered great rewards for the perfecting of shoe machinery that would accomplish this purpose, but although great effort had been made there had been no successful machinery produced.

In this year 1845 the first machine to be widely adopted by the industry was perfected. It was a simple form of rolling machine, which took the place of the lap stone and hammer used by the shoemakers for toughening the leather, and it is said that a man could, in half an hour, obtain the same results from this machine that would require a day’s labor on the part of the hand workman employing the old method of pounding.

This was followed in 1848 by the very important invention by Elias Howe of the sewing machine—which was not adapted for use in connection with sewing leather until several years later. It started, however, an era of great activity among inventors and in 1857 there was perfected a machine for driving pegs, which came into successful operation.

The First Machine for Making Shoes.

This was shortly followed by a very important invention by Lyman E. Blake, of Abington, Mass., of a machine for sewing the soles of shoes and this afterwards became famous as the “McKay Sewing Machine.” This invention of Blake’s was purchased by Gordon McKay, who spent large sums of money in perfecting it, and the first machine was established in Lynn in 1861. The results obtained in the early stages of the machines were of an indifferent nature and it was only after large expenditures and the hiring of a number of different inventors to work upon it that a successful machine was produced.

While the quality of work was pronounced by manufacturers to be a success, few had any faith in the possibility of manufacturing shoes by machinery and McKay met with constant rebuffs in his endeavor to introduce his machine. It is recorded that in his desperation he finally offered to sell all the patent rights in machines which he owned to a syndicate of Lynn manufacturers for the sum of $250,000.00—the amount he had expended—but the offer was refused.

In his dilemma McKay at last offered to shoe manufacturers the use of his machines on a basis, which afterwards became famous and an inherent part of the shoe industry known as “royalty,” whereby McKay placed his machines with manufacturers and participated to a small extent in the amount of money saved. Owing to the fact that shoemakers were leaving rapidly for the front and that there was a great scarcity of footwear, the manufacturers gladly accepted this proposition and the machines were very rapidly introduced.

The success of his early machines accomplished, McKay set about the perfecting of others that would do different parts of the work and there was accordingly great activity on the part of inventors in their endeavor to perfect machines for the wide variety of uses made necessary in the preparation of leather for shoemaking. There were soon machines on the market for a wide variety of purposes—including the lasting of the shoe, cutting the leather and for many other processes necessary in making a complete shoe.

Contemporary with the early success of the McKay machines, a French inventor, August Destoney, conceived the idea of making a machine which would sew turned shoes—then a popular type of footwear for women. After several years of endeavor he finally secured the interest of John Hanan, a famous shoemaker of that time in New York City, and through him the interest of Charles Goodyear—nephew of Goodyear of India-rubber fame.

No sooner had the machine become perfected for the sewing of turned shoes, however, than he set to work to make changes which would fit it to sew welt shoes. (The welt shoe has always been considered the highest type of shoemaking, as, by a very ingenious process, a shoe is made which is perfectly smooth inside; all the other types having a seam of thread or tacks inside which make them of considerable disadvantage. He was able to accomplish this a few years later, although the machines were not in extended use until about 1893, when auxiliary machines for performing important parts of the work were perfected; and from that time headway was made in the manufacture of this high grade type of footwear.

The development of the industry—which has been very rapid with the introduction of machinery—suffered materially in the latter part of the last century through the bitter rivalry of machinery manufacturers, a common process being the enjoining of manufacturers from the use of machines on which it was claimed the patents were infringed and this created a state of great uncertainty in the minds of many of those manufacturing shoes.

This condition finally found its solution in the formation of one large corporation, known in the shoe industry as the “United Shoe Machinery Company,” which purchased the patents for a sufficient number of machines to form a complete system for the “bottoming”—or fastening the soles and heels of shoes—and finishing them.

These machines have been the subject of constant improvement and others have been perfected to take care of operations which, prior to their introduction, were purely hand operations. Each machine has been standardized and so adapted to meet the requirements of those used in connection with it that they collectively form the most remarkable and efficient system of machines used at the present time.

Mention is made of this company owing to the important position it has taken in the organization and advancement of the industry, the American-made shoe being the one commodity of world-wide consumption whose supremacy is not contested.