June 1, 1913, ) 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



47z 



THE 



INCREASING 

 SOLED 



POPULARITY OF 

 SUMMER SHOES. 



RUBBER- 



AY 711. \T is deemed a rather remarkable feature in the shoe 

 »» trade is the sudden increase in popularity of rubber-soled 

 footwear. The so-called cemented tennis shoe, which has been 

 a regular summer seller for years, has evidently made many 

 friends, and the coming summer season will undoubtedly show 

 more people shod in these canvas-upper. rubber-soUHl shoes, than 

 any previous season. Every rubber shoe factory which makes 



Foster RrnnEK Soles .\nii Heel. 



these shoes is today running to full ticket on these lines, and 

 in some overtime work is necessary to insure deliveries when 

 required. 



But with the increased call for cemented tennis shoes comes 

 the report that the old-time, cheap McKay-sewed canvas-upper 

 tennis shoe has declined in popularity, and many shoe factories 

 where these were turned out in large quantities, years ago, have 

 discontinued their manufacture. 



This decline in popularity is mainly ascribed to the lack of 

 style, and the poor quality of the rubber used in the soles. So 

 inany shoes thus soled were returned to the manufacturers, on 

 account of poor service, that they abandoned the production of 

 these "sneakers," and very few are now being made. 



However, in place of these, an entirely new phase of the shoe 

 business is noted, namely the manufacture of fine shoes with rub- 

 ber soles and heels. To be sure, such footwear has been made 

 for years in sporting shoes, for the tennis court and the golf 

 links, but the present development is the demand for summer 

 footwear of finer qualities with rubber soles. Nearly every 

 manufacturer of fine shoes, both men's and women's, is making 



Reg.vl Shoe Co.'s "Commodore." 



low-cuts with rul)l)er soles and heels, and the shoe stores cater- 

 ing to the fine trade are all carrying one or several lines of 

 such shoes. 



A former superintendent of a shoe factory in a western state is 

 said to be responsible for the present popularity of rubber-soled 

 shoes. Realizing that quality and service would result in bring- 

 ing about a demand, he resigned his position in the shoe factory, 

 and re-opened a rubber plant which had been forced to close be- 

 cause of the unsatisfactory quality of the rubber soles it turned 

 out. It took him six years to restore the confidence of shoe 



manufacturers, but this was finally accomplished, and each suc- 

 ceeding year has shown a steady and large increase in the volume 

 of business done. Other manufacturers have also succeeded in 

 working up a large trade in rubber soles for shoes, and while 



One of the Essex Shoes. 



some are short-sighted, and make only low priced grades, of poor 

 quality, by far the larger part of the sole now made are of 

 excellent durability, well worthy the finer shoemaking of which 

 they form a part. 



Most of these shoes sold today are low cuts or Oxfords, and 

 are in white or colored leather of dull or ooze finish. One of the 

 principal uses for such shoes is for seaside resort wear, because 

 of the obvious impermeability of the soles; and white or tan 

 shades are most appropriate for wear with seaside costumes. 



The fad — if such it may be called — came from England, where 



1% FRENCH 

 Rubber Sole" 



5h OE/ir WOM EN 



M.ADE Dv THE Essex Rubber Co., Trenton, N. J. 



such shoes have been popular for several seasons, and many of 

 the shoe stores selling to the finest trade have imported English 

 shoes with rubber soles, though these are in no wise superior 

 to American-made shoes of the same kind. 



Manufacturers have found some difficulty in properly attach- 

 ing the soles so as to insure against a separation of the rubber 

 outer-sole from the leather welt, the inner-sole and the filler. A 

 too fine stitch tends to split the rubber along the line of stitching, 

 while silk and linen threads have been found to be less service- 

 able than long-staple cotton, treated with a special "wax" or 



IPe FEENCH 

 Golf Shoe 



M.\DE BY the Essex Rubber Co.. Trenton', N. J. 



cement, which so "fills" the interstices of the thread, and the 

 holes made by the needle, that even when the threads wear off, 

 the stitching still holds. This, with proper cementing, usually 

 prevents peeling of the sole, which was one of the chief diffi- 

 culties at first encountered. Some manufacturers double-stitch 

 around the toe, and others insert metal chnch staples to prevent 

 the start of such peeling. 



Another form of overcoming the difficulty is the skiving off 

 of the rubber sole at a point just in front of the ball of the 

 foot, and piecing out the sole, from this line forward, with 



