478 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



April 1, 1921 



this went a strong cement in bottles, or screw top pint or 

 quart cans. 



The oldest company in tlie United States, the Boston Belting 

 Co., for years advertised rubber soling for boots and shoes, either 

 smooth or rough finish. It was sold in rolls 60 feet long and 

 34 inches wide. The rough or corrugated type was from 1/16 

 to 3/16 of an inch thick. They also furnished tennis soling in 

 three patterns, diamond point, corrugated and oblong. This was 

 finished in strips 32JA inches long and 

 12^ inches wide. For attaching they fur- 

 nished a strong cement in pints, quarts 

 and gallons. As to general patching 

 stock they made a dull finished stock in 

 three weights, light, medium and heavy. 

 This was furnished in pieces 12 inches 

 ST'^'W --^ ?S^ square, 24 pieces to a box. 



|i<tJ>^ ■• ^\?y Canadian manufacturers also placed 



liefore their trade "ready to apply" soles. 

 J. D. King & Co. furnished soles that 

 were exact duplicates of those on the 

 Maltese Cross rubbers and gave for sticking purposes the 

 Stub Proof cement. 



One of the most complete sole and heel repair products brought 

 out by the Canadian Rubber Co. was the Roedding repair sole 

 and heel. This had an extension edge all around the sole or 



King's Soles 



King Method — Before and After Rep.mring 



heel and was particularly designed for lumbermen's heavy overs 

 and leg boots. They were made in regular sizes. No. 6 to No. 12, 

 and were attached by a special cement sold in cans, big and little. 

 In England, gutta percha soles were sold for repairs for years. 

 They were excellent, could be attached firmly by heating, and 

 outwore leather. The scarcity of gutta percha and its costliness, 

 however, drove them from the market. 



DRYING BEFORE PATCHING 



The question of drying comes up again and again so that its 

 importance cannot be overemphasized. To be sure, goods may 



stick if a little mois- 

 ture is sealed up in- 

 side of the repair. Nor 

 does it always show 

 in surface blisters. It 

 will, however, prove 

 a damage. Damp 

 fabric securely sealed by patching starts to rot at once and 

 as much of the strength of footwear lies in the fabric, weakness 

 and often disintegration results. It really does not matter 

 how the boot or shoe is dried provided it is not haked 

 dry and thus damaged. Hanging high over the presses in a 

 warm current of air only long enough to dry is good. Or a 

 wire rack hi^h up where it is warm is also good practice. Sun- 

 ning is very bad. Quick removal of moisture is best for the 

 rubber. Thus, one repairer for the sake of speed ran a pipe 

 from his air compresser, had a gas jet turned low under the 

 pipe and sent a gentle current of hot air into the wet boot. Ac- 

 cording to his story it worked quickly and perfectly. .Another, 



Roedding Repair Sole and Heel 



Sole Cementing Brush 



who at one time worked in a stocking factory, secured some 

 aluminum stocking forms, rigged them up with steam and dried 

 boots, shoes and arctics upon them. Hot sand will do as a 

 dryer and so will warm shot but they are troublesome to handle 



as the grit gets into 

 the work, and they 

 are makeshifts at best. 



APPLYING RUBBER 

 HEELS 



The rubber shoe 

 repairer will perforce 

 be obliged to put 

 many rubber heels 

 upon rubber foot- 

 wear. In some cases 

 he may simply 

 add a thick patch but in some he may add solid heels. Indeed, it 

 is possible that he may buy ready-made heels, burr the upper side, 

 cement and attach. If he can fasten by a few nails all the better. 

 In this work he may be interested to know that for years rubl)er 

 boot heels were vulcanized in molds, the upper surface rouf;h- 

 ened by burring, coated with a strong litharge and rubber cement, 

 stuck in place and vulcanized a second time with the whole boot. 

 Today, the heels are built with the top layer of stock being so 

 compounded that it only semi-cures while the rest of the heel 

 cures thoroughly. The semi-cured upper part cemented and ap- 

 plied to the boot sticks forever and a day. Possibly in the near 

 future heels prepared in just this way will be a part of the 

 stock kept by the rubber boot repairer. Speaking of heels, is 

 it not possible that the rubber shoe repairman may take on also 

 the work of attaching rubber heels to leather shoes as well? 



GROWTH OF THE RUBBER HEEL INDUSTRY 



Twenty years ago the rubber heel was still a novelty at which 

 the public looked askance. It is true that there was a limited 

 demand for nurses' shoes with solid rubber heels attached and a 

 few manufacturers were timidly offering walking boots with 

 rubber heels but usually the shoe buyer who was won over to 

 rubber heels had to get 

 them as extras and 

 while willing to have 

 them put on after he 

 had worn down his 

 leather heels, was very 

 reluctant about buying 

 them as original equip- 

 ment of shoes. A mis- 

 taken notion of thrift 

 and fewer concrete 

 sidewalks, hardwood 

 floors and tiled hall- 

 ways doubtless ac- 

 counted for such an at- 

 titude. Then, too, there 

 was the prejudice 

 against rubber heels as 

 being too slippery on 

 wet surfaces and the 

 objection that walking 

 with such heels gave 

 one a "sneaky" gait. 

 But the rubber heel in 

 itself had so much to 

 commend it to pedes- 

 trians, that in time it attained world-wide pojuilarity. 



Many enterprising manufacturers realizing that it was "due," 

 strove not only to anticipate the demand, but also to create it, 

 but most of the early products had so many shortcomings that 

 the public proved very unresponsive. The common failing was 



Drying Forms 



