August 



1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



of America, Inc., on July 18, were greatly pleased at the smooth- 

 ness of the arrangements whereby they were transported to and 

 from Akron in the special cars under the direction of Messrs. 

 H. S. Firestone, W. O. Rutherford and C. B. Raymond. Akron 

 was represented by nearly 40 members of the trade and probably 

 had a larger showing than any city e.xcept New York and Boston. 

 They were handsomely entertained by members of the Boston 

 trade during their visit to that city. 



THE RUBBER TRADE IN BOSTON. 



By Our Regular Corrcspondcnl. 



AX e\cnt of interest in the trade was the Shoe and Leather 

 Market-h'air which was held in the Mechanics' building the 

 second week of last month. Taken as a whole, it was much less 

 a shoe fair than a leather fair, for there were few shoe ex- 

 hibits. There were, however, quite a number of rubber manu- 

 facturers who had exhibits, most of these showing heels and 

 soles. The number of people manufacturing these is evidence 

 of the increasing use of rubber or compositions containing rub- 

 ber, to replace leather in footwear. This is, of course, largely 

 due to the excessively high cost of leather, but it is also, in a 

 measure, due to the growth of appreciation of rubber for this 

 purpose by the public. 



Among those who exhibited at the fair was the Foster Rubber 

 Co., wiiich for many years has manufactured the "Cat's Paw" 

 heels and is the manufacturer of rubber soles. This exhibit was 

 in charge of William Noll, the enterprising sales manager of 

 the coiicem, wlio made a good showing of the many shapes and 

 styles of heels and soles made by this concern, the samples 

 being arranged on the hinged leaves of a huge book. An amus- 

 ing animated sign, advertising the "Cat's Paw" heel, showed the 

 black cat trade-mark of the company, which by mechanical action 

 humped its back and lifted its paw at regular and frequent in- 

 tervals. -V good display was also made of the "Red Plug Spring 

 Step" heel which this company is now handling for the jobbing 

 trade. 



The Essex Rubber Co., Trenton, New Jersey, had. a fine dis- 

 play of its rubber fiber and fiberized soles and heels. The booth 

 was attractively arranged. Large artistic pictures were shown 

 at the back, labeled "Business," "Pleasure," "Safety," "Service," 

 showing, respectively, the business man, with a city background. 

 a yacht at full sail, a policeman at a street corner, and a girl 

 tripping along gaily in the rain. 



The exhibit of the Plymouth Rubber Co., Canton, Massa- 

 cliusetts, was in charge of W. H. Mott. Its advertised line of 

 "Slipknot" rubber heels was featured by means of a big gilt sign 

 in the shape of a heel, and properly lettered. The company 

 showed a line of plain plug heels for manufacturers to use on 

 their shoes ; also soling and patches for cobblers' use, a line of 

 ruliber boot heels and a line of "Durable Kompo" fiber, and 

 rubber soles and "Bantam" soles of rubber and fiber. A novelty 

 was shown in a shoe in which not a particle of leather was used. 

 The top was of shoe cloth, the vamp of "Plymouth Leatherette,'' 

 the sole of "Durable Kompo," with "Slipknot" heel and inner 

 sole of "Gem" duck — everything, except the counter, the product 

 of the Plymouth Rubber Co.'s factory. 



The Avon Sole Co., Avon, Massachusetts, whicli claims to be 

 the pioneer in making a shoe sole of leather fiber and rubber 

 combined, Iiad a display of its "Dii-Flex" sole and "Avon" fiber 

 sole, both being guaranteed to outwear the best oak sole leather. 

 This company claims to use only the best plantation rubber in 

 its compounds, and exhibited samples of first latex and smoked 

 sheet rubber. The exhibit was in charge of C. B. Packard. 



The I. T. S. Rubber Co., Elyria, Ohio, exhibited a novel style 

 of rubber heel, it being molded convex on the tread and con- 

 cave on the part attached to the heel, this shape being adopted 

 that tlic Iiccl might He flat and close, with a tight juint, even 



without cementing, when attached. The claim for this heel is 

 that because of this shape the nails can be placed nearer the 

 center, and therefore the heel will stand more wear before the 

 heads of the nails are exposed, thus giving longer wear and 

 less liability of damage to floors. This company also showed 

 a novel way of packing heels, the carton being so labeled that 

 whatever side is presented to view on the shelf, the contents of 

 the carton can be easily and quickly read, the boxes being square, 

 the sizes marked on all four sides, right side up and up side 

 down, and the exact pattern of the heel shown on both top and 

 bottom. This exhibit was in charge of J. G. Tufford, the in- 

 ventor of this heel. 



The B & R Rubber Co., North Brookfield, Massachusetts, 

 had an exhibit of its "Armortred'' rubber soles, in white, gray 

 and tan. The company claims these soles to be 25 to 50 per cent 

 lighter than the average rubber sole. The "Barco" brand was 

 also exhibited, a lower-priced rubber sole made expressly for 

 shoe manufacturers, who, if they so desire, can have their names 

 placed upon the sole. 



The Oko Rubber Co.. Canipcllo, Massachusetts, exhibited a 

 series of samples showing the gradual changes from the pure 

 rubber sole to the fiber sole it is now manufacturing, and which 

 is made of cotton felt with only 5 to 8 per cent of rubber as a 

 binder. It is claimed that this sole is neither a rubber nor a 

 leather sole, but that it will outwear either, will not crack or 

 break, and is absolutely waterproof. The exhibit was one which 

 was viewed with interest by many because of this practical 

 demonstration. 



The Fellsway Rubber Co., Medford, Massachusetts, exhibited 

 its "Walkmore" soles and heels, manufactured expressly for the 

 findings trade. These soles are made of flax and cotton fiber 

 combined with rubber and are claimed to outwear leather, can 

 be stitched without breaking, and are claimed to be superior to 

 either rubber or leather soles. The "Walkmore" heels, unlike 

 many other heels exhibited, also contain fiber. 



Perhaps the handsomest booth at the fair was that of The 

 B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio, which was effectively decorated 

 so that it seemed a veritable flower garden. M. M. Davis had 

 charge of this exhibit, in which there was a fine display of the 

 Goodrich company's "Textan" soles, which were pronounced to 



Exhibit ok The B. F. (iooDRiCH Co. at the Siue ..\nd Le.vther 

 Market-Fair, 



be of filler and ruliber, just enough rubber being used for a 

 binder. This sole is being exploited by means of extensive ad- 

 vertising and is being adopted by many shoe manufacturers on 

 certain lines of their goods. A number of handsome shoes were 

 exhibited with "Textan" soles. This company also exhibited the 

 O'SuIlivan rubber heels which, although not marketed, are manu- 

 factured by the Goodrich company. Incidentally, it was stated 

 to your correspondent that the company recently made one ship- 

 ment of .?0 tons of O'SuIlivan rnlibcr heels. 



