KR 1, 1''14. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



25 



part of 'In- panel, over the business .aril ol the company on 

 tains a picture entitled "A Clean Double," showing a flight ol 

 wild ducks, two "t which arc making rapid descent, broi 

 down bj the riiic of the sportsman concealed '-n the edge .>i the 

 lake. 



A new wall hanger or window card, tor garages and retail 

 distributors ol automobile accessories, and sufficiently striking 

 in color effect i" attract attention whether .me happens t" 

 be in the market for such supplies "i not, has just been senl 

 out by the Firestone Tin S Rubber Co., of Akron. This 

 hanger is 15 \ 2K inches in size, printed in blue and orange on 

 a white background, ami calls attention in effective manner 

 to the numerous tire patches and other accessories that form 



i o| the stock ol' the tire dealer The hanger is arr.ni [i 



foi mailing and i an be fi ilded fi >r this purpi ise. 



I lie National Association ol VVasti Material Dealers is issuing 

 through its office at 170 Summer street, Boston, ,a\ Association 

 Bulletin, the first number of which appeared on August 31, and 

 later numbers ol which will appear from time to time as matters 

 of importance to members arise. ["his first number contains 

 foul pages, all idled with items of interest to waste material 



dealers generally, including a list of members— of whom there 

 are n"w 88 I officers and committees, notices of meetings, 



Standards ol packing and a brief history of the association, which 



tvas formed March _'4, 1913. 



RUBBER RELIEVING LEATHER SCARCITY. 



' I ' 1 1EKE is .in old saying that "there's no great loss without 

 ■*■ some small gain." The present uncertainty regarding some 

 lines of rubber manufacture, which, because of the unsettled 

 itions ol business brought about by the European cataclysm, 

 is pointing to a decreased demand for rubber, can certainly be 

 partly balanced by the wonderful increase in the use of this 

 material in the shoe industry. 



Never but once before in the history of this industry has 

 leather been SO high priced as it b today. Once, along about the 

 close oi the Civil War. quotations were higher, but even then tin 

 prices were on a currency basis, with gold at a heavy premium. 

 With the state of affairs at present confronting shoe manufac- 

 turers, it is a happy coincidence that the summer season just 

 1 . ii gave tin stamp of approval to footwear in which other 

 materials were used in place of leather, both in the tippers and 

 in the soles. 



The rubber footwear manufacturers have been making what 

 are collectively known as "tennis goods" for many years I hi si 

 were mainh cloth-topped shoes with thin cemented rubber sole- 

 As outing shoe. ,,i thi cheaper kind, and for yachting, outdoor 

 sports, and for gymnasium use. these lines have had a steadily 

 increasing demand. 



Moreover, the public lias been educated up to the value of 

 rubber heels as shock absorbers and as means of securing noise- 

 lessness in offices and hospital. 



Then the tango crazi set in. and people discovered that the 

 light rubber-soled tennis shoes made firm, non-skid footwear for 

 indulging in this somewhal gymnastic style of dancing, and shoes 

 which until then were looked upon as suited only to the piazzas 

 or the beaches invaded the ball-rooms at the summer resorts, 

 and later the fashionable city soirees dansantes. Then the 

 tennis shoe manufacturers made dancing pumps with rubber sole-. 

 anil sold them like hot cakes. 



These are probably the main factors which led to the evolution 

 of tin -'itched rubber-soled canvas shoe and the rubber-soled 

 bather shoe, both of which, though formerly known and sold in a 

 small way. never achieved a real vogue until last summer. During 

 that season hundreds of thousands of rubber-soled shoes of 

 stylish .appearance and tine workmanship were sold Tin \ . 

 came a fad at seashore and mountain hotels, as well as on the 



promenades in all the larg lay the prices of all kinds 



..1 sole bather are high. Tanners sa\ tin;, must go higher. Shoi 

 manufacturers may therefore hail with delight the growing de- 

 mand Li rubber-soled footwear That the demand is growing is 

 shown by the numbei ..t concerns which an now manufacturing 

 rubbei soles, It is a poor month which ! ee a new 



concern -tailing in this line, while every company which pre- 

 viously made rubber heels has branched out in the manufacture 

 of soles. 



Naturally, there are various qualities of soles manufactured. 

 I be agent ,,i a leading concern in this line Stated to the writer 

 that he could and did furnish rubber soles for as high a price 

 as 'hi., dollar-, and as L.w a- thirty cents, a pair. It might 

 have been these thirt) cenl oles which disgusted some shoe 

 manufacturers, win. had their shoes returned with the 

 cracked through straight across the ball. 



Of cour-e every popular thing, if it is at all expensive, is imi- 

 tated sooner or later in cheap quality. Rubber soles were no ex- 

 ception, but manufacturers have learned that rubber soles must 

 cntam rubber, and are Inlying Soles which will not break in the 

 machine sewing, and which will wear at lea-t reasonably well 

 under ordinary condition-. 



One of the leading rubber footwear manufacturers seeing the 

 trend of bather shoe prices, and foreseeing the probable inabil- 

 ity of shoe manufacturers to produce a durable work shoe at a 

 reasonable price, has added a line of footwear which is com- 

 manding a fast increasing trade. It has an upper of specially 

 made duck of long staple cotton, a full slip-sole of rubber stitched 

 to the upper, and a rubber sole stitched On by the Goodyeai ma 

 chine. The heel, of the usual height, is 

 also of rubber. This shoe can he- 

 tapped or re-soled just like a leather 

 -hoe. and experience has shown that 

 the upper will outwear two soles. 

 But it is not on 

 work shoes that the 

 use of rubber soles 

 predominates. Quite 

 the contrary. T .- 

 day there are shoes 

 of the best leathers 

 and the finest work- 

 manship with rub- 

 ber soles and heels. Both men's and women's styles are thus 

 made. There arc ball-room pumps, promenade shoes, and busi- 

 ness footwear not only for summer use, but for heavy winter 

 wear. One objection raised against rubber soles is their weight. 

 A thick sole of rubber is heavy, even though no more cumber- 

 sonic than a similar thickness of leather sole. But with the 

 better quality of rubber now demanded, the soles arc made con- 

 siderably thinner, while at the same time, because of the very 

 nature of real rubber, they wear longer than the thicker leather 

 sole. In fact a prominent manufacturer of these soles and 

 states that in the impact of the foot on the pavement, 

 rubber rebounds where leather scrapes along, and this fact ac- 

 counts for the longer life of the former. 



Another objection sometimes cited against rubber soles is 

 their imperviousness. Ibis is a distinct advantage in keeping 

 outside moisture from tin foot, but the opposite as inducing 

 perspiration. This, however, i- readil) overcome by the use of 

 leather iiisol. - of good quality. Then again there is the tendency 

 of rubber -ob- to slip on wit surfaces. To overcome this has 

 been the subject of earnest experiment and study, and today, 

 besides the various grades '<i more or less "pure" rubber soles, 

 shoe manufacturers arc offered, and are now using on their 

 samples for next season, soles compounded of rubber vulcan- 

 ized with a large proportion of disintegrated leather fibre, which, 

 it is claimed, insure against slipping on wet pavements, and 

 which arc -aid to wear longer than either rubber or leather 



Work Shoe 



with Rubber 

 Heel. 



Sole 



