The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-26
THE OLD-IIME GUM SHOES
NOT so PRETTY as THE "RUBBERS'
OF TODAY,
First Attempt Not Successful-LarSe
Amount of Capital Sunk in Expert
nenta.


| ments.
India rubber shoes We're first manu-
featured in Roxbury, Mass in 1888, and
verify they We're ''fearfully and wonder
fully made" They really bore no resem-
blance whatever to shoe. They had
the appearance of having been run into
molds or blown, the same as glass bot
ties are made They We're made OF
pure rubber gum No attempt was
made to initiate the shape of the shoe
or foot they were intended to cover. In
shape they We're hollow tubes taperng
toward the toe. At the place where the
opening to pull them over the shoe
should be was an irregular hole, with
out shape, just as they came from the
mold. The hole was enlarged with
sharp pair of shears to fit the instep,
or cut high or low to suit the taste or
caprice of the customer The work was
done by the salesman after the buyer
had selected, according to his require
ments, heavy or light, thick or thin.
Mems sizes We're very heavy, the soles
being frequently from one-fourth to
half-inch in thickness. They were tied
!
to keep them in shape for shipment. A
lady's foot, incased in this huge, ILL
shaped mass of India rubber gum,
weighing at least one-pound present.
ed a clumsy appearance, inde2 partlcu-
larly when compared with the light and
truly artistic appearance of the present
styles.
The first attempt at making overshoes
of India rubber did not prove a sue
cess, a large amunot of capital being
sunk in the experiment, as well as all
the unsold stock They answered the
purpose in cold weather, but would not
stand the heat, melting into a disgust
ing mass
Experiments to remedy this difficulty
resulted in reaching the opposite ex-
treme the cold weather freezing them
SO hard as to make them brittle, so
they could not be drawn over the shoe
until they We're thoroughly warmed,
and this obstacle to success was not
overcome until Charles Goodyear dis
covered this process of vulcanizing rub
Der, which has rendered his name i'm
mortal
Rapidly following this era of i'm
proVements, the India rubber shoe be-
gan to assume beauty and proportion
and practical utility. The shoes were
lasted and the merchant threw aside
his shears. One particularly popular
style that had great run for couple
of years was trimmed with fur around
the tops and came well UP on the ankles.
Dickens has immortalized this particu
lar style by placing them on the feet of
the pretty Arabella that Mr. Wrinkle
met and fell in love with while visiting
with Mr.. Pickwick at Old Wardle's.
All rubber shoes were made from the
solid gum at that time, and we are
safe in saying that a single pair would |
outweigh six pairs of those now in the |
market. Besides being very heavy and |
ugly, they were often painful from be- |
ing so tightly stretched over the feet. |
They made the wearer loog club-footed |
and any attempt at establishment was
a failure and made them appear clum-
sier still But this condition of things |
was not to last. In 1874, Goodyear per-
fected his vulcanizing process, and this
method of spreading the pure gum upon
elastic textile fabrics, and the manu-
facture of rubber shoes has since i'm
proved from year to year, until they
have become a thing of beauty-Phila-
delphia Record