The Washington herald., 1907-07-01
Making and Selling Shoes
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

/ ~ %<ANA
Men have been making and wearing and
selling shoes Of some sort for Thousands
of years. but the shoe industry as it is
known to-day is not yet sixty years old,
and bears the stamp Made in L. S. A."
The shoe factories Of this country are
producing more than a quarter of a
billion pairs Of shoes each year. valued
at about S350,OO0,0o0. The hides Of forty
million cattle, including calves. Of fifty
million goats and OF many other animals
are made into shoes every year by the
American factories.
While great quantities Of these shoes
are exported. the home trade consumes
by far the greater portion. The shoes
are sold in the United States and worn
here. Changes in the habits of wearing
shoes have been as marked as the revo-
lutions in the processes Of making them
and the methods Of selling them. At the
great Shoe and Leather Market-Fair TO
be held in Chicago the last week in
August the shoe business Of the whole
whole world will be conferred, and for a
week there VIII be such buying and selling
of stocks OF shoes for use at home and
abroad as has never been known before.
Next year a great Shoe Trade Worlds
Fair will be held on the banks Of the
Charles River at Cambridge, Mass, at
which exhibitions Of American Shoe
making will be added 10 the market-fair
feature.
The American invasion Of England was
led by the shoemakers. and the superior
style and fit Of the American-made shoes
has forced the English manufacturer to
adopt American methods. The value of
American shoes sent 10 England increased
from $4,000 to S2,205.000 in fifteen years.
Efforts are now being made to extend
the American shoe trade into Latin
America. Shoe trade journals are pub
fishing special editions in Spanish and
Portuguese. and any shoe merchant may
have the free service OF a translator to
conduct his South American correspond
ence II he adveTtlses in these editions
The effort TO interest American manu-
facturers in the Latin-American trade
has found a ready response among the
shoe men. and the admitted superiority
OF the goods made In the United States
will win the trade.
The shoe trade in Central and South
American countries IS rather a difficult
nv h.-rr snff -
and a large proportion Of the lower
classes go barefooted except on Sunday
and special occasions. Looking upon shoes
as a luxury rather than a necessity,
these people want a showy-looking article.
and go in for looks rather than comfort
or durability. European shoes sold in
this market are extremely shOddy. The
American manufacturer could hardly turn
out such poor goods even If he wanted to.
The native has no idea about selecting
shoes that fit. and they prove so IN
comfortable that he wears them as little
as possible. II is a common sight to see
dozens Of people returning from church
or a social gathering carrying their
shoes in their hands. The Chinese
also wear very fimsy shoes, generally
with paper s0les. It IS told that in
great battle years ago a rebel army would
have been victorious but for a sudden
rain storm which caused the entire be-
sieging force 10 retire in utter rOut
because the soldiers were afraid Of ruin
ing their shoes.
Massachusetts, leads all other States in
the making Of shoes. The first shoe
makers came to Massachusetts and Vir-
ginia and followed their trade after the
fashion Of some thousands Of ancestors,
each man making shoes and boots from
beginning to end A few years before
the Boston tea party. Welshman named
John Adam Dagyr set up the nucleus Of a
shoe factory In Lynn, city which has
ever since been the center Of the shoe
industry. In this shop the work was
distributed among the men employed by
the owner. Ali the work was done by
hand and the shoes were all sewed. The
work on the uppers was turned over
TO the women and the cost Of production
greatly cheapened. So successful did
this hand'fact0ry work become that in
the ten years between 1920 and 1850 Lynn
produced 100000 pairs Of shoes annually
The wooden shoe peg was invented in
1912 and eight years later the pegs were
made by machinery. Still, shoemaking
was a trade, and a workman in factory
had to know all about making and finish
ing a shoe.
The transition from a trade to an In
dustry came between 1850 and 1850. The
Invention Of a machine 20 cut out soles.
nf nd
pOTtant OF all, the sewing machine, made
shoemaking a new thing. The factories
increased their products IS per cent
during the ten prosperous years pre-
ceding the civil war But much OF the
shoe was still made by hand, only the
simpler processes being intrusted TO ma
chinery. Everybody said that there were
some things about a shoe that a machine
could never make. As late as 1892, only
fifteen years ago, the Massachusetts, man
Ufacturers declared that they need never
fear Western or Southern competition.
because so much of the shoe must be
made by hand, and there was no,
sufficient number of skilled laborers any
where but In Massachusetts. Since that
time the shOemaking machinery has been
so improved and developed that success
full shoe factories may be operated any
where, II there is money enough 10 build
a plant, lease the machinery, and hire
some workers.
Just here comes in one Of the great
problems Of the shoe business. The shoe
making machinery is controlled by one
concern, The United Shoe Machinery
Company. It owns the patents. Without
its machines no man can make shoes in
competition with those who do use them.
1t not only has a complete monopoly
on many Of the patents, but makes
condition in leasing its tools that the
lessee shall not buy or rent tools and
from any other concern. The