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No one knows when shoes were first invented. People have been wearing
them as long as there have been rocky terrain and inclement weather. This
much we know is true: Shoes serve to protect the foot, they're decorative,
and they are symbols of style, rank, wealth and power.
100s
Power of Shoes
Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius declares that only he and
his successors may wear red sandals.
1066
Multipurpose Shoes
Boots start out as separate leggings attached to the shoe. Eventually,
they become one very deep shoe and a convenient place to hide contraband,
giving rise to the term "bootlegged." The English "boot" comes from the
French "boute."
1300s
Size Matters
European men wear shoes called crackowes, which have extremely long toes.
Sometimes the toe is so long that it has to be fastened to the knee with
a chain to prevent the wearer from tripping over his shoes.
Pop Quiz!
Question: Women have four times as many foot problems as men because of ...
Answer: High heels
An amazing number of women around the world will tolerate untold discomfort
to wear high-heeled shoes. For the sake of vanity, they will limp home,
only to rise the next morning and cram those same feet into another pair
of impractical shoes.
Every time a woman puts on a good-looking but uncomfortable shoe, she
is participating in a ritual mutilation of the body no different than
the tribal traditions of stacking up neck rings or weighing down ear lobes.
Many women have become so used to the narrow-toed, thin-soled shape of
shoes that they've convinced themselves their feet are supposed to be
scrunched, squeezed and tired.
The American Podiatric Medical Association says this leads to corns,
calluses, bunions, hammer toes, ingrown toenails, heel and Achilles tendon
pain, shin splints and nerve damage, all of which send women to the doctor
wondering what went wrong.
1324
Oh, Those Corns!
A basic system of shoe sizes is standardized during the reign of King
Edward II of England. One inch equals three barley corns placed end to
end. Size 13 becomes the largest shoe size, because 13 inches (or 39 barley
corns) is the longest foot measured. At the end of the millennium, sizes
in the United States are still graded by one-third of an inch.
Early 1500s
Agony of the Feet
Catherine de Medici, a member of the famous Florentine family, travels
to Paris in 1533 with several pairs of high-heeled shoes made in Italy.
She wants to appear taller to the man she is about to marry, Henry, Duke
of Orleans, later France's King Henry II.
Soon, some European women wear shoes so high they must be supported while
walking.
Mid-1500s
Highs & Lows
Platform shoes as high as 30 inches become the rage in southern Europe.
Men wear the "pump," a low-cut slipper with a heel. The name comes from
carriage drivers of 19th century Europe who find these types of shoes
comfortable while "pumping" the carriage's pedals.
Late 1500s
What a Gentleman
Sir Walter Raleigh spreads his cape over a puddle on the street so that
Queen Elizabeth may cross without soiling her shoes.
Early 1600s
New Movements Afoot
Indians in Central and South America discover a use for the white sap
that oozes from the cahuchu tree. Some use it to make balls that bounce.
Others dip their feet in it. When dry, it protects from their feet from
water and bugs. Christopher Columbus is said to have taken this sap back
to Europe. This eventually leads to the development of rubber, an important
feature of the future sneaker.
Early settlers in America learn how to make moccasins from the Indians.
America's first shoemaker arrives in Virginia in 1619. Another arrives
in Salem, Mass., 10 years later. Before this, quality shoes are imported
from England.
Shoelaces become a fad in Europe.
Mid-1600s
New Fads
France's height-challenged Louis XIV falls for high heels then starts
a trend: platform shoes. Some stand as tall as 5 inches.
The Oxford shoe makes its debut, in Oxford, England. It's a sturdy lace-up
for men. University students go crazy for it.
American women import high-heeled shoes from Paris. The clergy labels
these shoes "scandalous." Massachusetts passes a law, saying: "All women,
whether virgins, maidens or widows, who shall after this Act impose upon,
seduce or betray into matrimony any of His Majesty's male subjects by
virtue of ... high heel shoes, shall incur the penalty of the law now
enforced against witchcraft, and the marriage shall be null and void."
Late 1600s
Sole Mate
A French fairy tale is mistranslated. Cinderella's fur slipper is turned
into a glass one.
Early 1700s
Trendy Toes
France's Louis XV sets footwear fashion. By 1740, men wear pointed-toe
shoes, with low, broad heels and elaborate buckles. Sportsmen and soldiers
wear soft-leather boots, with cuffs turned down below the knee. Wealthy
women wear shoes that are essentially "walking jewel boxes."
Pop Quiz!
Question: How much sweat does the average pair of feet release a day?
Answer: One cup
Feet have a lot of sweat glands. And most people work their feet work
hard all day long. When they are bound in shoes all day long, feet get
hot and sweaty. Even if you're not pounding the pavement, feet can sweat.
Nervousness can trigger perspiration in the soles as well as in the palms
of your hands.
Late 1700s
Sole Searching
Famously extravagant Marie Antoinette, French queen and wife of King Louis
XVI, owns more than 500 pairs of custom-made, gem-spangled shoes. A shoe
wardrobe mistress keeps them indexed to prevent the horrible happenstance
of having to wear the same pair of shoes more than once.
The word sabotage comes from the French word for wood shoes, "sabot,"
because workers in the time of the French Revolution threw their shoes
into the machinery of mills as an act of defiance.
Napoleon Bonaparte's servants wear his boots to break them in.
John Adams Dagyr founds the first assembly-line shoe factory in Lynn,
Mass. Before this, shoemakers made the shoe from start to finish.
Benjamin Franklin, U.S. ambassador to France, returns home to Philadelphia
in 1785 with several pairs of high-heeled shoes for himself. Other prominent
American patriots follow suit, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson
and Alexander Hamilton.
In 1793, the first retail store opens in Boston, selling ready-made shoes
on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Unaccustomed to shoes not made to order,
customers are skeptical at first. But the idea soon starts to appeal to
many.
Shoelaces find their way to America. Thomas Jefferson is among the first
to wear shoes tied with laces. He is criticized for "succumbing to the
new, foppish French style."
1839
Left & Right
A Philadelphia artisan comes up with the revolutionary idea to mold the
shoe differently -- one for the left and one for the right. Up until now,
people squeezed their feet into two shoes shaped exactly alike.
Charles Goodyear develops a way to make rubber more bendable and useful
in any weather. This enables shoemakers to start attaching rubber soles
to uppers. In 1867, the first sneaker, called a croquet shoe, is introduced
by Candee Rubber Co. of Norwich, Conn. It has a rubber sole and lightweight,
canvas uppers. Only the rich can afford them.
1846
Modernization
Elias Howe invents a sewing machine for shoe uppers. In 1858, Lyman Reed
Blake of Abington, Mass., introduces the first sewing machine that attaches
the sole to the uppers. By 1868, the Goodyear Welt Stitcher is introduced.
Jan Ernst Matzeliger, a Massachusetts shoe factory worker, invents the
shoe-lasting machine. (A shoe last is a wooden foot-shaped form made in
each shoe size.) This leads to mass production of footwear in America
by 1990. Shoe prices drop. These events revolutionize the shoemaking industry.
1850s
Faster & Better
Improved sewing machines are developed. Shoemaking becomes a factory operation.
Instead of stitching or nailing shoe parts by hand, sewing machines do
the hard work.
Shoemakers begin using rubber in bottoms and soles of shoes.
1886
Shoes as Art
In Paris, Vincent van Gogh paints a portrait of his worn-out shoes. Some
art experts say the painting has such an expressive quality that it is
more like a portrait of a person than of inanimate objects.
1890s
Rubber Rage
Police officers wear traction rubber soles on their beats. The slang term
"gumshoe" is derived from this. In 1894, Humphrey O'Sullivan, an Irish
immigrant, introduces the rubber heel.
1917
Courting Athletes
Converse makes the first basketball shoes, with canvas high-tops and rubber
soles.
1923
Getting a Grip
B.F. Goodrich introduces the first traction soles for work boots.
1928
Sealing the Deal
A machine called the Compo Shoe Process debuts. It uses cement to attach
soles to uppers. By 1999, cement-attaching is used in more than half of
all footwear.
1936
It's a Winner
American Jesse Owens wins gold medal wearing German shoes made by Adolf
Dassler, who later forms the adidas shoe company. His brother starts Puma.
Pop Quiz!
Question: The average person takes how many steps a day?
Answer: 10,000
The American Podiatric Medical Association says we take an average 8,000
to 10,000 steps a day. If you add them all up, that's roughly 115,000
miles in a lifetime -- more than four times the circumference of the globe.
Did you know?
• The foot is made up of 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles
and tendons.
• The 52 bones in both of your feet make up one fourth of all the bones
in your body.
• A 150-pound athlete hits the ground with about 300-450 pounds of force.
Early 1940s
Progress
Synthetic rubber replaces natural rubber.
1945
Sneakers Debut
Rubber-soled athletic training shoes become popular.
Late 1940s
Money Money Money
Argentina's Eva Peron has her shoes sprinkled with gold dust, encrusted
with gems and lined with rare armadillo skin.
1950s
Function Over Fashion
Sneakers become fashionable -- no longer being worn just for sports. Men,
women and children wear them as everyday footwear.
Pop Quiz!
Question: Why do men like women to wear high heels?
Answer: All of the above (Makes foot seem smaller; Calf muscle makes leg appear
more attractive; Tentative steps accentuates seductive hip movement)
Men have been seduced by women in high heels for centuries. The high
heel forces the arch up, making the foot seem smaller. The height makes
the leg look sleeker and longer. William A. Rossi, author of "The Sex
Life of the Foot and Shoe," says it's the "bondage gait" that appeals
to men ... the uncertain "dependent" gait of women teetering on high heels.
For centuries, until the 1900s, the feet of young girls in China's privileged
society were bound until broken so that the feet appeared miniaturized.
The toes were swung underneath the heel. These girls had to learn to walk
on painful stubs until adulthood, when they did the "willow walk" on "feet"
no larger than fists. As a result, women could never venture far and always
had to be assisted. This look was a fetish for Chinese men.
1956
Carl vs. Elvis
Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" becomes a simultaneous hit on the country,
rock and R&B charts. But Perkins' signature song eventually becomes associated
with Elvis Presley, who performs it on national television first.
Early 1960s
Doctor Is In
The first pair of British Doc Martens appears in 1960. It is designed
by Dr. Klaus Maertens and his friend and engineer Herbert Funck. They
create a shoe with an air-cushioned sole, using old tires. It had been
a huge hit in Germany before selling across Europe. The manufacturer Anglicized
the name to Doc Martens.
In 1962, New Balance, an orthopedic shoe company, introduces the influential
Trackster running shoe.
Mid-1960s
Ugly but Comfortable
Karl Birkenstock makes a pair of unisex, orthopedic footbed sandals with
contoured arch supports. The design is based on his grandfather's original
concept from the 1770s. American Margot Fraser discovers them while vacationing
in Germany and imports them.
In the 1970s, fashion mavens label them as a "fashion don't." So, naturally,
they are embraced by the hippie counterculture. It isn't until the 1990s
that the rich and famous start wearing them in public ... Whoopi Goldberg,
Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Kelly McGillis, Harrison Ford, Keanu Reeves,
Madonna, Chelsea Clinton.
Pop Quiz!
Question: The average American woman's foot size is 8 wide. What is the best-selling
shoe size?
Answer: Size 7 1/2
Alas, it's not hard to see why so many women have foot problems. About
88 percent of American women are used to squeezing their feet into shoes
that are at least half a size too small.
Women "try on a size 6 that fits too tight, so they go to the next size
up, a 6 1/2," says Josh White, medical director for Eneslow, a New York
dealer in "comfort" shoes. "But that's too loose, so they go back to the
6 and hope it stretches; it doesn't."
Although men wore shoes with high heels and pointy toes in earlier centuries,
today the typical man's shoe has relatively round toes and low heels,
which means that far fewer men have problems with their feet.
1967
Innovation
Japanese shoe company Tiger introduces all-nylon uppers for running shoes.
1974
Big Business
Sales of athletic footwear in America reaches $1 billion, or 220 million
pairs, per year. Converse is one of the top brand names.
1979
Just Doin' It
Nike Tailwind running shoe -- billed as "air travel" for runners -- has
capsules of compressed freon gas in the sole. They break the $50 price
point. The shoe is in short supply.
No Place Like Home
The "ruby slippers" worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic "The Wizard
of Oz" are donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
Pop Quiz!
Question: What was the original color of Dorothy's magical slippers?
Answer: Silver
L. Frank Baum, the author of the book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,"
originally conceived of silver slippers. When the film's screenplay was
being written, screenwriter Noel Langley decided that ruby would look
much nicer on screen when dancing along the yellow brick road.
At least six pairs of ruby slippers were made for the film. They were
made of sparkling red sequins.
1986
Can't Have Too Many
The world discovers deposed first lady Imelda Marcos' uncontrollable compulsion
to shop. When her husband, President Ferdinand Marcos, is ousted in a
popular uprising, Philippines officials find her collection of 1,060 pairs
of shoes.
Pop Quiz!
Question: What else was found in Imelda Marcos' closet?
Answer: 500 black bras; 5 fur coats; 1,000 packages of stockings
"She was tasteless," said Alejandro Roces, leader of one of the government
teams in Manila that seized some of Mrs. Marcos' jewelry and artwork.
"She wanted everything she laid her eyes on."
Here is a partial list:
• 1,060 pairs of shoes
• 500 black brassieres
• 68 pairs of gloves
• Dozens of hand-embroidered ornamental gowns
• 1,000 packages of stockings
• 5 fur coats
• Enough jewelry, paintings, vases, icons and Persian carpets to fill
300 wooden crates
Somehow, it was the shoe collection that most astonished the world.
1989
Foot Note
Nike pays basketball star Michael Jordan more than $1.5 million to help
sell the company's sneakers.
1990s
These Dogs Are Barkin'
The annual cost of foot ailments in the United States alone is $3.5 billion
for surgery and 15 million lost work days.
Future of Shoes
No wonder different shoe brands fit your feet differently. No fewer than
38 "sizing systems" -- ways to measure a foot -- are used by 90,000 manufacturers
worldwide. That means one brand's size 8 isn't necessarily the same as
another brand's size 8. Computers, increasingly used in measuring and
manufacturing, demand standardization or they can't "talk" to each other.
So in the next millennium, expect a world standard for foot measuring
to evolve.
A Move Afoot:
Another reason shoes don't fit perfectly is our lack of symmetry. One
foot is inevitably bigger than the other. Solution: customization by computerization.
Your foot is scanned by a computer, which sends the data to a manufacturer,
which will custom fit a shoe to your foot. If the shoes are made by hand,
you will have to wait for the finished product. But if the equipment is
computerized so that it immediately guides the machinery to cut and stitch
to certain specifications, you'll have custom-made shoes in a matter of
minutes.
Super Scans:
Expect these high-tech scans to do more than measure the length and width
of your foot. They'll record the biomechanical details of your walk --
where your weight falls, how much you ankles turn and so on. That information
will be fed into a computer, too, allowing for the customizing of shoes
to compensate for your problems.
Go Boxy:
Shoe manufacturers keep looking for materials -- various synthetics, including
Lycra -- to combine with leather to make shoes more comfortable. Thanks
to the fitness boom and a desire for more comfortable footwear, we're
wearing more shoes that are kinder to our feet. In the future, expect
to see the popularity of box-toe shoes to grow.
Also: Expect a boom in walking shoe sales, thanks to an aging population.
The reason: As we age, the fat pads in our feet atrophy and we need better
support.
Better Than Leather:
In research labs, technologists work with synthetic materials to make
them indistinguishable from leather. The advantage for manufacturers:
man-made materials are uniform, making them easier to work with. You'll
also see lighter materials with more "breathability." A good thing, because
of the high concentration of sweat glands in our feet.
Related Links
Editor's note: These links will take you to Web sites with content
we do not control or endorse.
Dial a Decade of Shoes
http://www.centuryinshoes.com/home.html
See how shoe fashions have changed in the 20th century, from Marketing
Store
You Are What You Wear
http://www.foothealth.com/02.htm
Find out what your choice of shoes say about you, from Barry H. Block's
"Foot Talk"
Making Shoes in the Old Days
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/carlson/SHOEHOME.HTM
How shoes looked way back when, plus a glossary, from I. Marc Carlson's
Footwear of the Middle Ages
Foot Health
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/carlson/FH.HTM
Don't be medieval, learn how to be kind to your feet, from I. Marc Carlson's
Footwear of the Middle Ages
Foot Factoids
http://www.apma.org/faq.html
Things you ought to know about your feet, from American Podiatric Medical
Association
Sources
"Shoes: Their History in Words and Pictures," by Charlotte and David Yue;
Solemates: Century in Shoes Web site; World Book; The Miami Herald/KRT;
"The Running Shoe Book," by Peter R. Cavanagh; "Sneakers," by Rogert Young;
Dr. Stephen M. Pribut; Nike; adidas; New Balance; Chicago Tribune/KRT;
Footwear News; Foot Health Web site; "Sneakers: The Shoes We Choose,"
by Robert Young; The Dallas Morning News/KRT; Sun-Sentinel, South Florida/KRT;
The Seattle Times/KRT; The Orange County Register/KRT; Warner Bros.; Sundazed
Records
Credits
Producer: Lily Chin/KRT
Designer: Adam Mark/KRT
Photography: Steve Healey of Indianapolis Star and News/KRT; Nuccio Dinuzzo
of Chicago Tribune/KRT; Bill Alkofer of Saint Paul Pioneer Press/KRT;
United States Olympic Committee; Library of Congress
Copyright
Limitations on use of material in this Web package: This content is owned
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services and contains material that is
derived in whole or in part from material supplied by KRT or its
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KRT is a joint venture of Knight Ridder and the Tribune Co.
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