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The earliest rubber-soled athletic shoes date back to 1876 in the United Kingdom, when the New Liverpool Rubber Company made plimsolls, or sandshoes, designed for the sport of croquet. Similar rubber-soled shoes were made in 1892 in the United States by Humphrey O'Sullivan, based on Charles Goodyear's technology.
Keds is an American brand known for its canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916 by U.S. Rubber, its original shoe design was the first mass-marketed canvas-top sneaker. The brand was sold to Stride Rite in 1979, which was acquired by Wolverine World Wide in 2012. Since February 2023, Keds has been owned and operated by Designer Brands.
Special soles with engraved patterns to increase the surface grip of the shoe were developed, and these were ordered in bulk for the use of the British Army. Athletic shoes were increasingly used for leisure and outdoor activities at the turn of the 20th century - plimsolls were even found with the ill-fated Scott Antarctic expedition of 1911.
From 1892 to 1913, the rubber footwear divisions of U.S. Rubber manufactured their products under 30 different brand names, including the Wales-Goodyear Shoe Co. The company consolidated these footwear brands under one name, Keds, in 1916, and were mass-marketed as the first flexible rubber-sole with canvas-top "sneakers" in 1917.
Converse (/ ˈ k ɒ n v ər s /) is an American lifestyle brand that markets, distributes, and licenses footwear, apparel, and accessories.Founded by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 as the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts, it has been acquired by several companies before becoming a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. in 2003.
A plimsoll, also spelled plimsole, [1] or pump [2] (also known as a gym shoe [2] [1] or a sandshoe [1]), is a light sports shoe with a canvas upper and flat rubber sole. The shoe originated in the United Kingdom, [ citation needed ] there called a "sand shoe", acquiring the nickname "plimsoll" in the 1870s.
In the U.S., the annual footwear industry revenue was $48 billion in 2012. In 2015, there were about 29,000 shoe stores in the U.S. and the shoe industry employed about 189,000 people. [47] Due to rising imports, these numbers are also declining. The only way of staying afloat in the shoe market is to establish a presence in niche markets. [48]
These shoes took more liberties with the Chuck Taylor design than the Chuck II, and the metal grommets and rubber toecap were removed. Nike technology included a circular knit upper with a shiny finish, a cushioned foam rubber sole similar to the Air Jordans, a neoprene tongue, and a TPU-fused toecap. [27] [28] [29]