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Business boomed and the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War II. [13] [14] Adidas Stan Smith of the 1980s. During the 1950s, leisure opportunities greatly expanded, and children and adolescents began to wear sneakers as school dress codes relaxed.
West Germany, established in May 1949, was not eligible for the 1950 World Cup, the first after the war, and so all preparations were made with a view toward the 1954 matches in Switzerland. By that time Adidas's football boots were considerably lighter than the ones made before the war, based on English designs.
J W Foster & Sons (Athletic Shoes) Limited was an athletic shoe manufacturing company located in Bolton, England. Established by Joseph W. Foster in 1895, the company was a pioneer in the use of track spikes for runners and athletes, producing most of the highly-regarded running shoes in the 1920s.
After his return from World War I, Adolf Dassler, Rudolf's younger brother, started to produce sports shoes in his mother's kitchen. His father, Christoph, who worked in a shoe factory, and the brothers Zehlein, who produced the handmade spikes for track shoes in their blacksmith's shop, supported Adolf in starting his own business.
The company was founded by Adolf "Adi" Dassler who made sports shoes in his mother's scullery or laundry room in Herzogenaurach, Germany after his return from World War I. In July 1924, his older brother Rudolf joined the business, which became "Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory" (Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik). [10]
An estimated 20,000 people worked in the company's factories by the 1920s, and an even greater number worked there during the boom years of the mid-1940s when, helped by footwear it produced for the military during the war years, it was producing 52 million pairs of shoes a year.
Geda became a success during the 1930s and 1940s, which was demonstrated in the 1936 Olympics where the legendary African-American runner Jesse Owens wore Geda shoes as he won a gold medal. Geda's operations were paused throughout World War II, as Rudolf was drafted into the German army and Geda's shoe factory was converted into a weapons ...
Converse initially produced winterized rubber-soled shoes and boots. During World War II, it shifted manufacturing to make footwear for the military. [4] Initially, it was one of the few producers of athletic shoes and dominated the U.S. market, but lost its position in the 1970s as competitors introduced their styles.