Sports Shoes

Sports Shoes(Athletic shoe)

The idea of a “sneaker” did not come along until an American inventor, Charles Goodyear, patented the process for the vulcanization of rubber.[citation needed] While many believe that the first basketball shoe was the famous Converse All Stars (developed in 1917), this is mistaken. This belief is easily attained simply because it was one of the highest selling sneakers of the early sneaker generation. The Spalding company produced shoes specifically for the game of basketball as early as 1907,[citation needed] and an estate sale led shoe experts to believe that some of the earliest shoes were produced by Colchester Rubber Company of Colchester, Connecticut, which went out of business in 1893.[citation needed] Although there is no hard evidence suggesting this, the shoes were found only a few miles away from the birthplace of basketball,[citation needed] and two years after the game was invented.

By the early 1900s, sneakers were being produced by small rubber companies who specialized in the production of bicycle tires. U.S. Rubber, introduced Keds in 1916, about the same time that Converse was marketing its All Star. Other companies, including B.F. Goodrich and Spalding Co., were producing tennis shoes and smaller family-owned companies were manufacturing early cleated shoes. At first, the market for sneakers was small and practically invisible, but after World War I, the U.S. turned to sports and athletes as a way to demonstrate moral fiber and patriotism. The U.S. market for sneakers grew steadily as young boys lined up to buy sneakers endorsed by football player, Jim Thorpe and Converse All Stars endorsed by basketball player, Chuck Taylor.

As the 1920s and 1930s approached, these companies added traction, and also started marketing them for different sports. A huge breakthrough of this time was the separation of designs for men and women. At this time, sneakers were used strictly for athletic events. When the Olympics were revived, this attracted more fans not only to sports, but to sneakers as well.

The 1950s gave American families more leisure time, and as the baby boom started, more families chose to dress their youth in sneakers as school dress codes relaxed. Hollywood also started mainstreaming sneakers with actors such as James Dean wearing his Jack Purcells in West Side Story. Sneaker sales in the US soared to 600 million pairs a year in 1957, which led leather shoe makers to claim that “sneakers are bad for children’s feet” to which sneaker producers replied “sneakers cure the syndrome of Inhibited Feet.”

In the early 1960s, sneakers were imported to the US. from Japan, but accounted for only a small portion of the market until Nike founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman began importing Tiger shoes under the name Blue Ribbon Sports.

In the 1970s, sneakers led their own way as jogging quickly became popular and so did the necessity to have a pair of shoes for the occasion. Until this time, factories had been concerned with high production, but now the companies started to market their products as a lifestyle purpose. Soon there were shoes for football, jogging, basketball, running – every sport had its own shoe.

By the 1980s, sneakers were everywhere; Woody Allen wore them to the ballet, Led Zeppelin wore them in their 1976 documentary, and Dustin Hoffman wore them while playing reporter Carl Bernstein in the movie All the President’s Men. The shoes originally developed for sports became the mainstay for most people. Nike and Reebok were among the market leaders. Newer brands went in and out of fashion, and sneaker companies started shelling out major endorsements to players. One of, if not the largest, endorsements was to Chicago player Michael Jordan, for a contract with Nike to make his own signature line of shoes and apparel.

During the 1990s, shoe companies perfected their fashion and marketing skills. Sports endorsements grew larger and marketing budgets went through the roof. Sneakers became a fashion statement, and definition of identity and personality rather than humble athletic aids.