Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Footwear
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==History== Footwear has been used by humans since [[prehistory|prehistoric times]], with [[paleoclimatology]] suggesting that they would have been needed in some [[List of first human settlements|areas of human settlement]] by at least 50,000{{nbsp}}[[Before Present|years ago]] during the [[Last Glacial Period]]. [[Osteology|Osteologists]] have found evidence of the effect of footwear on human remains by around 40,000{{nbsp}}years ago.<ref name=eb>{{citation |last=Lewis |first=Robert |contribution=Shoes |title=''Official site'' |contribution-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/shoe |url=https://www.britannica.com |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |location=Chicago |date=2022 }}.</ref> The oldest shoes so far recovered were found by a team under [[Luther Cressman]] in [[Fort Rock Cave]], Oregon, US, in 1938. They had been preserved under the [[Mazama Ash]] deposited {{c.|5025 BC}} during the [[volcanic eruption]] that formed [[Crater Lake]].<ref>{{citation |last=Connolly |first=Tom |url=https://pages.uoregon.edu/connolly/FRsandals.htm |title=The World's Oldest Shoes |date=11 January 2016 |publisher=University of Oregon |location=[[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]] }}.</ref> In 1999, they were [[radiocarbon dating|dated]] to around 10,500{{ndash}}{{nowrap|9,300 [[Before Present|BP]].}}<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19991201/2998668/worlds-oldest-shoes-in-oregon |contribution=World's Oldest Shoes in Oregon... |date=1 December 1999 |title=[[The Seattle Times]] |publisher= |location=Seattle }}.</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:Fort Rock Sandals OHS.jpg | The Fort Rock [[sagebrush]] sandals from the [[United States]] <small>({{c.|7300 BC}})</small> File:Sandalias de esparto (29139609730).jpg | Neolithic [[esparto]] sandals from [[Spain]] <small>({{c.|5000 BC}})</small> File:Chalcolithic leather shoe from Areni-1 cave.jpg | The [[Areni-1 shoe]] from [[Armenia]] <small>({{c.|3500 BC}})</small> File:Ötzischuh 2.jpg | [[Ötzi]]'s shoe, made from [[bearskin]], [[deer]] hide, and [[tree bark]] <small>({{c.|3200 BC}})</small> File:FootClothFromFinnishDefenceForces.JPG | [[Footwrap]]s were the common undershoe until the industrial era <small>(2006)</small> </gallery> Egyptian [[butcher]]s sometimes wore [[platform sandals]] with thicker soles than usual to raise their feet out of the gore. Wealthier [[Ancient Egyptians|Egyptians]] also sometimes wore platforms.<ref>{{citation |last=Jones |first=Kirtly |title=High Heels' Damage to the Human Foot |url=https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/shows.php?shows=0_yg0o2jx3 |publisher=University of Utah, College of Health Care |location=Salt Lake City |date=7 January 2016 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8688381 |title=High Heels |first=Per |last=Mollerup |date=30 September 2019 |publisher=MIT Press |pages=76–77 |isbn=9780262351577 |via=IEEE Xplore }}.</ref> The [[Ancient Greeks|Greeks]] distinguished a great variety of footwear, particularly different styles of [[sandals]]. The heeled [[cothurnus]] was part of the standard costume for [[ancient Greek tragedy|tragedians]], and the effeminate [[soccus]] for [[ancient Greek comedy|comedians]]. Going [[barefoot]], however, was frequently lauded: [[ancient Spartans|Spartan]] boys undergoing military training,<ref name=smith/> [[Socrates]],<ref>{{citation |last=Nails |first=Debra |date=2022 |author2=S. Sara Monoson |display-authors=1 |contribution-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/ |url=https://plato.stanford.edu |title=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |contribution=Socrates |publisher=Stanford University |location=Stanford }}.</ref> and [[ancient Olympic Games|Olympic athletes]]<ref name="ancient_olympics">{{cite news|title=Unearthing the First Spartan Boys where not allowed to wear shoes to toughen their feet and allow stronger dexterity in their toes Olympics|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2004/jul/nemea/|access-date=July 1, 2010 |publisher=[[NPR]]|date=July 19, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100728000414/http://www.npr.org/programs/re/archivesdate/2004/jul/nemea/|archive-date=July 28, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> all went without shoes most of the time. Similarly, [[ancient China]] considered [[Hanfu footwear|footwear]] an important aspect of civilization{{mdash}}particularly [[xiuhuaxie|embroidered slippers]]{{mdash}}but often depicted [[Taoist immortal]]s and [[Chinese mythology|gods]] like [[Xuanwu (god)|Xuanwu]] barefoot. The [[Book of Exodus]] records Moses [[Tradition of removing shoes in the home and houses of worship|reverentially removing his shoes]] at [[Mount Sinai]] and the [[kohanim|priests]] likewise went barefoot at the [[Temple of Solomon|Temple]] of [[Solomon]] before [[Babylonia]]n customs prevailed and entering houses of worship in footwear became common in [[Judaism]]<ref>{{citation |last=Golinkin |first=David |date=13 August 2020 |url=https://schechter.edu |contribution-url=https://schechter.edu/responsa_barefoot-prayer/ |title=''Official site'' |contribution=Is It Permissible to Pray Barefoot? |publisher=Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies |location=Tel Aviv }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Jastrow |first=Morris Jr. |author2=W. Max Muller |author3=Marcus Jastrow |author4=Kaufmann Kohler |display-authors=1 |contribution-url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2519-barefoot |contribution=Barefoot |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |date=1906 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |location=New York }}.</ref> and [[Christianity]]. <gallery class="center"> File:Egyptian sandals.jpg | [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] sandals <small>({{c.|2500 BC}} to {{c.|500 BC}})</small> File:Bronsealderskoen.jpg | The [[Jotunheimen shoe]] from [[Norway]] <small>({{c.|1800{{ndash}}1100 BC}})</small> East Greek plastic aryballos - left foot wearing sandal - London BM 1928-0218-1.jpg | Greek [[aryballos]] of a sandaled foot <small>({{c.|500 BC}})</small> File:Terracotta aryballoi in the form of sandaled feet Rhodian mid-6th century (553470032).jpg | [[Ancient Rhodes|Rhodian]] aryballos of a shod foot <small>({{c.|500 BC}})</small> File:Attributed to Dierick Bouts the Elder, Netherlandish (active Louvain), first securely documented 1447, died 1475 - Moses and the Burning Bush, with Moses Removing His Shoes - Google Art Project.jpg | [[Moses]] removing his shoes at [[Mount Sinai|Sinai]] <small>({{c.|1465}})</small> </gallery> The [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]] experienced several footwear trends, including the prominently pointed shoe or boot now known as the [[calceus repandus]].<ref>{{citation |last=Bonfante |first=Larissa |author-link=Larissa Bonfante |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CILWtN-fSG8C |title=Etruscan Dress |date=1975 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |page=61 |isbn=9780801874130 }}.</ref> The [[Ancient Romans|Romans]] saw clothing and footwear as unmistakable signs of [[social class in ancient Rome|power and status in society]]. [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|Patricians]] typically wore [[calceus patricius|dyed and ornamented shoes]] of [[leather tanning|tanned leather]] with their [[toga]]s or [[Roman armor|armor]], while [[plebeians]] wore rawhide or [[caliga|hobnail boots]]<ref name=smith>{{citation |last=Purser |first=Louis Claude |author-link=Louis Claude Purser |display-editors=0 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=William |editor-link=William Smith (antiquary) |date=1890 |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |location=London |publisher=William Wayte |contribution-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:entry=calceus-cn |contribution=Calceus }}.</ref> and [[Slavery in ancient Rome|slaves]] were usually required to be [[barefoot]].<ref name="DeMello2009">{{cite book|last=DeMello|first=Margo|title=Feet and footwear: a cultural encyclopedia|url={{GBurl|id=5QdKSxajwP0C|p=65}}|access-date=29 January 2012|date=1 September 2009|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-313-35714-5|pages=65–}}</ref> These class distinctions in footwear seem to have lessened during the [[Roman Empire|imperial period]], however, as the [[list of Roman emperors|emperors]] appropriated more and more symbols of high status for themselves.<ref>{{citation |last=Talbert |first=Richard John Alexander |author-link=Richard J.A. Talbert |title=The Senate of Imperial Rome |date=1984 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton }}.</ref><ref name=krt>{{citation |last=Chin |first=Lily |contribution-url=http://cache.boston.com/news/packages/krt/millennium/html/p_shoes.htm |contribution=Shoes |url= |title=Millennium Web Package |publisher=Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services |location=[[San Jose, California|San Jose]] |date=1999 }}.</ref> The Romans were the earliest people currently known to have shaped their right and left shoes distinctly during creation,<ref name=eb/> rather than pulling them tight and allowing them to wear into shape. The Catholic [[patron saint]]s of shoemaking{{mdash}}[[Crispin and Crispinian]]{{mdash}}were [[martyrdom|martyred]] during the [[Diocletian]]ic [[Diocletianic Persecution|Persecution]].<ref>{{citation |last=Meier |first=Gabriel |contribution=Sts. Crispin and Crispinian |contribution-url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04491a.htm |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen |title=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=4 |publisher=Robert Appleton Co. |location=New York |date=1908 }}.</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:Schoes of Damendorf-Man.jpg | The [[carbatina]] of the bog body [[Damendorf Man]] <small>({{c.|300 BC}})</small> File:Bronze statue of the Roman emperor Tiberius with head veiled (capite velato) preparing to perform a religious rite found in the theater in Herculaneum 37 CE MANN INV 5615 MH (cropped to calcei, boots).jpg | [[Calceus patricius|Patrician calceus]] on the feet of the Emperor [[Tiberius]] <small>({{c.|37}})</small> File:Bottom of a statue of a Roman soldier, he wears a military tunic and caligae, the typical footwear worn by Roman soldiers, early Imperial period, from the Horti Lamiani, Musei Capitolini, Rome (16379351102).jpg | [[Caliga]]e, the [[hobnail]]ed sandal-boot of [[Roman legionaries]] <small>(1st cent.)</small> File:Périgueux Vesunna Museum - Bronze 1 Calceus.jpg | [[Calceus equester|Equestrian calceus]] from a Roman statue in [[Roman Gaul|France]] File:Crispino e Crispiniano.jpg | [[Crispin and Crispinian]] in an Italian print <small>(18th cent.)</small> </gallery> In [[medieval Europe]], leather shoes and boots became more common. At first most were simply pieces of leather sewn together and then held tight around the foot with a toggle or drawstring. This developed into the [[turnshoe]], where the sole and upper were sewn together and then turned inside-out to hide and protect the seam and improve water resistance. From the reign of [[Charlemagne]], [[Culture of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine fashions]] began to influence the west and the [[pontificalia]] of the [[list of popes|popes]] and other [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] began to feature greater luxury, including [[episcopal sandals|embroidered silk and velvet slippers]]. By the [[High Middle Ages]], fashion trends periodically prompted [[sumptuary tax]]es or [[sumptuary laws|regulations]] and [[medieval Christianity|church]] condemnation for [[vanity]]. The 12th-century [[pigache]] and 14th- and 15th-century [[poulaine]] had elongated toes, often stuffed to maintain their shape. Around the same time, several [[mendicant orders]] began practicing [[discalceation]] as an aspect of their vows of humility and [[vow of poverty|poverty]], going entirely barefoot at all times or only wearing [[sandals]] in any weather. From the 1480s, the poulaine was replaced by the [[duckbill shoe|duckbill]], which had a flat front but soon became impractically wide. The stiff [[hosiery|hose]] of the era usually required fairly soft footwear, which in turn was easier to damage in the dirt and muck of the street and outdoors. This led many people to use wooden-soled [[calopedes]], [[patten (shoe)|pattens]], or [[galosh]]es, overshoes that served as a platform while walking.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dangerous Elegance: A History of High-Heeled Shoes|url=http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html|access-date=July 1, 2010}}</ref> Particularly in [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], these platforms were combined with the shoe to make [[chopine]]s, sometimes so awkwardly high that the wearer required servants to help support them. ([[Turkish people|Turkish]] sources, meanwhile, credit the chopines directly to the [[Turkish clogs|nalins]] worn in Ottoman [[Turkish bath|baths]] and whose height was considered to be a marker of status.)<ref>{{Citation |last=Ergil |first=Leyla Yvonne |contribution=Magic Slippers: Tales of the Turkish 'Terlik' |date=11 August 2017 |title=The Daily Sabah |publisher= |location= |contribution-url=https://www.dailysabah.com/expat-corner/2017/08/11/magic-slippers-tales-of-the-turkish-terlik }}.</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:Byzantine - Pair of Shoes - Walters 73140, 73141.jpg | [[Byzantine Egypt]]ian slippers decorated in gold <small>(6th cent.)</small> File:Recreated medieval shoe in the making.jpg | Medieval [[turnshoes]] being made on modern [[last]]s <small>(2016)</small> File:Blason ville fr Poulaines (Indre).svg | The [[coat of arms|arms]] of [[Poulaines, France|Poulaines]], a [[villages of France|French village]] named for the [[poulaines|long-toed medieval shoe]] File:HJRK A 62 - Armoured shoes of Maximilian I, 1485.jpg | The [[sabatons]] of [[list of Holy Roman emperors|Emperor]] {{nowrap|[[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]]}}, done in the [[poulaine]] style <small>(1485)</small> File:Duckbills in Hans Holbein's Ambassadors.jpg | The [[Jean de Dinteville|French ambassador]]'s [[duckbill shoes]] in [[Hans Holbein the Younger|Hans Holbein]]'s ''[[The Ambassadors]]'' <small>(1533)</small> File:German Tudor sabatons and greaves, possibly worn by a Lanzichenecchi official, 16th century - Bata Shoe Museum - DSC00108.JPG | German [[sabatons]] done in the [[duckbill shoes|duckbill]] style <small>(16th cent.)</small> File:Shoemuseum Lausanne-IMG 7291.JPG | Modern reconstruction of a Venetian [[chopine]] from the 16th cent. </gallery> By the [[early modern period]], the development of better [[socks]] and less stiff hose allowed European footwear to become firmer and more durable. [[Welting (shoe)|Welting]] was developed, using a narrow band of leather between the uppers and sole to improve appearance and comfort, increase water resistance, and simplify repair, particularly resoling worn shoes. Beginning with the 1533 marriage of the 14-year-old Florentine [[Catherine de Medici]] to [[Henry II of France|Prince Henry]] of [[Kingdom of France|France]],<ref name=krt/> both male and female royalty and nobles began wearing [[high heels]], giving rise to the expression "well heeled".<ref>{{citation |last=Goonetilleke |first=Ravindra |date=2012 |title=The Science of Footwear (Human Factors and Ergonomics) |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4398-3568-5 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last= |first= |title=Dangerous Elegance: A History of High-Heeled Shoes |url=http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html|access-date=1 July 2010 }}</ref> This was done sometimes for display or appearance and sometimes as an aid to riding in [[stirrups]]. For the most part, male footwear was more ornate and expensive because women's feet were usually covered by the [[1600-1650 in fashion|large dresses of the era]].<ref name=eb/> [[Shoe fetishism]] was first publicized in the work of [[Nicolas-Edme Rétif]] in [[Ancien Régime|prerevolutionary France]].<ref>{{citation |first=Nicolas-Edme |last=Rétif |author-link=Nicolas-Edme Rétif |title=Le Pied de Fanchette |date=1769 |language=fr |publisher= |location= }}.</ref> 17th-century [[Cavalier boot]]s developed into upper-class fashion and into sailing boots prized by fishermen and [[Golden Age of Piracy|pirates]] before being replaced as military gear by the 18th-century [[Hessian (boot)|Hessian]] and 19th-century [[Wellington boot]]. In [[Ming Empire|Ming]] and [[Qing Empire|Qing China]], [[foot binding]] led to the development of [[lotus shoes]] for [[Han people|Han women]] and then [[Manchu platform shoes|flowerpot shoes]] for the [[Manchu people|Manchu women]] who wanted to emulate the characteristic walk of women with bound feet without undergoing the process themselves. In [[early modern Africa|Africa]], [[British North America|North America]], and [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese Brazil|Portuguese South America]], [[slave codes]] often mandated slaves should be barefoot at all times without exception.<ref name="Frazine_Richard">{{cite book |last=Frazine |first=Richard Keith |title=The Barefoot Hiker |year=1993 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=0-89815-525-8 |pages=98 |url={{GBurl|id=edsITVCd2G0C|q=barefoot+hiker}}}}</ref> Following [[American Revolution|its independence]], the [[American South]] was an exception. Its demand for masses of low-quality shoes for its slaves was met by workshops in [[Boston]], [[Philadelphia]], and [[New York City|New York]], a dependence that later hobbled the [[Confederate Army]] during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]<ref>{{citation |last=Bierle |first=Sarah Kay |date=7 April 2022 |contribution-url=https://emergingcivilwar.com/2022/04/07/on-the-march-a-few-notes-on-shoes-boots/ |url=https://emergingcivilwar.com |contribution=On the March: A Few Notes on Shoes & Boots |title=''Official site'' |publisher=Emerging Civil War |location=Stevenson Ridge }}.</ref> and became responsible in legend for the decisive [[Battle of Gettysburg]].<ref>{{citation |last=Wolfe |first=Brendan |contribution-url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/shoes-at-gettysburg/ |contribution=Shoes at Gettysburg |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org |title=Encyclopedia Virginia |publisher=Virginia Humanities |location=Charlottesville |date=7 December 2020 }}.</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:Portrait of Louis XIV of France in Coronation Robes (by Hyacinthe Rigaud) - Louvre Museum.jpg | [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] of [[Kingdom of France|France]] in [[chunky heels]] <small>({{c.|1700}})</small> File:Fragonard, The Pump.jpg | The [[Mule (shoe)|mule]] flying from the woman's foot in [[Jean-Honoré Fragonard|Fragonard]]'s ''[[The Swing (Fragonard)|Happy Accidents of the Swing]]'' <small>({{c.|1768}})</small> File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (18134478766).jpg | 19th-century [[Moccasin]]s of the [[Cree]] and [[Blackfoot (Lakota)|Blackfoot]], partially modified following [[First contact (anthropology)|first contact]] with Europeans File:Pair of Woman's Slippers for Bound Feet LACMA M.67.8.136a-b.jpg | Qing-era [[lotus shoes]], worn by [[Han Chinese|Han women]] with [[bound feet]] File:Weißenfels, Schloss Neu-Augustusburg, Schuhmuseum, chinesische Damenschuhe.jpg | [[Manchu platform shoe|Manchu flowerpot shoes]] intended to mimic the same gait File:Brogans MET 50.100.12a-b CP4.jpg | [[Brogan (shoes)|Brogans]] of the type worn by both sides of the [[American Civil War]] File:Abraham Lincoln's appearance (1889) (14760962781).jpg | Boots supposedly worn by [[Abraham Lincoln]] at his [[assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination]] <small>(1930s/40s)</small> </gallery> Amid the [[Industrial Revolution]], John Adam Dagyr's introduction of assembly line production<ref name=krt/><ref name=mulligan>{{citation |last=Mulligan |first=William H. Jr. |contribution-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2120894 |contribution=Mechanization and Work in the American Shoe Industry: Lynn, Massachusetts, 1852{{ndash}}1883 |title=The Journal of Economic History |date=March 1981 |volume=41 |number=1 |pages=59–63 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=[[Cambridge, England|Cambridge]] |jstor=2120894 }}.</ref> and tight quality control<ref>{{citation |contribution-url=https://www.livingplaces.com/MA/Essex_County/Lynn_City.html |contribution=Lynn |title=Massachusetts: A Guide to Its Places and People |date=1937 |series=American Guide Series |author=Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration for Massachusetts |publisher=Riverside Press |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] }}.</ref> to the "ten-footer" workshops<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=https://www.computerimages.com/musings/massachusetts-shoe-industry.html |contribution=How Massachusetts Became Shoemaker to the Country |url=https://www.computerimages.com |title=''Official site'' |publisher=Computer Images |location=Boston |date=2016 |ref=CITEREFComputer_Images2016 }}.</ref> in [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], US, around 1760 is sometimes credited as the first [[shoe factory]].<ref name=eb/> However, although mechanized textile mills greatly reduced the price of proper [[sock]]s, each step of the shoemaking process still needed to be done by hand in a slowly optimized [[putting-out system]].<ref name=mulligan/><ref>{{citation |last=Dooley |first=William H. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55474/55474-h/55474-h.htm |title=A Manual of Shoemaking and Leather and Rubber Products |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown, & Co. |date=1912 |page=253 }}</ref> The first mechanized systems{{mdash}}developed by [[Marc Isambard Brunel]] in 1810 to supply boots to the [[British Army]] amid the [[Napoleonic Wars]]{{mdash}}failed commercially as soon as the wars were over because the demobilized soldiers reduced the price of manual labor.<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=126 |contribution=History of Shoemaking in Britain{{mdash}}Napoleonic Wars and the Industrial Revolution |date=9 December 2010 |title=Heart & Sole: Boot and Shoe Making in Staffordshire |publisher=Staffordshire County Museum |location=Shugborough |access-date=1 July 2023 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202130102/http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=126 |url-status=dead }}.</ref> [[John Brooks Nichols|John Nichols]]'s 1850 adaptation of [[Elias Howe|Howe]] and [[Isaac Merritt Singer|Singer]]'s [[sewing machine]]s to handle binding uppers to soles<ref>{{citation |last=Cutter |first=William Richard |author2=Fred A. Gannon |display-authors=1 |contribution=John Brooks Nichols |contribution-url=https://www.fiddlebase.com/biographical-sketches/nichols-john-brooks/ |title=Fiddlebase |url=https://www.fiddlebase.com |date=2021 |publisher= |location= }}.</ref> and the [[Suriname]]se immigrant [[Jan Ernst Matzeliger]]'s 1880 invention of an [[automatic lasting machine]] finally allowed true industrialization, taking the productivity of individual workers from 20 or 50 pairs a day to as many as 700, halving prices,<ref name=mulligan/><ref>{{citation |last=Lienhard |first=Jan H. |publisher=[[University of Houston]] |location=Houston |contribution=No. 522: Jan Matzeliger |contribution-url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi522.htm |title=Engines of Our Ingenuity |date=2000 }}.</ref> and briefly making Lynn the center of world shoe production.{{sfnp|Computer Images|2016}}<ref>{{citation |last=Herwick |first=Edgar B. III |contribution-url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/post/how-lynn-became-shoe-capitol-world |url=https://www.wgbh.org |contribution=How Lynn Became the Shoe Capital of the World |title=''Official site'' |publisher=WGBH |location=Boston |date=30 May 2014 }}.</ref> As late as 1865, most men in the industry identified in the [[US census|census]] and city directory as general purpose "cordwainers" or "shoemakers"; by 1890, they were almost universally described as "shoe workers" or{{mdash}}more often{{mdash}}by the specific name of their work within the industry: "edgesetter", "heel trimmer", "[[Gordon McKay|McKay machine]] operator".<ref name=mulligan/> Many were replaced by cheaper [[immigration into the United States|immigrants]];<ref name=mulligan/> the Czech [[Tomáš Baťa]] joined these workers at Lynn in 1904 and then returned to [[Bata Corporation|his own factory]] in [[Zlín]], Moravia, mechanizing and rationalizing its production while guiding the [[factory town]] that developed into a [[garden city movement|garden city]]. <gallery class="center"> File:StonehamMA DoucetteTenFooter.jpg | A preserved "ten footer" in [[Stoneham, Massachusetts]] <small>(2013)</small> File:Lynn, Massachusetts, 1849.jpg | [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], in 1849 File:The avant couriers of the coming man-Scene in Sampson's Shoe Manufactory at North Adams, Mass.-Teaching the Chinese the use of the pegging machine LCCN2002736866.tif | American shoemakers demonstrating machinery to visiting [[Qing Empire|Chinese]] in 1870 File:Manufacturing center of Lynn, Mass.(2675939038).jpg | Lynn in 1879 File:Zwikmachine 1885.jpg | [[Jan Ernst Matzeliger|Matzeliger]]'s [[automatic lasting machine|automated laster]] File:Shoe factories, Lynn, Mass.- 2 women working in shoe factory LCCN2006681286.tif | Women creating uppers in Lynn in 1895 File:Bata 1922 advertising poster.jpg | [[Bata Corporation|Bata]] advertisement for their half-price response to the [[Depression of 1920–1921|1920 Depression]] </gallery> By the early 20th century, [[vulcanization]] had led to the development of [[Plimsoll shoes|plimsolls]], [[deck shoes]], [[rubber boot]]s, [[galosh]]es, and [[wader (footwear)|waders]]. The prevalence of [[trench foot]] in [[World War I]] focused attention on the importance of providing of adequate footwear in following conflicts, although this was not always possible. Millions of Chinese soldiers in both the [[National Revolutionary Army|NRA]] and [[People's Liberation Army|PLA]] were obliged to use [[cailu|straw and rope shoes]] to allow easy replacement on long marches during both [[Second Sino-Japanese War|World War II]] and the [[Chinese Civil War|following civil war]],<ref>{{citation |last=Beevor |first=Antony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u0TbaPWrOO4C |title=The Second World War |publisher=Hachette |location=London |date=2012 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=u0TbaPWrOO4C&pg=PT91 91] |isbn=9780297860709 }}.</ref> contributing to [[Casualty (person)|disease]] and [[desertion]], particularly among the [[Kuomintang|Nationalists]].<ref>{{citation |last=Nolan |first=Cathal J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZJxDwAAQBAJ |title=The Concise Encyclopedia of World War II |volume=I |publisher=Greenwood |location=[[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]] |contribution=Guomintang |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZJxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA488 |date=2010 |isbn=9780313365270 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Camp |first=LaVonne Telshaw |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTAv213uxj4C |title=Lingering Fever: A World War II Nurse's Memoir |publisher=McFarland & Co. |location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina|Jefferson]] |date=1997 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zTAv213uxj4C&pg=PA41 41] |isbn=9780786403226 }}.</ref> Following the world wars, the increasing importance of [[professional sports]] greatly popularized a variety of [[athletic shoes]], particularly [[sneakers]]. Major brands such as [[Converse (brand)|Converse]], [[Adidas]], and [[Nike (brand)|Nike]] used [[celebrity endorsement]]s from [[Chuck Taylor All-Stars|Chuck Taylor]], [[Air Jordan|Michael Jordan]], [[Adidas Nemeziz|Lionel Messi]], and others to promote their products. [[Fashion house]]s periodically prompted new trends in women's and high-end fashion. In particular, while working for [[Christian Dior]], [[Roger Vivier]] popularized the [[stiletto heel]] in 1954. (Men's [[dress shoes]] have tended to retain 19th-century British looks such as the [[Oxford shoe]] and [[loafers]].) Various [[subculture]]s have employed distinctive footwear as part of their identity, including [[winklepickers]], [[Doc Martens]], and [[skate shoes]]. <gallery class="center"> File:Industries of War - Footwear - MANUFACTURING RUBBER BOOTS Finished Rubber Boots ready for shipment - NARA - 31488470.jpg | [[Rubber boots]] ready for shipment in 1917 File:PLA straw sandal.jpg | People's Liberation Army [[cailu|straw sandals]] at the [[Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution|Museum of the People's Revolution]] <small>(2017)</small> File:Bologna-Raccordo tra canale di Reno e canale delle Moline.jpg | [[sneaker tossing|Tossed]] Chuck Taylor All-Stars in Italy <small>(2018)</small> File:Ballet shoes.jpg | [[Ballet shoe]]s <small>(2013)</small> File:Joma soccer boot.gif | [[Soccer cleats]], known in [[British English|British]] as "football boots" <small>(2018)</small> File:Blake Lively 2016.jpg | [[Stiletto heel]]s at [[Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]] <small>(2016)</small> File:Platform shoes.jpg | [[Platform heel]]s and Japanese [[geta (shoe)|getas]] on the [[London Underground]] <small>(2006)</small> </gallery> The [[international trade]] in footwear was at first chiefly restricted to American exports to Europe and Europe's exports to [[New Imperialism|its various colonial empires]].{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=6}} Assisted by the [[Marshall Plan]] after [[World War II]], Italy became the major shoe exporting country in the 1950s.{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=6}}<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=129 |contribution=History of Shoemaking in Britain{{mdash}}The 20th Century |date=9 December 2010 |title=Heart & Sole: Boot and Shoe Making in Staffordshire |publisher=Staffordshire County Museum |location=Shugborough |access-date=3 July 2023 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219012341/http://staffscc.net/shoes1/?p=129 |url-status=bot: unknown }}.</ref> It was joined in the 1960s by [[Japan]], which [[offshoring|offshored]] its production to [[Taiwan]], [[South Korea]], and [[Hong Kong]] as its own labor became too expensive.{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=6}} In their turn, the Hong Kong manufacturers began moving production to [[Guangdong]] in [[mainland China]] almost immediately after the establishment of [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s [[Opening Up Policy]] in the early 1980s.{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=6}} Competitors were soon forced to follow suit, including removal of Taiwanese and Korean{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=11}} production to [[Fujian]] and to [[Wenzhou]] in southern [[Zhejiang]].{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=6}} Similarly, amid [[Perestroika]] and the [[Fall of Communism]], Italy dismantled its domestic industry, outsourcing its work to [[Eastern Europe]], which proved less dependable than the Chinese and further eroded their market share.{{sfnp|Clothier & al.|2005|p=30}} Beginning around the year 2000, China has constantly produced more than half of the world's shoes.<ref>{{citation |last=Clothier |first=Anthony |author2=Frerenc Schme/l |author3=Song Wenxian |author4=Su Chaoying |display-authors=1 |url=https://leatherpanel.org/sites/default/files/publications-attachments/chineese_footwear_industry.pdf |title=The Chinese Footwear Industry and Its Influence upon the World Trade |date=21 September 2005 |ref=CITEREFClothier_&_al.2005 |publisher=United National Industrial Development Organization |location=[[Leo/n, Mexico|Leo/n]] |series=15th Meeting of the UNIDO Leather Panel |page=5 }}.</ref> As of 2021, footwear is the 30th most traded category internationally;<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |contribution-url=https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/footwear-1264?redirect=true |contribution=Footwear |url=https://oec.world |title=Observatory of Economic Complexity |publisher=Datawheel |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] |date=2023 |ref=CITEREFOEC2023 }}.</ref> but, while China produces well over 60% of exported footwear,<ref>{{citation |last=Smith |first=P. |contribution-url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/227296/leading-10-global-footwear-exporters-by-country/ |contribution=Leading 10 Global Footwear Exporters 2021 by Country |url=https://www.statista.com |title=''Official site'' |publisher=Statista |location=New York |date=2022 }}.</ref> it currently earns less than 36% of the value of the total trade{{sfnp|OEC|2023}} owing to the continuing importance of American, German, and other brands in the North American and European markets. <gallery class="center"> File:Shoe Factory (USIS pix) - DPLA - 5a4ec2008dc0daf0cd5fbc95bfe66a5e.jpg | [[Assembly line]] in a French [[shoe factory]] <small>(1948)</small> File:صانع احذية.jpg | A [[cobbler (job)|cobbler]] in [[Cairo]], Egypt <small>(2015)</small> File:Werk Fridingen.jpg | A shoe factory in [[Fridingen]], Germany <small>(2016)</small> File:PEB - Nike Shoe Factory.png | [[Nike (brand)|Nike]] factory in [[Vietnam]] <small>(2016)</small> File:Shoes and Fruit (p365 20).jpg | Shoes and fruit at a [[Hong Kong]] market <small>(2007)</small> File:Kangnai stall at BHG Shangdi (20170113192444).jpg | Shoe store in a [[Beijing]] mall <small>(2017)</small> </gallery>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Footwear
(section)
Add topic