About Converse Sneakers

Converse has created sports footwear for nearly one hundred years. First created as a basketball shoe, Converse sneakers have become a staple in the fashion industry. Converse estimates that sixty percent of Americans have owned a pair of these shoes in their lifetime.

History of the Company

The Converse company did not start out as an athletic shoe manufacturer. It started as a rubber company called Converse Rubber Corporation. The corporation was founded by Marquis Converse in Massachusetts in 1908 and produced rubberized footwear like work boots and rain boots. This production was only performed on a seasonal basis, when the need for such footwear arose. Within a decade, Converse sought to expand its production and workforce and implemented athletic shoes into its footwear repertoire.

The first Converse Shoes

In 1910, Converse was producing 4,000 shoes per day. In 1912, Converse began producing a specially designed shoe for tennis. Basketball was also a popular sport in the 1910s, but no one had yet invented a shoe that was specifically designed for basketball. Converse implemented a prototype and eventually produced the first ever basketball shoe in 1917. The first Converse shoe was not the typical white canvas ones most are familiar with today. They were brown and had black trim. Some of them were made of leather, but all carried the trademark star insignia on the upper part of the shoe. The shoes did not change much over the next few years, except for the color, which was eventually changed to all black.

Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor was a basketball player with the Akron Firestones. He tried a pair of Converse All Stars for his game for the first time in 1917 and was convinced they were the best performance shoes for basketball that would ever be manufactured. He signed on to the Converse marketing team in 1921 and promoted the shoe across the country for the next several years. In 1932, Chuck Taylor's signature was added to the ankle patch with the trademark Converse star and the most famous style of Converse shoe was born - the "Chuck Taylor" All Star.

White All Stars with Red and Blue Trim

This is the most popular and most famous Converse shoe to date. It was first introduced in the 1936 Olympics, hence the patriotic red, white, and blue theme. The US Olympic basketball team defeated Canadian basketball team that year while wearing this style of shoe, which some will credit for the win. On the flip side of that victory, Canadian Jack Purcell also lent his name to a specially designed badminton shoe in 1935, which he credits with his five consecutive championship wins.

Converse in the 1950s

In 1949, Converse introduced a black and white version of the All Star, which was an immediate hit. This version of the All Star became the official shoe of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the early 1950s. In 1957, the low topped style hit the market and was very popular with the non-sporting sector of society as a less-athletic version of their favorite sneaker. This is also the same time that Converse shoes became a fashion staple. Movie stars, such as James Dean, and regular people alike enjoyed the look of a leather jacket and jeans paired with a pair of Converse sneakers.

Converse shoes from the 1960s to the 1980s

Converse continued to crank out new colors and styles of their popular shoes. The increasing demand to meet the different fashion and sporting needs of the buyers prompted the experimentation. However, the novelty soon wore off of the new products, as most people reverted back to the Old School original versions of the shoes they had grown up with.

Converse into the New Millineum

Beginning in the late 1980s, Converse experienced a rapid decline in the sales and popularity of their shoes. This decline coincided with the invent of the Nike Corporation. Converse continued to struggle to keep up with the bigger and more popular company, but failed. In 2001, Converse filed for bankruptcy protection. Their rival, the Nike Corporation, bought out the Converse brand in 2003 for $300 million dollars. Today, Converse still remains popular in the rock and roll, skateboarding, and younger sectors of society. Even though the company has changed, the nostalgia provided by the shoes has remained unchanged.

Resources

• All Star History