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GIFT  OF 


,• 


. 


Shoe  Industry 


By 
FREDERICK  J.  ALLEN.  A.M. 

Investigator  of  Occupations  for  The  Vocation  Bureau  of  Boston 

and  Author  of 

"Business  Employments,"  "The  Law  as  a  Vocation," 
and  Other  Vocational  Studies 


PRICE,  $1.25 


PUBLISHED  BY 

Tht  Vocation  Bureau  of  Boston 
6  BEACON  STREET 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
THE  VOCATION  BUREAU  OP  BOSTON 


THE  CHAPPLE  PRESS  LOSTON 


PREFACE 

THIS  book  is  the  story  of  a  great  and  highly 
organized  industry.  It  is  the  result  of  two 
years'  careful  investigation  and  extensive 
supplementary  study.  Representative  factories, 
manufacturing  all  varieties  of  boots  and  shoes,  have 
been  studied  in  every  department  and  operation, 
through  periods  varying  from  one  to  six  weeks  in 
each.  Information  has  been  secured  from  manu- 
facturers, officials,  department  heads,  and  opera- 
tives, in  every  grade  of  service.  The  work  of  the 
factory  and  the  processes  of  shoemaking  are 
described  as  actually  observed  by  the  investigator. 

Thus  the  book  has  been  built  up  out  of  the  in- 
dustry itself.  All  available  published  material, 
both  domestic  and  foreign,  has  been  examined,  but 
this  volume  is  unique  as  an  original  study.  More- 
over the  manuscript  has  been  read  critically  and 
approved  by  many  authorities  in  the  industry,  both 
by  those  who  have  given  information  and  by  others, 
and  by  economists  and  labor  union  officials. 

The  conditions  and  methods  presented  are  those 
that  are  general  and  prevailing  in  this  country. 

The  great  natural  divisions  of  the  industry  are 
treated  in  their  logical  order,  from  its  historical 
setting  and  the  development  of  shoe  machinery  to 
the  distribution  of  the  finished  product  of  the  factory. 
Employment  conditions  are  treated  at  length  and 
valuable  supplementary  material  is  added.  Im- 

(3) 

333544 


!  •    v 


4  ;\  ,r.:  PREFACE 

portant  statistical  material  is  given  throughout  the 
chapters.  An  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in 
shoemaking  is  made  the  final  chapter,  for  consul- 
tation by  the  reader  as  may  be  found  necessary. 
Numerous  charts,  diagrams,  and  illustrations  are 
included. 

The  book  graphically  presents  extensive  inside 
information  gathered  for  permanent  use. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  study  to  give  the  nature, 
history,  magnitude,  operations  and  processes,  em- 
ployment opportunities  and  demands,  and  the 
future  of  the  industry,  both  for  those  already  in 
it  and  for  other  persons,  and  their  advisers  and 
teachers,  who  may  be  considering  employment  in 
this  field  of  manufacture. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  and  heartily  made  to  the 
hundreds  of  persons  in  the  industry  who  have 
freely  given  information  and  suggestion  in  the 
course  of  this  study.  Grateful  acknowledgment  is 
made  for  special  help,  in  most  cases  for  a  critical 
reading  of  the  manuscript  or  proof  sheets  of  the  book, 
to  the  following  persons  and  companies  whose  names 
are  here  used  by  permission: 

MR.  THOMAS  F.  ANDERSON,  Secretary  of  the  New 
England  Shoe  and  Leather  Association. 

MR.  ELDON  B.  KEITH,  Treasurer,  MR.  CHARLES 
E.  MOORE,  General  Superintendent,  and  MR. 
HARRY  DUNBAR,  Leather  Buyer,  of  the  George 
E.  Keith  Company. 

MR.  PRESCOTT  I.  HERSEY,  Vice-President  of  the 
Regal  Shoe  Company. 

MR.  CHARLES  M.  LAWRENCE,  Assistant  Manager 
and  Superintendent  of  the  Thomas  G.  Plant  Com- 
pany. 


PREFACE  5 

MR.  WINFIELD  L.  SHAW,  Labor  Supervisor  of  the 
William  H.  McElwain  Company. 

MR.  CHARLES  T.  CAHILL,  Advertising  Manager  of 
the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company. 

MR.  FRANK  W.  SELDEN,  Superintendent  of  the 
Hervey  E.  Gup  till  Company. 

Rice  and  Hutchins,  Incorporated. 

The  Allen-Foster- Willett  Company. 

The  Thompson-Crooker  Shoe  Company. 

MR.  ARTHUR  D.  ANDERSON,  Editor  of  the  Boot  and 
Shoe  Recorder. 

MR.  FREDERICK  E.  ATWOOD,  Editor  of  American 
Shoemaking. 

MR.  FRED  A.  GANNON,  Editor  of  the  Lynn  Daily 
Item  and  author  of  writings  upon  the  shoe  in- 
dustry. 

PROF.  CARROLL  W.  DOTEN,  Department  of  Eco- 
nomics, Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

The  Vocation  Bureau. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Page 

PREFACE 3 

CHAPTER  I 
HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Shoes 25 

A  Recent  Discovery  of  Ancient  Shoes 26 

The  London  Cordwainers'  Company 26 

The  Moccasin  of  the  American  Indian 27 

The  First  American  Shoemakers 27 

An  Indenture  Paper 28 

The  Value  of  Shoes  in  Colonial  Times 32 

Ancient  Shoe  Laws 33 

The  Itinerant  Shoemaker 33 

The  First  Shoe  Shops 

A  Shop  of  a  Century  Ago 3 

Ebenezer  Breed  and  the  Shoe  Tariff 

The  First  Shoe  Factories 39 

A  Division  of  Labor  in  the  Factory:  "Teams"  and  "Gangs"  40 

A  Quotation  on  the  "Contract  System" 41 

The  Attitude  of  Early  Shoemakers  toward  the  Shoe  Factory  42 

Organization  in  the  Factory  System 43 

Specialists 43 

The  Magnitude  of  the  Industry  Today 

Boots  and  Shoes,  Including  Cut  Stock  and  Findings — Value 

for  Leading  States:  1909  and  1899 47 

Table  I — General  Statistics.  Summary  for  the  Three 
Branches  of  the  Shoe  Industry  for  the  United  States. 

Census  of  1909 48 

Table  II— Boot  and  Shoe  Cut  Stock 49 

Table  III— Findings 50 

Table  IV — Exports  of  Boots  and  Shoes  from  the  United 
States  during  the  Fiscal  Year  Ending  June  30,  1914,  as 
Reported  by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Com- 
merce, Department  of  Commerce 51 

(7) 


8  Table  of  Contents 

Page 
^|     CHAPTER    II 

SHOE  MACHINERY 

The  Invention  of  Shoe  Machinery 55 

Three  Stages  of  Development 56 

The  Wooden  Peg:  1815 56 

The  Rolling  Machine:  1845 57 

The  Howe  Sewing  Machine:  1852 58 

The  McKay  Sewing  Machine:  1858 58 

The  Goodyear  Welt  Machine:  1862-1875 59 

Edge-Trimming  and  Heel-Trimming  Machines:  1877 59 

The  Lasting  Machine:  1883 60 

The  Pulling-Over  Machine 61 

Joseph  L.  Joyce 61 

Power  in  Shoe  Manufacture 61 

The  Development  of  the  Shoe  Shank 62 

Operating  a  Complicated  Machine 63 

The  Leasing  System 63 

The  Care  of  Machinery 64 

The  Standardization  of  Machinery 67 

CHAPTER  III 
LAST-MAKING 

Definition 71 

The  Shaping  of  the  Last 71 

Last  Material 72 

Hand  Last-Making 72 

Modern  Last-Making 73 

The  Model  Last 74 

The  Use  of  the  Last-Lathe 74 

Devices  for  Reducing  Last  in  Use 75 

The  Storage  of  Lasts 75 

CHAPTER  IV 
PATTERN-MAKING 

Definition 79 

The  Pattern  Designer 79 

The  Pattern  Model 80 

The  Trial  Shoe 81 

The  Number  of  Patterns  to  a  Shoe 81 

Pattern  Material 81 

Making  Patterns 82 

The  Standardization  of  Lasts  and  Patterns  . .  82 


Table  of  Contents  9 

Pag* 
PATTERN-MAKING — Continued 

The  Storage  of  Patterns 83 

Positions  in  the  Pattern-Making  Department 83 

The  Pattern  Maker 83 

The  Price  of  Patterns 83 

CHAPTER  V 
LEATHER 

Its  Nature 89 

Tanning 89 

American  Leather  Manufacturing 90 

The  Increasing  Shortage  of  Leather 91 

Leather  Substitutes 92 

The  Tannery  Divisions  of  Hides  and  Skins 93 

A  Side  of  Leather. 94 

Divisions  of  Leather  in  Shoe  Manufacture 94 

The  Varieties  of  Upper  Leather 94 

Kid 96 

Calfskin 97 

Side  Leather 98 

Sheepskin 99 

Coltskin 99 

Sole  Leather 99 

The  Cut-Sole  Industry 101 

Leather,  Tanned,  Curried,  and  Finished — Value  of  Pro- 
ducts for  Leading  States:  1909  and  1899 103 

Table  V — Imports  of  Hides  and  Skins  (Except  Fur  Skins) 
into  the  United  States  During  the  Fiscal  Years  Ending 
June  30,  1913  and  1914,  by  Principal  Countries,  as  Re- 
ported by  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce  104 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  SHOE  MANUFACTURE 

The  Business  Departments 109 

The  Executive  Officers 110 

The  General  Offices 110 

The  Factory  Offices 110 

Chart  of  the  Business  Departments  of  Shoe  Manufacture  111 

Factory  Service  and  Office  Service 112 

The  Factory  Departments 112 

The  Modern  Shoe  Factory 113 

Chart  of  the  Factory  Departments 114 


10  Table  of  Contents 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  SHOE  MANUFACTURE — Continued 

Chart  of  Factory  Management 115 

The  Typical  Factory 116 

CHAPTER  VII 
METHODS  IN  SHOE  MANUFACTURE 

The  Chief  Methods 123 

Illustrations  of  Methods  Now  in  Use 124 

Cross  Section  of  a  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe 125 

Cross  Section  of  a  McKay  Sewed  Shoe 126 

Cross  Section  of  a  Standard  Screwed  Shoe 127 

Cross  Section  of  a  Pegged  Shoe 128 

The  Turned  Shoe 129 

The  Lace  Shoe 129 

The  Different  Stages  in  Goodyear  Welt  Manufacture 130 

Table   VI — Census  Statistics    Showing    the    Number   of 
Boots,  Shoes,  and  Slippers  Made  in  the  United  States 

for  the  Year  1909  by  Each  Method  of  Manufacture. . .  132 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 

The  Importance  of  Detail  in  Shoe  Manufacture 135 

Action  Upon  Receipt  of  an  Order 136 

Chart  of  the  Upper  Leather  Department 137 

The  Day  Sheet 138 

A  Typical  Shoe  Tag 139 

A  Typical  Shoe  Factory  Day  Sheet 140 

The  Upper  Leather  Room 141 

Measuring  Upper  Leather 141 

The  Leather  Sorter 142 

The  Lining  Sorter 143 

The  Positions  in  a  Sorting  Department 143 

The  Lining  and  Cloth-Cutting  Section 144 

Positions  in  the  Lining  and  Cloth  Cutting  Section 145 

The  Cutting  Room 145 

The  Hand  Cutter 145 

The  Clicking  Machine 148 

The  Counting,  Marking,  and  Skiving  Department 152 

Skiving 152 

Nicking 153 

Dicing  Out  Straps 153 


Table  of  Contents  11 

Pag* 

THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT — Continued 

Positions  in  the  Skiving  Department 153 

Assembling  Department 153 

Positions  in  the  Assembling  Department 154 

Time  and  Pay  Statistics  in  the  Cutting  Department 154 

Table  VII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  1914— Cutting  Department 156 

Table  VIII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Time  Hours 

per  Week,  by  States,  1914— Cutting  Department 158 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT 

Definition 163 

Variations  in  Stitching  Room  Processes 163 

The  Number  and  Divisions  of  the  Parts  to  be  Stitched . .  164 

The  Divisions  of  This  Department 164 

The  Lining  Department : 164 

Chart  of  the  Stitching  Department 165 

Positions  in  the  Lining  Department 166 

The  Tip  Department 166 

Perforating 167 

Positions  in  the  Tip  Department 168 

The  Closing  and  Staying  Department 169 

Positions  in  the  Closing  and  Staying  Department 170 

The  Foxing  Department .' 170 

Positions  in  the  Foxing  Department 171 

The  Top  Stitching  Department 172 

Positions  in  the  Top  Stitching  Department 173 

The  Button  Hole  Department 173 

Positions  in  the  Button  Hole  Department 174 

The  Vamping  Department 175 

Positions  in  the  Vamping  Department 175 

The  Toe  Closing  Department 175 

Positions  in  the  Toe  Closing  Department 176 

Operating  Stitching  Machines 176 

Table  IX — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  1914 — Fitting  or  Stitching  Department 17S 


12  Table  of  Contents 

Page 

THE  STITCHING  DEPABTMENT — Continued 
Table  X — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average  Full- 
Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Time  Hours  per 

Week,  by  States,  1914— Fitting  or  Stitching  Department  182 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 

Its  Nature 187 

The  Preparation  of  Sole  Leather  Parts 187 

The  Division  of  Bottom  Stock  Fitting 188 

The  McKay  Insole  Department 188 

Positions  in  the  McKay  Insole  Department 189 

The  Welt  Insole  Department 189 

Channeling 189 

Slashing 190 

Wetting 190 

Randing 190 

Reinforced  Insoles 190 

The  Canvas  Reinforcement 191 

Positions  in  the  Welt  Insole  Department 191 

The  Outer  Sole  Department 192 

Positions  in  the  Outer  Sole  Department 192 

The  Counter  Department 193 

The  Toe  Box  Department 193 

The  Heel  Department 194 

The  Processes  of  Making  Heels 194 

Positions  in  Heel  Making 195 

Employees  in  the  Sole  Leather  Department 196 

Table  XI — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
&  Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
&  Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  1914— Sole  Leather  Department 197 

Table  XII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Time  Hours 

per  Week,  by  States,  1914 — Sole  Leather  Department. .  198 

CHAPTER  XI 
THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT 

Its  Nature 201 

The  Lasting  Department 202 

The  Pulling-Over  Machine 202 

Toe  and  Heel  Wiping 202 


Table  of  Contents  13 

Page 

THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT — Continued 

The  Upper  Trimming  Machine 205 

Positions  in  the  Lasting  Department 205 

The  Welt  Bottoming  Department 205 

Welting 206 

Welt  Beating 206 

Sole  Laying 206 

Rough  Rounding 206 

Heel  Seat  Nailing 209 

Sole  Sewing 209 

Channel  Laying 210 

Leveling 210 

Welt  Finishing 210 

Other  Finishing  Processes 210 

Positions  in  the  Welt  Bottoming  Department 213 

The  McKay  Bottoming  Department 217 

Processes  Connected  with  the  McKay  Method 217 

Positions  in  the  McKay  Bottoming  Department 218 

The  Heeling  Department 221 

Blind  Nailing 221 

Slugging 221 

Heel  Trimming 221 

Positions  in  the  Heeling  Department 222 

The  Turned  Shoe  Department 222 

Lasting  the  Turned^Shoe 222 

Positions  in  the  Turned  Shoe  Department 225 

The  Standard  Screw,  Pegged,  and  Nailed  Departments  . .  226 

Work  in  the  Making  Department 229 

Table  XIII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  191^— Lasting  Department 230 

Table  XIV — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Time  Hours 

per  Week,  by  States,  1914 — Lasting  Department 234 

Table  XV — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  1914 — Bottoming  Department 236 

Table  XVI — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Tune  Hours 

per  Week,  by  States,  1914—Bottoming  Department 240 


14  Table  of  Contents 

Page 

CHAPTER  XII 

FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  AND  SHIPPING 

Additional  Departments 247 

Finishing 248 

The  Tip  Repairing  Department 248 

The  Treeing  Department 249 

Embossing 250 

Ironing 260 

Inspecting 251 

Positions  in  the  Treeing  Department 251 

ThePacking  Department 251 

Positions  in  the  Packing  Room 252 

The  Shipping  Department 252 

Positions  in  the  Shipping  Department 253 

Table  XVII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  and  Classified 
Full-Time  Hours  per  Week  in  the  United  States,  by  Years, 

1910  to  1914— Finishing  Department 254 

Table  XVIII — Average  Rates  of  Wages  per  Hour,  Average 
Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and  Average  Full-Time  Hours 
per  Week,  by  States,  1914 — Finishing  Department — 

Other  Employees,  all  Departments 256 


CHAPTER  XIII 

EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  AND  SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL 

The  Sex  Division  of  Employees 261 

The  Divisions  of  Employees  Among  Departments 262 

Sfcoe  ftfoniifftfit.iirft  Highly  Spp.p.mlizfto' T 263 

oeasons. •  •, i  *  .*  n r ...........  goo^ 

Shoemaking  a  Trade 364 

Entering  Upon  Work  m  a  Shoe  Factory 264 

Promotion „.,..  i  ,..,.,.„ 2SL 

Securing  Skilled  Labor 265 

Schools  and  Courses  for  Shoemaking  — 266 

Quotation  from  a  Report  upon   Industrial  Education  in 

Shoe  Manufacture 267 

The  Shoe  Superintendent 271 

The  Shoe  Foreman 272 

The  Quality  Man  and  the  Quantity  Man 273 

The  Efficiency  Engineer 274 


Table  of  Contents  15 

Page 

EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  AND  SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL 
— Continued 

The  Monotony  of  Shoemaking 275 

Quotation  upon  Efforts    in    Some    Factories    to   Lessen 

Monotony 276 

Social  Service  in  the  Shoe  Factory 277 

Quotation  from  a  Government  Study  of  Social  Service  . .     277 
General  Sanitary  Conditions  Observed  in  Boot  and  Shoe 

Factories 280 

Piece  and  Time  Payment 283 

The  Best  Paying  Processes 283 

Wages  and  Variation  in  Employment 284 

Table  XIX— Average  Full-Time  Hours  per  Week,  Rates 

of  Wages  per  Hour,  and  Full-Time  Weekly  Earnings,  and 

Per  Cent,  of  Employees  Earning  each  Classified  Rate  of 

Wages  per  Hour  in  the  Principal  Occupations  in  1914. .     286 

Variation  in  Number  of  Employees,  Total  Pay  Rolls,  and 

Bi-weekly  Earnings  per  Employee 288 

Sex  and  Age  Distribution  of  Wage  Earners  in  the  United 

States  by  Leading  Industries:  1909 289 

Table  XX — Sex  and  Age  Distribution  by  Leading  Indus- 
tries :  1909 290 

The  Shoe  Repairing  Industry 292 

Earnings  in  the  Repair  Shop 295 

The  Shoe  Factory  Chemist 295 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AN  EXPLANATION  OP  THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 

The  Need  of  Knowing  These  Terms 299 

Acid-tanned 300 

Adjustment 300 

Aloft 300 

Anatomic 300 

Arch 300 

Assembling 300 

Backstay 300 

Back  Strap 300 

Bal 300 

Ball 301 

Beading 301 


16  Table  of  Contents 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TEEMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 
— Continued 

Beating  Out 301 

Bellows  Tongue 301 

Belting 301 

Bench-Made 301 

Bend 301 

Blackball 301 

Blacking  the  Edge 301 

Blind  Eyelet 301 

Blocking 302 

Blucher 302 

Boot 302 

Bottom  Filling ' 302 

Bottom  Finishing 302 

Bottom  Scouring 302 

Box 302 

Brogan 302 

Broken  Arch 302 

Brushing 302 

Buckram 303 

Buffing 303 

Button 303 

Button  Fly 303 

Cabaretta 303 

Calfskin 303 

Calking  Machine 303 

Carton ...... 303 

Case 304 

Channel 304 

Channel  Screwed 304 

Channel  Stitched 304 

Channel  Turning 304 

Chrome-tanned 304 

Clicking 304 

Closing  On 304 

Collar 304 

Colonial 304 

Combination  Last 304 

Congress  Gaiter 305 

Copper  Toe 305 

Counter..,  305 


Table  of  [Contents  17 

Pa8e 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 
— Continued 

Cravenette 305 

Creasing  Vamp 305 

Crimping 305 

Cushion  Sole 305 

Custom-Made 305 

Cut-off  Vamp 305 

Dicing  or  Dinking 305 

Dom  Pedro 305 

Dressing 305 

Edge  Setting 305 

Edge  Trimming 306 

Embossing 306 

Eyelet 306 

Fabric 306 

Facing 306 

Fair  Stitch 306 

Filler 306 

Findings 306 

Finish 306 

Fitting 306 

Fitting  Room 307 

Form 307 

Foxing 307 

French  Size  Marking 307 

Gaiter 307 

Gem  Insoles 307 

Golf  Shoe 307 

Goodyear  Welt 307 

Gore 307 

Grading 307 

Half-Sole 307 

Heel 307 

Heel  Scouring 308 

Heel  Seat 308 

Heel  Shaving 308 

Hemlock  Tanned 308 

Inseam  Trimming 308 

Insole 309 

Inspecting 309 

Ironing  Uppers 309 

*2 


18  Table  of  Contents 

Page 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 
— Continued 

Lace ; 309 

Lace  Stay 309 

Lap  Stone 309 

Last 309 

Lasting 309 

Leveling 309 

Lift 309 

Lining 309 

Low-cut 309 

McKay  Sewed 309 

Measurement 310 

Moulding 310 

Naumkeaging 310 

Oak-Tanned 310 

Oxford 310 

Pasted  Counter 310 

Pattern 310 

Pegging : 310 

Perforating 310 

Polish 310 

Pressing 310 

Pulling  Lasts 310 

Pulling  Over 311 

Pump 311 

Quarter 311 

Rand 311 

Relasting 311 

Repairing 311 

Rolling 311 

Rough  Rounding 311 

Royalties 311 

Rubber  Cement 311 

Rubber  Shoes 311 

Sample 312 

Sandal 312 

Screw  Fastened 312 

Shank , 312 

Shank  Burnishing 312 

Shanking  Out 312 


Table  of  Contents  19 

Page 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 
— Continued 

Size 312 

Skiving 312 

Slipper '. 313 

Slugging 313 

Sneaker 313 

Sock  Lining 313 

Soft  Tips 313 

Soles  and  Sole  Leather 313 

Sole  Laying 313 

Sorting 313 

Split 313 

Spring 313 

Stamping 313 

Stay 313 

Stitch  Separating 313 

Stitched  Aloft 313 

Stock  Keeping 314 

Stripping 314 

Style 314 

Tan 314 

Tanning 314 

Tap 314 

Tempering 314 

Tip 314 

Tongue 314 

Top 314 

Top  Facing 314 

Top  Lift 314 

Top  Stitching 314 

Treeing 315 

Trimming  Cutting 315 

Turned  Shoe 315 

Turnover 315 

Upper 315 

Vamp 315 

Vamping 315 

Viscolizing 315 

Welt 315 

Welt  Beating 315 


20  Table  of  Contents 

Pagt 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKINQ 
—Continued 

Welting 316 

Wheeling 316 

Width 316 

SHOE  AND  LEATHER  BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 

SHOE  AND  LEATHER  JOURNALS 319 

ALPHABETICAL  INDEX  . .  320-3 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

1.  Frontispiece 

Interior  of  a  Shoe  Shop  in  the  Civil  War  Period. 
A  Modern  Interior. 

2.  An  Old  Time  Shoemaker 29 

3.  An  Old  Time  Shoe  Shop  Placed  beside  a  Modern  Factory  37 

4.  Facsimiles  of  Early  Royalty  Stamps 67 

5.  A  Side  of  Leather  Divided  as  to  Quality 95 

6.  A  Typical  Modem  Shoe.  Factory,  Manchester,  N.  H. .  117 

7.  Cross  Section  of  a  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe 125 

8.  Cross  Section  of  a  McKay  Sewed  Shoe 126 

9.  Cross  Section  of  a  Standard  Screwed  Shoe 127 

10.  Cross  Section  of  a  Pegged  Shoe 128 

11.  A  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe  in  the  Different  Stages  of  Manu- 

facture    131 

12.  A  Typical  Shoe  Tag 139 

13.  A  Typical  Shoe  Factory  Day  Sheet    140 

14.  A  Skin  Showing  how  Patterns  Are  Placed  in  Cutting.  147 

15.  Operating  the  Clicking  Machine 149 

16.  Operating  the  Rex  Pulling  Over  Machine   203 

17.  Operating  the  U.  S.  M.  Co.  Lasting  Machine 207 

18.  Operating  the  Goodyear  Welt  Sewing  Machine 211 

19.  Operating  the  Goodyear  Rough  Rounding  Machine  . .  215 

20.  Operating  the  Goodyear  Stitching  Machine 219 

21.  Operating  the  Sole  Leveling  Machine 223 

22.  Operating  the  Heeling  Machine    227 


91) 


THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

CHAPTER  I 
HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


23 


CHAPTER  I 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Shoes.  The  sandal  was 
the  first  known  form  of  footwear.  It  was  the  uni- 
versal type  among  all  early  peoples,  as  It  is  now  in 
all  warm  countries.  Pictures  of  ancient  Egyptian 
sandal  makers  of  1495  B.  C.  have  been  found  in 
Thebes,  showing  methods  something  like  those  of 
the  modern  hand  shoemaker  who  sat  upon  a  low 
bench  or  form  and  held  his  work  upon  his  knees, 
earliest  known  form  of  footwear  varied  from  a 
strip  of  leather  fastened  underneath  as  a  protection 
from  the  ground  to  coverings  ornamented  with  gems 
and  gold.  Sandals  of  papyrus  and  of  leather  were 
in  quite  general  use  in  ancient  times.  The  Teutonic 
tribes  of  the  north  of  Europe  wore  a  leather  protec- 
tion upon  the  leg  below  the  knee.  The  Romans 
adapted  this  custom  by  attaching  the  leg  covering 
to  the  sandal,  at  first  leaving  the  toe  open  and  later 
closing  it,  thus  making  a  complete  boot.  Such  a 
boot  or  shoe  was  worn  throughout  the  Middle  Ages. 
In  this  period  the  shoe  became  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  conspicuous  articles  of  dress,  and  its 
length  varied  with  the  social  or  political  standing 
of  the  wearer.  Thus  a  prince  wore  a  shoe  thirty 

(25) 


26  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

inches  long;  a  baron,  one  of  twenty-four  inches; 
a  knight,  one  of  eighteen,  and  so  on. 

A  Recent  Discovery  of  Ancient  Shoes.  "The 
two-thousand-year-old  footwear  exhibit  in  the 
museum  of  the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company, 
which  was  recently  taken  from  excavations  made  on 
the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Antinoe,  established 
A.  D.  130,  impresses  the  observer  with  the  fact  that 
ancient  shoemakers  were  by  no  means  lacking  in 
skill.  In  looking  at  the  exhibit,  one  is  amazed  to 
see  the  modern  effects  of  many  of  the  samples.  The 
shoes  are  splendidly  preserved,  and  some  of  the 
knitted  sandals  have  the  appearance  of  having  been 
given  only  a  few  weeks'  hard  wear.  Attempts  at 
ornamentations  show  rosettes  made  of  leather,  and 
made  up  in  a  variety  of  designs."* 

The  London  Cordwainers'  Company.  In  the 
year  1272  King  Henry  III  granted  an  ordinance 
which  established  the  Cordwainers'  and  Cobelers' 
Company  of  London,  as  it  was  first  known,  and 
gave  it  power  to  supervise  the  trade  generally  "for 
the  relief  and  advancement  of  the  whole  business, 
and  to  the  end  that  all  frauds  and  deceits  may  here- 
after be  avoided."  While  "cordewaner,"  a  word 
originating  from  the  use  of  leather  coming  from 
Cordova  in  Spain,  was  the  name  used  generally  for 
the  shoemaker  of  the  time,  the  term  included  also 
workers  in  the  associated  trades,  such  as  leather 
curriers,  tanners,  purse  and  pouch  makers,  and 

*Prom  American  Shoemaking,  for  November  7,  1914. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  27 

girdlers.     The  "cobeler"  became  later  the  worker 
in  old  leather,  or  merely  the  shoe  repairer. 

The  Cordwainers'  Company  has  become  simply  a 
guild,  but  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  honored  in  the 
city  of  London. 

Marry,  because  you  have  drank  with  the  King, 
And  the  King  hath  so  graciously  pledged  you, 
You  shall  no  more  be  called  shoemakers; 
But  you  and  yours,  to  the  world's  end, 
Shall  be  called  the  trade  of  the  gentle  craft. 

—George-a-Greene,  Old  Play,  1500. 

The  Moccasin  of  the  American  Indian.  The 
American  Indian  made  rawhide  leather  by  simple 
processes,  and  sewed  pieces  of  it  into  a  foot  covering 
called  a  "moccasin."  The  white  men  who  first 
came  brought  shoes  from  the  mother  countries  and 
for  many  years  continued  to  import  them;  but  the 
pioneers  also  wore  the  moccasins  of  the  native, 
sometimes  making  them,  as  well  as  hunting 
shirts  and  leggings,  from  leather  tanned  by  the 
Indian. 

The  First  American  Shoemakers.  The  first  shoe- 
makers in  this  country  settled  in  Massachusetts, 
Thomas  Beard  and  Isaac  Rickerman  coming  to 
Salem  in  1629,  and  Philip  Kertland  to  Lynn  in  1635. 
Tke-advent  of  each  of  these  men  was  heralded  as 
an  important  event  and  special  favors  were  granted 
to  them.  TThey  brought  the  methods  of  a  trade 
still  primitive  though  ancient  in  Europe.  They 
used  the  leather  apron,  lap  stone,  hammer,  wooden 


28  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

pegs,  hand-made  thread,  boot- tree  last,  such  as 
thousands  of  cobblers  use  even  in  this  day  of  ma- 
chinery. John  Adam  Dagyr,  a  Welshman,  came  to 
Lynn  in  1750.  He  was  a  master-craftsman,  and 
Lynn,  which  had  already  become  the  leading  shoe 
town  in  the  Colonies,  advanced  still  more  rapidly 
in  the  industry.  Dagyr  was  the  first  organizer  of 
the  industry  in  this  country.  The  more  ingenious 
colonists  learned  to  make  shoes  by  hand,  often 
serving  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years,  and  the 
trade  gradually  passed  far  beyond  its  European 
stages.  From  these  simple  beginnings  sprang  the 
great  industry  of  American  shoemaking. 

An  Indenture  Paper.  Following  is  a  copy  of  the 
original  agreement  by  which  boys  were  apprenticed 
to  the  shoemaking  trade  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century.  The  original  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Charles  Wellesley  Allen,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

"THIS  INDENTURE,  WITNESSETH, 

"That  John  Goedersoon,  now  aged  fourteen 
years,  eight  months  and  twenty-seven  days, 
by  and  with  the  consent  of  his  step-father,  John 
Wright,  and  his  mother,  Mary  Wright,  hath 
put  himself  and,  by  these  presents,  doth  vol- 
untarily and  of  his  own  free  will  and  accord, 
put  himself  Apprentice  to  Frederick  Seely  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  Cordwainer,  and  after 
the  manner  of  an  Apprentice  to  serve  from  the 
day  of  the  date  hereof  for  and  during,  and  until 
the  full  end  and  term  of  six  years,  three  months 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  31 

and  three  days  next  ensuing  during  all  which 
time  the  said  Apprentice  shall  his  master  faith- 
fully serve,  his  secrets  keep,  his  commands 
everywhere  readily  obey. 

"He  shall  do  no  damage  to  his  said  Master 
nor  see  it  done  by  others,  without  letting  or 
giving  notice  thereof  to  his  said  Master.  He 
shall  not  waste  his  said  Master's  goods  nor  lend 
unlawfully  to  any.  He  shall  not  contract  matri- 
mony within  the  said  term;  at  Cards,  Dice,  or 
any  unlawful  game  he  shall  not  play,  whereby 
his  Master  may  have  damages.  With  his  own 
goods  nor  the  goods  of  others,  without  license 
from  his  said  Master.  .  .  .  He  shall  neither 
buy  nor  sell.  He  shall  not  absent  himself,  day 
or  night,  from  his  said  Master's  service  without 
leave,  nor  haunt  ale-houses,  taverns  or  play- 
houses; but  in  all  things  behave  as  a  faithful 
Apprentice  ought  to  do,  during  the  said  term. 

"And  the  said  Master  shall  use  the  utmost 
of  his  endeavors  to  teach,  or  cause  to  be  taught 
or  instructed,  the  said  Apprentice  in  the  trade, 
or  mystery,  of  a  Cordwainer,  and  procure  and 
provide  for  him  sufficient  meat,  drink,  washing, 
lodging  and  clothing  fit  for  an  Apprentice,  during 
the  said  term  of  service  and  four  quarters  of  night 
schooling  during  the  said  term. 

"And  for  the  true  performance  of  all  and 
singular  the  Covenants  and  Agreements  afore- 
said, the  said  parties  bind  themselves  each  unto 
the  other  firmly  by  these  presents.  IN  WIT- 
NESS WHEREOF  the  said  parties  have  inter- 
changeably set  their  hands  and  seals  hereunto. 
Dated  the  sixth  day  of  August,  in  the  thirty- 
fifth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 


32  THE  SHOE  INDUSTKY 

States  of  America,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
eighteen  hundred  and  eleven. 
"Sealed  and  delivered  in  the 
presence  of  L.  Cowdrey. 

"FREDERICK  SEELY, 

"JOHN   GOEDERSOON, 

"MARIA  WRIGHT, 
"JAHAN  WRIGHT." 

i  The  Value  of  Shoes  in  Colonial  Times.  In  spite 
of  the  abundance  of  wild  and  domestic  animals 
whose  skins  might  serve  as  leather  in  Colonial  times, 
the  prices  of  leather  and  of  rough  hand-made  foot- 
wear were  comparatively  high.  Leather  of  the  finer 
sort  was  still  imported  from  England.  Shoes  were 
the  product  of  quite  laborious  processes  and  of  con- 
siderable skill  and  ingenuity.  They  might  be 
purchased  by  labor  on  the  land  or  in  the  forest,  by 
the  barter  of  other  goods  or  by  hard  English  shillings. 
In  the  law  of  1720-21  Pennsylvania  fixed  the  maxi- 
mum price  at  which  shoes  should  be  sold  at  retail 
in  the  colony,  as  "six  shillings  and  six  pence  for  a 
pair  of  good,  well-made  men's  shoes,"  five  shillings  for 
women's  shoes,  and  proportionately  less  for  children's 
shoes.  This  law  fixed  the  price  of  leather  also/ 

With  many  persons,  especially  children  and  youth, 
shoes  were  little  or  seldom  worn,  appearing  only  on 
special  occasions.  Often  the  Colonial  family  walked 
bare-foot  to  church  on  Sunday  morning,  each  mem- 
ber carrying  his  shoes  in  his  hand  until  near  the 
church  door  when  they  were  put  on  the  feet. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  SB 

Ancient  Shoe  Laws.  The  law  makers  of  the 
Colonies  from  the  beginning  set  regulations  over  the 
activities  and  employments  of  the  people.  The 
Province  of  Pennsylvania  in  1720-21  made  it  a  crime 
for  a  tanner  of  leather  to  become  a  currier  or  a  shoe- 
maker. Section  7  of  the  law  reads  as  follows: 

"And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority 
aforesaid  that  no  person  occupying  or  using 
the  mystery  of  the  shoemaker,  shall  make  or 
cause  to  be  made  any  boots,  shoes,  or  slippers 
for  sale  but  of  leather  well  and  sufficiently 
sewed  with  good  thread  well  twisted  and  made 
and  well  waxed.  Nor  shall  mingle  the  over- 
leather,  that  is  to  say  part  of  the  overleather 
being  of  neats  leather  and  part  of  calves  leather. 
Nor  shall  put  into  any  boots,  shoes,  or  slippers 
for  sale,  any  leather  made  of  sheepskin,  bulls 
hide,  or  horses  hide;  or  into  the  upper  leather 
of  any  shoes  or  slippers,  or  into  the  inner  part 
of  any  boots  (inner  part  of  the  shoe  excepted) 
any  part  of  any  hide  from  which  the  sole  leather 
is  cut,  called  the  neck,  shank,  flange,  powle,  or 
cheek,  upon  paying  a  forfeiture  of  all  such  shoes, 
boots,  and  slippers,  to  be  divided  and  applied 
in  the  manner  directed  by  this  act." 

The  same  Act  provided  that  shoes  sold  above  the 
prices  fixed  by  Provincial  law  or  above  the  rates 
set  from  time  to  time  by  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
justices  of  the  courts,  should  be  subject  to  forfeiture. 

The  Itinerant  Shoemaker.  The  Colonial  shoe- 
maker often  traveled  from  house  to  house  or  village 


34  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

to  village,  as  a  journeyman,  doing  repair  work  and 
making  new  shoes  for  all  the  members  of  a  family. 
The  market  for  home-made  shoes  was  limited  in 
those  days,  and  many  of  the  shoemakers  practiced 
other  arts,  such  as  sharpening  knives,  saws,  and 
axes,  mending  furniture,  repairing  clocks,  cutting 
hair,  and  pulling  teeth.  The  traveling  cobbler > 
with  his  kit  of  simple  tools  and  with  the  rough  and 
heavy  leather  of  the  period,  was  a  welcome  dis- 
penser of  service  and  of  news  and  gossip  among  the 
colonists. 

The  First  Shoe  Shops.  No  change  of  importance 
from  either  home  work  or  itinerant  employment 
occurred  in  shoemaking  in  the  colonies  until  about 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 
more  enterprising  cobblers  began  to  employ  others 
and  work  became  more  and  more  confined  to  local 
shops.  Hand  processes  continued,  with  some  sub- 
division of  labor,  one  man  cutting,  another  sewing, 
another  fastening  on  the  bottom  of  the  boot  with 
pegs,  and  so  on.  Often  in  the  home  or  little  shop 
the  hand  sewing  was  done  by  girls  and  women 
whose  hands  were  more  deft  for  such  a  process. 

Poor  lone  Hannah, 
Sitting  at  the  window,  binding  shoes ! 

Faded,  wrinkled, 

Sitting,  stitching,  in  a  mournful  muse! 
Brighte-eyed  beauty  once  was  she, 
When  the  bloom  was  on  the  tree. 

Spring  and  winter 
Hannah's  at  the  window,  binding  shoes. 

— "Hannah  Binding  Shoes"  Lucy  Larcom. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  35 

The  New  England  shoemakers  led  in  the  industry. 
There  were  a  few  Dutch  shoemakers  in  New 
York,  but  scarcely  any  in  agricultural  communities 
of  the  South.  The  market  of  the  New  England 
maker,  therefore,  included  all  the  colonies  scattered 
along  the  Atlantic  coast.  In  many  cases  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  shop  made  weekly  or  monthly  trips  on 
foot  or  with  an  ox-cart  to  a  village  or  larger  com- 
munity to  dispose  of  his  shop-made  goods,  and  shoe 
traffic  gradually  arose. 

Often  the  shop  was  closed  altogether  in  the  sum- 
mer, when  work  upon  the  land  was  necessary  or 
fishing  for  those  situated  along  the  sea  coast. 

Frequently  the  home  served  as  a  shop,  the  family 
receiving  shoe  materials  from  the  manufacturer  or 
from  the  village  storekeeper  who  acted  for  the  manu- 
facturer or  tanner. 

A  Shop  of  a  Century  Ago.  "Probably  the  oldest 
shoe  factory  now  standing  in  this  country  is  the 
Putnam  shop,  near  the  Newburyport  turnpike,  in 
the  town  of  Danvers,  Mass.  It  was  built  before 
the  Revolution.  It  was  one  of  the  buildings  on  the 
old  Putnam  farm,  the  birthplace  of  General  Putnam 
('Old  Put')  of  Revolutionary  fame.  It  was  men- 
tioned in  the  first  United  States  census  of  manu- 
facturing, taken  in  1786,  and  it  was  then  evidently 
a  factory  of  importance.  It  is  still  in  excellent 
state  of  preservation.  Some  of  the  tools  that  were 
used  by  its  occupants  are  still  preserved. 

"The  early  tools  are  of  wrought  iron.     The  pat- 

3* 


36  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

terns  are  of  board.  Cutters  who  are  used  to  hand- 
ling thin  patterns  of  today  would  think  these  board 
patterns  very  coarse.  Lasts  saved  in  the  old  shop 
are  clumsy.  The  books  show  that  they  cost  from 
twenty-five  cents  to  one  dollar  a  pair,  the  price  being 
determined  by  the  style.  Apparently,  the  last- 
makers  of  old  well  knew  how  to  capitalize  style. 

"All  the  shoes  made  in  this  old  shop  were  made  by 
hand.  The  shoemakers  were  paid  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  cents  a  pair  for  their  labor,  and  they 
earned  from  five  dollars  to  ten  dollars  a  week,  the 
rise  and  fall  of  their  wages  being  determined  chiefly 
by  the  way  that  orders  came  in.  At  first  shoes  made 
in  this  shop  were  sent  in  ox-wagons  to  Boston. 
Later  they  were  sent  in  horse  wagons.  They  were 
packed  in  barrels."* 

Ebenezer  Breed  and  the  Shoe  Tariff.  Following 
the  Revolution  the  break  between  the  Colonies  and 
the  Mother  Country  encouraged  American  indus- 
tries in  many  lines.  American  shoemaking,  how- 
ever, still  suffered  from  the  competition  of  imported 
shoes.  The  habit  of  wearing  English-made  shoes 
was  hard  to  break  and  many  of  the  well-to-do  people 
continued  to  demand  them. 

At  this  crisis,  in  which  an  industry  of  great  possi- 
bilities seemed  likely  to  be  restricted  and  confined 
mainly  to  the  cheaper  lines  of  product,  appeared  the 
first  great  leader  of  American  shoe  manufacture, 
Ebenezer  Breed.  Breed  was  born  in  Lynn,  of 

•From  Boot  and  Shoe  Recorder.  Boston. 


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HISTORICAL  SKETCH  39 

Quaker  parentage,  and  here  learned  the  shoe  trade. 
While  still  a  young  man  he  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
then  the  Nation's  capital.  Here  he  gained  the 
friendship  of  prominent  people,  including  members 
of  the  National  Congress.  He  proposed  a  protective 
tariff  on  boots  and  shoes,  and  on  this  suggestion 
Congress  passed  a  shoe  tariff  act  in  1789. 

Breed  was  a  wholesale  boot  and  shoe  merchant, 
and  prospered  greatly  after  the  passage  of  the  act. 
He  was  recognized  as  a  leading  American  and  was 
feted  at  home  and  abroad,  visiting  France  and 
England. 

Through  misfortune  in  personal  affairs,  Ebenezer 
Breed  lost  his  business  and  property  and  his  eyesight. 
He  died  in  the  almshouse  of  his  native  town  of 
Lynn. 

The  following  has  been  said  of  him: 

4 'The  man  who  was  so  powerful  as  to  build 
up  a  great  wall  of  protection  about  the  entire 
American  shoe  trade  spent  his  declining  days 
quietly  and  peacefully  in  an  almshouse,  for- 
gotten by  nearly  everyone  but  the  Quakers." 

The  First  Shoe  Factories.  Soon  after  the  Revo- 
lution shoemakers  who  wished  to  increase  their 
output  or  had  ambition  to  became  manufacturers 
or  employers,  engaged  other  shoemakers  to  work 
for  them  on  a  larger  scale  than  formerly,  thus 
establishing  the  factory  system  and  introducing  a 
distinction  between  capital  and  labor  in  the  industry. 


40  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

The  early  manufacturers  devoted  themselves 
more  and  more  to  buying  materials  in  quantities  and 
to  selling  the  products  of  their  factories.  Larger 
and  larger  factories  were  erected.  In  many  cases 
shoemakers  took  materials  from  the  factory  and  made 
shoes  at  home,  each  in  his  little  shop. 

A  Division  of  Labor  in  the  Factory:  *  'Teams" 
and  "Gangs."  It  was  known  that  workmen  were 
usually  expert  in  particular  operations,  for  instance, 
in  cutting  and  fitting  uppers,  or  in  preparing  soles, 
or  in  sewing  the  sole  to  the  upper.  This  fact  pro- 
duced a  division  of  labor.  Shoemaking  in  factories 
during  this  period,  until  the  introduction  of  machin- 
ery, was  marked,  also,  by  the  custom  of  having 
what  were  called  "teams"  of  workers.  A  team 
consisted  of  a  number  of  workers,  each  performing 
a  particular  process,  the  whole  team  producing  an 
entire  shoe.  On  the  other  hand,  a  team  might  con- 
sist of  a  group  of  men  all  experts  upon  a  single 
process.  Such  a  team  was  known  usually  as  a 
"gang."  A  gang  of  bottomers,  for  instance,  often 
went  from  factory  to  factory,  or  from  employer  to 
employer,  having  a  contract  with  each  to  bottom 
all  the  shoes  in  process  of  making. 

The  team  or  gang  system  gradually  passed  largely 
out  of  use  after  the  introduction  of  shoe  machinery. 
The  term  is  still  used  in  some  factories,  especially 
in  the  making  or  bottoming  room.  In  one  factory 
only,  however,  among  the  many  investigated  in 
obtaining  material  for  this  book,  was  there  found  a 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  41 

gang  working  as  in  earlier  times.  This  was  a  team 
of  six  men  making  an  entire  shoe  of  high  quality 
for  a  fine  class  of  trade. 

A  Quotation  on  the  "Contract  System."  The 
following  quotation  gives  an  interesting  picture  of 
the  contract  system  and  team  work:* 

"With  the  advent  of  the  McKay  machine 
came  new  methods,  new  systems,  and  new  styles. 

"The  contract  system  was  the  popular  way 
of  making  shoes.  The  manufacturer  had  a  room 
in  the  shoe  district,  where  he  cut  the  uppers  and 
kept  his  stock;  he  would  then  enter  into  a  con- 
tract with  some  man  to  fit  them.  When  uppers 
were  fitted  he  would  again  make  another  contract 
with  some  firm  to  bottom  them.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  that  very  little  equipment  was  needed 
to  manufacture  shoes.  All  the  room  required 
was  for  cutting  and  packing.  Our  large  and 
modern  factories  of  today,  with  their  splendid 
equipment  of  almost  humanly  intelligent  ma- 
chinery and  skilled  operators,  giving  employ- 
ment to  thousands  of  men  and  women,  and 
turning  out  annually  3,000,000  pairs  of  shoes, 
was  never  the  dream  of  the  old-time  shoe- 
maker. 

"Many  evils  grew  from  the  contract  system. 
It  was  a  common  thing  for  those  men  who  had 
charge  of  the  contract  fitting  and  bottoming 
rooms  to  underbid  each  other,  and  he  whose 
bid  was  the  lowest  got  the  work.  He  saw  to 
it,  however,  that  his  margin  of  profit  remained 


*G.  P.  Lawrence,  in  American  Shoemaking,  Boston,  January  16,  1915. 


42  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

the  same,  for  he  would  cut  the  piece  price  of  his 
employees  enough  to  make  up  the  difference, 
and  thus  his  margin  of  profit  remained  the  same. 

"Labor  organizations  did  much  to  correct 
this  evil. 

"Prices  for  bottoming  ranged  from  twenty- 
seven  and  one-half  to  forty-five  cents  a  pair. 
Contractors  wanted  the  lion's  share  for  their 
profit,  and  got  it. 

"The  McKay  sewing  machine  and  a  few  stock 
fitting  machines  were  all  the  machines  used 
at  the  time  of  the  five-handed  team,  and  they 
were  operated  by  foot  power. 

"Stock  fitting  was  a  simple  operation,  con- 
sisting of  rounding  and  channeling  and  counter 
skiving  (no  moulding) .  Five  men  were  required 
to  build  a  shoe.  A  bench  six  feet  long  and  four 
feet  wide,  with  two  shelves  in  the  center,  two 
men  on  each  side  and  one  at  the  end,  a  laster, 
beater-out,  trimmer,  edge  setter  and  bottom 
finisher,  constituted  the  team,  and  twelve  pairs 
of  lasts  were  given  to  each  team." 

The  Attitude  of  Early  Shoemakers  towards  the 
Shoe  Factory.  The  typical  shoemaker  had  long 
been  his  own  master.  He  worked  in  his  little  shop 
at  home  as  he  pleased,  doing  perhaps  farm  work  or 
engaging  in  some  other  occupation  a  part  of  the  year. 
He  objected  to  serving  any  other  master  than  him- 
self, and  believed  that  obedience  to  a  foreman  was 
a  surrender  of  his  personal  rights  and  liberties. 
He  was  reluctant  to  submit  to  factory  hours,  from 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  six  at  night,  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  43 

to  exacting  factory  regulations.  He  opposed  in  like 
manner  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery. 

The  general  industrial  growth  of  communities 
was,  however,  an  irresistible  though  a  slowly  coming 
tide.  Progressive  methods  of  employment  and  the 
introduction  of  machinery  gradually  broke  down 
all  opposition.  The  individual  shoemaker  or  cobbler 
has  survived  to  the  present  day,  but  will  probably 
disappear  with  this  generation. 

Organization  in  the  Factory  System.  Factories 
were  divided  into  the  natural  divisions  or  depart- 
ments of  shoemaking.  Men  were  set  apart  to 
organize  and  train  employees.  Superintendents  and 
foremen  or  overseers  of  departments  appeared. 
Systems  were  worked  out  for  the  procuring  and  care 
of  raw  materials,  for  making  shoes  in  quantity,  for 
moving  them  in  the  processes  of  making  from  one 
factory  room  to  an  other,  for  having  each  lot  handled 
and  finished  as  a  unit,  and  for  disposing  of  factory 
product  through  agencies  established  in  market  cen- 
ters, and  through  traveling  salesmen.  Thus  factory 
organization  produced  also  business  organization. 

Specialists.  Modern  factory  and  business  or- 
ganization calls  for  specialists  in  each  department. 
The  large  shoe  manufacturing  firm  of  today  has  a 
specialist  in  leather  buying,  another  in  procuring 
lasts  and  patterns,  another  in  charge  of  miscel- 
laneous supplies,  another  as  manager  of  sales,  another 
as  factory  manager  or  in  charge  of  a  factory  de- 
partment, another  as  financier,  another  for  ad- 


44  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

vertising,  and  so  on  through  all  the  great  divisions 
of  the  firm's  activities. 

The  Magnitude  of  the  Industry  Today.  The 
growth  of  the  shoe  industry  in  this  country  has  been 
marvelous.  The  greatest  gain  has  taken  place 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  since  the  invention 
and  wide-spread  use  of  the  more  important  shoe 
machines.  Although  full  statistical  information  is 
given  in  the  census  tables  included  in  this  volume,  a 
few  illustrative  figures  and  facts  may  be  presented 
here.  According  to  the  Census  of  1909  there  were 
in  thirty-one  states  of  the  Union  1,918  factories 
making  shoes  and  allied  products.  The  capital 
invested  in  the  industry  was  $222,324,000,  and  the 
number  of  employees  was  215,000.  Eight  hundred 
and  sixty  of  the  factories  were  in  Massachusetts. 
There  has  been  a  constant  increase  in  the  industry 
since  that  time,  especially  in  invested  capital  and 
employees.  The  persons  connected  with  shoe  manu- 
facture probably  now  number  nearly  250,000.  The 
leading  states  in  their  order  are,  Massachusetts, 
Missouri,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  Ohio,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Illinois. 

Boston  is  the  leading  center  of  the  world  in  the 
shoe  and  leather  trade;  Chicago,  in  trade  in 
untanned  hides. 

Lynn,  the  first  home  of  the  industry  in  this  country, 
has  long  been  the  leading  city  in  the  manufacture 
of  shoes  and  shoe  material.  Sixty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  manufactures  of  the  city  are  in  these  lines.  It 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  45 

has  over  two  hundred  shoe  factories,  employing 
18,000  people  and  $18,000,000  in  capital,  and  pro- 
ducing goods  to  the  value  of  $47,000,000  annually. 

Brockton,  Mass.,  ranks  second  in  the  industry, 
with  eighty-six  per  cent,  of  its  manufactures  in  shoes. 
It  has  seventy-five  factories,  employing  about  14,000 
people  and  a  capital  of  over  $14,000,000,  and  pro- 
ducing shoes  worth  $40,000,000  annually. 

Other  cities  in  the  order  of  magnitude  of  shoe 
manufacture  are,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  Haverhill,  Mass., 
Boston,  New  York,  Manchester,  N.  H.,  Cincinnati, 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  Chicago. 

The  exportation  of  shoes  has  come  mostly  within 
twelve  or  fifteen  years,  and  has  grown  very  rapidly 
within  this  time.  The  Massachusetts  North  Shore 
district,  for  example,  now  sends  abroad  more  than 
ten  million  dollars'  worth  of  shoes  each  year. 

The  United  States  is  not  only  leading  the  world 
in  making  shoes,  but  is  finding  markets  increasingly 
in  all  countries. 

The  New  England  Shoe  and  Leather  Association 
has  recently  issued  a  circular  from  which  the  follow- 
ing statements  are  drawn: 

New  England  produces  fifty-seven  per  cent, 
of  the  boots,  shoes,  slippers  and  cut-stock  and 
findings,  and  a  large  percentage  of  all  the  leather 
made  in  this  country. 

It  has  1,000  shoe  factories  and  cut-stock 
and  findings  establishments,  principally  in 
Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine. 


46  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

In  these  industries  $111,000,000  capital  is 
invested,  100,000  wage-earners  are  employed, 
and  the  annual  value  of  product  is  approximately 
$300,000,000. 

It  has  about  175  establishments  for  the  pro- 
duction of  leather,  representing  $45,000,000  of 
invested  capital  and  $45,000,000  annual  value 
of  product. 

It  also  leads  in  the  manufacture  of  rubber 
goods,  Massachusetts  alone  annually  producing 
$50,000,000  worth  of  rubber  boots  and  shoes 
and  miscellaneous  articles. 

Massachusetts  is  virtually  the  birthplace  of 
the  tanning  and  boot  and  shoe  industries  of  the 
United  States,  and  has  possessed  these  allied 
industries  for  nearly  three  hundred  years. 

In  the  boot  and  shoe  and  cut-stock  and  find- 
ings industries,  it  has  about  875  establishments, 
with  more  than  $90,000,000  invested  capital, 
83,000  wage-earners  and  annual  value  of  pro- 
duct of  $236,000,000. 

It  has  sixty-three  cities  and  towns  in  which 
the  shoe  manufacturing  industry  is  carried  on. 

It  has  one  county,  Essex,  which  produces 
one-seventh  of  the  combined  boot  and  shoe 
and  leather  product  of  the  United  States. 

Brockton,  the  leading  city  in  which  men's 
shoes  are  manufactured;  Haverhill,  the  foremost 
slipper  manufacturing  city,  and  Lynn,  the 
world's  greatest  women's  footwear  center,  are 
notable  examples  of  Massachusetts'  shoemaking 
activity. 

More  than  3,000,000,000  pairs  of  shoes  have 
been  shipped  from  Boston  in  the  past  forty- 
five  years. 


(47) 


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(51) 


CHAPTER  II 
SHOE  MACHINERY 


(53)     *4 


CHAPTER  II 

SHOE  MACHINERY 

The  Invention  of  Shoe  Machinery.  The  inven- 
tion of  shoe  machinery,  from  about  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  has  revolutionized  shoe  manu- 
facture. The  story  of  the  patient  development  of 
one  machine  after  another,  until  the  dexterity  of 
the  human  fingers  has  been  equalled,  reads  like  a 
romance.  Most  of  these  machines  have  been  in- 
vented by  shoeworkers  themselves,  often  after  long 
toil  and  study  of  particular  processes.  Inventive 
genius  and  mechanical  skill  have  been  granted  about 
7,000  patents  on  shoe  machinery  since  the  establish- 
ment of  the  United  States  Patent  Office  in  1836. 
Sometimes  there  have  been  a  score  or  more  on  a 
single  machine,  to  protect  it  as  it  has  been  built  up 
part  by  part.  New  patents  are  constantly  being 
granted,  nineteen  being  announced  in  one  week  in 
November,  1914,  during  the  preparation  of  this 
chapter. 

In  making  an  ordinary  shoe  today  there  are  one 
hundred  and  seventy-four  machine  operations,  per- 
formed upon  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  different 
machines,  and  thirty-six  hand  operations,  or  alto- 
gether two  hundred  and  ten  processes.  About  three 

(65) 


56  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

hundred  different  machines  are  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  all  kinds  of  footwear,  and  the  number  of 
processes  is  considerably  increased. 

Three  Stages  of  Development.  There  are  three 
conspicuous  stages  of  development  in  the  invention 
and  use  of  shoe  machinery. 

The  first  stage  is  that  of  the  upper-stitching 
machine,  by  which  the  top  parts  of  the  shoe  are 
machine-sewed  instead  of  being  sewed  by  hand. 

The  second  is  that  of  the  sole-sewing  machine, 
by  which  the  soles  are  attached  to  the  uppers  with 
a  machine  instead  of  by  hand. 

The  third  stage  is  that  of  machine-welting,  in  its 
modern  form.  This  is  an  improved  method  of 
sewing  on  the  sole,  so  that  the  shoe  is  flexible,  as 
was  the  old  hand-sewed  shoe. 

Other  machines  are  subordinate  to  these  in 
general  importance,  and  mark  steps  of  advance- 
ment in  minor  processes  and  features  of  shoe  manu- 
facture. 

An  account  of  the  more  important  machines  used 
in  shoe  manufacture  is  given  herewith,  in  the 
order  of  their  invention.  As  we  shall  meet  these 
in  operation  in  our  study  of  factory  departments, 
some  knowledge  of  each  machine  will  help  our 
understanding  of  a  process  and  of  the  running  of 
the  machine  as  an  occupation. 

The  Wooden  Peg:  1815.  Heels  were  fastened 
to  shoes  by  hand-made  wooden  pegs  as  early  as  the 
sixteenth  century.  Preceding  the  use  of  shoe  ma- 


SHOE  MACHINERY  57 

chines  came  the  machine-made  peg  in  1815.  Up 
to  that  time  the  bottom  of  the  shoe  had  been  fastened 
to  the  upper  by  sewing  with  heavy  thread  or  "waxed 
ends,"  and  in  the  case  of  some  heavy  boots  by 
copper  nails.  This  sewing  was  a  slow,  hard  process 
and  was  necessarily  done  by  men.  The  invention 
of  the  shoe  peg  was  a  great  gain.  The  first  pegs  were 
whittled  out  by  hand  in  imitation  of  the  nail.  When 
pegs  were  properly  driven,  piercing  both  the  outer 
and  inner  sole,  with  the  upper  leather  well  drawn 
in  between  the  two,  the  result  was  a  great  improve- 
ment in  strength  and  durability  over  the  old  method. 
But  the  pegged  shoes  were  less  flexible  than  the  sewed 
shoe,  and  many  persons  still  asked  for  shoes  made 
by  the  old  method. 

A  pegging  machine  was  invented  in  1833,  but 
none  came  into  general  or  successful  use  until  about 
1857.  The  pegging  machine  and  the  McKay 
machine  revolutionized  the  industry,  but  did  not 
put  an  end  to  hand  shoemaking,  which  has  con- 
tinued to  the  present  day,  yet  with  a  constantly 
diminishing  importance.  The  great  gain,  of  course, 
was  the  large  increase  in  the  number  of  shoes  made, 
with  a  lowering  of  the  retail  price  and  a  widening 
shoe  market. 

The  Rolling  Machine:  1845.  The  first  machine 
to  be  widely  used  in  shoemaking  was  the  rolling 
machine  for  solidifying  sole  leather,  which  was 
introduced  about  1845.  Formerly  the  shoemaker 
was  obliged  to  pound  sole  leather  upon  a  lapstone 


58  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

with  a  flat-faced  hammer,  to  make  it  firm  and  dur- 
able for  the  shoe  bottom.  This  was  a  laborious 
process,  and  sometimes  took  a  half  hour  for  what 
can  be  done  between  the  strong  rollers  of  the  machine 
in  one  minute. 

The  Howe  Sewing  Machine:  1852.  About  the 
year  1851  John  Brooks  Nichols,  a  Lynn  shoemaker, 
adapted  the  Howe  sewing  machine  to  sew  the 
uppers  of  shoes.  John  Wooldredge,  also  of  Lynn, 
was  the  first  to  use  the  machine,  in  1852.  This 
adaptation  really  introduced  the  era  of  machine 
shoemaking,  doing  away  with  the  slow  process  of 
hand  sewing.  The  process  had  been  called  "bind- 
ing," and  the  handsewers  were  called  * 'binders." 
Much  of  this  work  had  been  done  in  the  home,  and 
the  introduction  of  this  machine  made  the  industry 
more  distinctly  a  factory  industry,  marking  the  first 
period  of  development. 

The  McKay  Sewing  Machine:  1858.  In  1858 
Lyman  R.  Blake,  a  shoemaker  of  South  Abington, 
now  the  town  of  Whitman,  Massachusetts,  invented 
a  machine  which  sewed  the  soles  of  shoes  to  the 
uppers.  This  was  improved  by  Robert  Mathies 
and  manufactured  by  Gordon  McKay,  a  capitalist 
and  manufacturer.  It  became  known  as  the  McKay 
sewing  machine. 

These  machines  were  first  used  in  the  factory  of 
William  Porter  and  Sons  of  Lynn  in  1861  or  1862, 
and  were  run  by  foot  power.  The  McKay  machine 
ushered  in  the  second  period  of  development  in  shoe 


SHOE  MACHINERY  59 

machinery,  and  has  done  more  than  any  other  to 
modernize  shoe  manufacture. 

The  Goodyear  Welt  Machine:  1862-1876.  In 
1862  Auguste  Destouy,  a  New  York  mechanic, 
invented  a  machine  with  a  curved  needle  for  sewing 
turn  shoes.  This  was  later  improved  by  as  many 
as  eight  different  mechanical  experts  employed  by 
Charles  Goodyear. 

The  machine  was  afterwards  adapted  to  the 
sewing  of  the  welt  in  the  bottom  of  the  shoe,  with 
patents  in  1871  and  1875,  and  became  the  famous 
Goodyear  welt  machine.  This  marks  the  third 
great  period  of  development  in  shoe  machinery. 

McKay  and  Goodyear  were  not  themselves 
originators;  they  adapted  and  promoted  the  in- 
ventions of  shoe  worker  and  mechanic.  Other 
inventions  no  doubt  lacked  such  promoters  and  were 
lost  to  the  industry. 

Edge-Trimming  and  Heel-Trimming  Machines: 
1877.  Edge-trimming  and  heel-trimming  machines 
were  introduced  about  the  year  1877,  and  soon 
played  a  very  important  part  in  shoe  manufacture. 
Previous  to  the  introduction  of  these  machines  hand 
trimmers,  or  "whittlers,"  as  they  were  called,  re- 
ceived very  high  wages,  sometimes  double  those  of 
lasters  who  were  also  highly  paid.  Considerable 
opposition  was  offered  to  the  trimming  machines, 
but  their  speed,  uniformity  of  work,  and  saving  to 
the  manufacturer  made  their  adoption  and  uni- 
versal use|inevitable. 


60  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

The  Lasting  Machine:  1883.  Though  several 
attempts  had  been  made  to  invent  and  operate  last- 
ing machines,  yet  long  after  it  was  possible  and 
profitable  to  sew  shoes  by  machinery,  it  was  still 
necessary  to  last  them  by  hand.  Shoe  operatives 
in  all  lines  opposed  the  introduction  of  machinery, 
feeling  that  it  would  reduce  their  numbers,  shorten 
the  period  of  employment  each  year,  and  make  them 
more  dependent  upon  the  manufacturer. 

Foremost  in  this  opposition  to  machinery  were  the 
hand  lasters.  They  were  strongly  organized,  and  se- 
cured a  very  high  wage,  ranging  from  twenty  to  thirty 
dollars  a  week  or  more  at  a  time  when  earnings  on 
most  processes  were  low  as  compared  with  present  day 
wages  in  the  shoe  factory.  The  lasters  boasted  that 
their  trade  could  never  be  taken  away  from  them. 

Jan  Ernest  Matzeliger,  a  young  man  destined  to 
accomplish  what  seemed  impossible,  came  to  Lynn 
from  Dutch  Guiana.  He  was  the  son  of  an  engineer 
and  himself  an  expert  machinist.  In  a  Lynn  shoe 
factory  he  learned  to  operate  a  McKay  machine  and 
heard  the  boast  of  the  hand  lasters. 

Matzeliger  began  to  work  secretly  on  a  model 
for  a  lasting  machine.  The  first  model  was  a  failure, 
as  was  also  a  second.  A  third,  however,  was  so 
satisfactory  that  money  was  advanced  to  the  in- 
ventor for  a  fourth,  in  1883.  Matzejiger  died  while 
working  upon  this,  but  it  was  completed  by  other 
men,  and  became  the  foundation  of  the  modern 
consolidated  lasting  machine. 


SHOE  MACHINERY  61 

The  old  lasters  said  that  this  machine  sung  to  them 
as  it  worked,  "I've  got  your  job!  I've  got  your  job!" 

Some  of  the  motions  of  the  machine  are  like  those 
of  the  hand  and  fingers,  drawing  the  parts  of  the 
leather  into  place  and  fastening  them  by  tacks. 
The  hand  worker  lasted  perhaps  fifty  pairs  of  shoes 
a  day;  the  machine  operator  lasts  from  300  to  700 
pairs  in  a  day  of  ten  hours. 

The  Pulling- Over  Machine.  This  improvement 
was  introduced  early  in  the  present  century.  The 
pulling-over  machine  prepares  the  shoe  for  the 
lasting  machine.  It  centers  the  upper  upon  the 
last,  draws  the  sides  and  toe  into  place  with  pincers 
which  work  like  fingers,  and  temporarily  fastens 
these  parts  with  tacks  for  lasting.  "It  is  the  acme 
of  shoe  machinery  intricacy  and  accuracy,  and 
years  of  study,  and  over  $1,000,000  were  spent  in  its 
development."* 

While  his  amount  seems  large  it  probably  means 
a  saving  to  the  shoe  manufacturers  of  the  United 
States  of  four  times  the  amount  each  year. 

Joseph  L.  Joyce.  Joseph  L.  Joyce  was  a  shoe 
manufacturer  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  a  friend 
of  Goodyear  and  McKay.  From  1860  to  1890  he 
obtained  many  patents  which  greatly  improved  shoe 
machinery  and  the  art  of  manufacturing. 

Power  in  Shoe  Manufacture.  Hand  and  foot 
power  were  first  used  for  shoe  making.  In  1855 
William  F.  Trowbridge,  at  Feltonville,  Mass.,  now 


*From  A  Primer  of  Boots  and  Shoes.    The  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company. 


62  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

a  part  of  Marlboro,  first  applied  horse  power  to  shoe 
manufacture.  Soon  after  this  steam  or  waterpower 
was  in  use  in  all  factories.  In  1890  the  electric 
motor  was  introduced,  and  has  gradually  taken  the 
place  of  the  steam  engine. 

The  Development  of  the  Shoe  Shank.  As  an 
indication  of  the  development  of  a  minor  part  of  a 
shoe  and  of  the  simple  machinery  necessary  for  its 
manufacture,  and  as  an  example  of  a  subsidiary 
industry,  the  main  facts  in  the  growth  of  the  shank 
industry  are  here  presented. 

Primarily  the  shank  is  that  part  of  the  sole  between 
the  heel  and  the  ball  of  a  shoe.  In  shoemaking  the 
shank  is  a  reinforcement  placed  between  the  outer 
and  inner  soles  of  a  shoe  in  that  part  extending  from 
the  heel  to  the  ball  of  the  foot.  Its  purpose  is  to 
give  shape  or  style  and  elasticity  to  the  shoe. 

Fifty  years  ago  the  hand  shoemaker  used  hard 
scraps  of  leather  for  shoe  shanks,  trimmed  to  the 
desired  shape.  Thin  pieces  of  wood,  molded  to 
shape  on  primitive  machines,  soon  came  into  use, 
and  later  strips  of  leather  board.  From  1877  to 
1885  a  single  firm  in  this  country  had  a  monopoly 
of  molded  shanks.  About  1885  numerous  patents 
were  granted  on  shanks  and  on  machinery  for  pro- 
ducing them.  One  form  was  a  strip  of  flexible 
steel  with  leatherboard  cover  or  casing.  All  the 
kinds  of  shanks  described  are  in  use  at  the  present 
time,  according  to  the  kind  and  grade  of  shoes  to  be 
manufactured.  There  is,  however,  a  constant  ten- 


SHOE  MACHINERY  63 

dency  to  use  shanks  of  the  better  quality,  for  shoes 
sell  better  and  keep  their  shape  better  with  the  more 
durable  shank  reinforcement. 

The  use  of  prepared  shanks  is  universal,  and  the 
world's  supply  is  produced  mainly  in  this  country. 

There  are  machines  large  and  small,  simple  and 
complicated,  for  making  the  various  lesser  parts  of 
a  shoe  and  its  accessories,  such  as  heels,  counters, 
tips,  eyelets,  buckles,  nails,  thread,  laces,  polishing 
brushes,  and  so  on,  as  well  as  machines  for  manu- 
facturing the  various  items  of  factory  equipment. 

Operating  a  Complicated  Machine.  In  some 
factories  it  is  necessary,  and  in  all  factories  advisable, 
that  the  operator  of  a  modern,  complicated  shoe 
machine  should  understand  its  parts  thoroughly, 
and  be  able  to  make  the  adjustments  and  simple 
repairs  that  may  be  needed  at  any  time.  The 
worker  who  has  mechanical  ability  may  learn  to 
adjust  and  repair  his  machine  by  actual  experience 
in  running  it. 

The  mechanically  expert  operative  is  able  to  keep 
the  machine  running  to  its  full  capacity  and  to 
lengthen  its  period  of  efficient  wear.  He  is  thus 
worth  more  to  the  factory,  and  has  increased  earning 
power  under  the  prevailing  method  of  piece  work. 

The  Leasing  System.  The  leasing  system  of 
shoe  machinery  was  introduced  in  1861  by  Gordon 
McKay,  when  it  was  found  difficult  to  sell  to  manu- 
facturers the  Blake  machine  for  sewing  uppers  and 
soles  together.  Such  machines  were  costly  and  the 


64  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

capital  of  most  shoe  manufacturers  was  small  at 
that  time.  The  leasing  system,  on  a  royalty  basis, 
enabled  the  manufacturers  to  have  the  advantage 
both  of  the  machine  and  of  unreduced  capital  for 
manufacture. 

The  Care  of  Machinery.  Owing  to  the  unusual 
conditions  just  described  in  the  shoe  industry  and 
through  the  leasing  of  machinery,  there  was  early 
developed  by  the  machine  manufacturing  company 
a  force  of  men  who  were  trained  in  the  care  of  ma- 
chinery, and  located  at  convenient  centers,  so  as  to 
go  wherever  machinery  trouble  existed.  With  the 
evolution  of  the  shoe  machinery  business,  and  the 
various  machines  used  in  the  bottoming  of  shoes 
under  centralized  control,  relatively  few  factories 
maintain  a  force  of  special  mechanics,  and  these  are 
generally  for  the  purpose  of  millwrighting  and  con- 
struction. At  the  present  time  a  large  force  of  ex- 
pert "roadmen,"  as  they  are  called,  is  located  in 
all  the  large  shoe  manufacturing  centers,  and  in 
these  agencies  or  branch  offices  from  which  they 
travel  there  is  constantly  maintained  an  immediately 
available  supply  of  the  many  machine  parts  which 
are  liable  to  wear  or  breakage.  These  parts  are  all 
numbered  and  catalogued,  so  that  as  soon  as  a  part 
breaks  or  a  machine  goes  out  of  adjustment,  a 
telephone  message  brings  to  the  factory  the  re- 
quired machine  part.  This  service  has  been  expanded 
to  cover  the  instruction  of  operators  upon  the  ma- 
chines when  set  up  in  the  factory. 


SHOE  MACHINERY  65 

The  Standardization  of  Machinery.  Because  of 
standardization  of  machinery  and  processes  and 
through  co-operation  between  the  manufacturer  of 
shoe  machinery  and  the  shoe  manufacturer,  the 
growth  of  the  industry  during  the  last  twenty  years 
has  surpassed  all  former  periods.  Today,  manufac- 
turers, large  and  small,  can  secure  machinery  by 
leasing  it,  and  nearly  all  factories  are  conducted 
entirely  on  this  basis. 

This  fact  will  make  our  study  of  the  industry 
easier.  We  shall  be  studying  operations  on  standard 
machines,  used  quite  generally  in  this  country  and 
in  many  factories  in  other  countries.  We  must 
remember,  however,  that  improvements  are  con- 
stantly being  made,  that  a  process  may  be  entirely 
changed  on  any  day,  and  that  the  most  skillful 
operatives  of  machines  are  in  constant  demand 
throughout  the  country. 


67 


CHAPTER  III 
LAST-MAKING 


(69) 


CHAPTER  III 

LAST-MAKING 

Definition.  The  last  is  the  wooden  form  which 
determines  the  size  and  shape  of  the  shoe.  Last- 
making  is  not  a  part  of  shoemaking,  but  is  a  necessary 
preliminary  process  or  set  of  processes,  as  is  also 
pattern-making.  The  last-maker  is  a  wood  worker. 
In  early  times  the  hand  shoemaker  fashioned  his 
own  last,  a  single  form  for  both  right  and  left  feet, 
with  rough  proportions.  Only  within  about  thirty 
years  have  separate  forms  been  used  for  right  and 
left  lasts.  With  advance  in  methods  of  shoemaking 
last-making  has  become  a  definite  separate  industry, 
and  last  factories  have  been  established  in  most  of 
the  great  shoe  centers  of  the  country.  The  last 
item  in  the  cost  of  shoe  manufacture  varies  greatly, 
according  to  changes  in  the  style  of  foot  wear. 

The  Shaping  of  the  Last.  The  last  is  modeled 
from  the  human  foot.  The  shape  of  the  last  is  de- 
termined by  careful  measurements  of  the  foot 
modified  by  the  use  or  kind  of  wear  expected,  by  the 
prevailing  demands  of  style,  the  peculiar  processes 
of  manufacture,  and  the  special  materials  used. 
The  last  must  have  a  "mean"  form,  adaptable  to  the 
varying  shapes  of  the  foot  upon  which  the  shoe  is  to 

*5  (71) 


7£  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

be  worn.  In  the  case  of  shoes  meant  for  special  pur- 
poses, such  as  walking  or  dancing,  special  forms  are 
used.  There  are,  also,  sectional  and  national 
differences  of  form;  for  instance,  the  prevailing 
English  styles  are  somewhat  broader  and  flatter 
than  the  American;  while  in  American  lasts  the 
waist  line,  or  measure  over  the  instep,  is  less  than 
in  English  styles,  giving  a  closer  fit  in  that  part  of 
the  shoe  and  preventing  the  foot  from  sliding  forward 
in  it. 

Last  Material.  Lasts  are  made  of  wood  or  iron. 
Iron,  however,  is  used  less  and  less  in  this  country 
except  in  repair  shops.  It  is  still  used  extensively  in 
England.  The  wooden  last  has  a  plate  of  iron  upon 
the  heel,  as  a  base  for  nailing  on  the  heel  of  the  shoe, 
and  lasts  used  in  making  the  McKay  shoe,  whose 
entire  sole  is  nailed  on,  have  a  plate  of  iron  over 
the  bottom  of  the  last.  In  England  the  wood  used 
for  lasts  is  mostly  beech,  whose  close  and  strong 
fibre  allows  a  smooth,  firm  surface,  however  the 
grain  may  be  cut.  In  this  country  the  wood  gen- 
erally used  is  maple,  which  cuts  easily  and  presents 
a  smooth,  hard  surface  when  kiln-dried,  as  all  woods 
must  be  for  last-making.  The  hollow  forms  used 
by  traveling  salesmen,  in  the  store  window  for  dis- 
play, and  in  the  home  for  keeping  shoes  in  shape 
when  not  being  worn,  are  made  of  light  bass  wood. 

Hand  Last-making.  It  is  interesting  to  review 
the  processes  used  in  earlier  hand  last-making,  as 
they  show  not  only  the  older  features  of  a  skilled 


LAST-MAKING  73 

trade  but  also  the  work  that  is  still  necessary  in  a 
modern  industry.  The  tree  trunks  brought  from 
the  forests  were  sawed  into  suitable  lengths  for 
lasts.  The  lengths  were  "blocked"  or  split  into 
triangular  pieces  large  enough  to  afford  each  a  last 
when  cut  down.  The  pieces  were  then  cut  down 
with  the  bench  knife  into  shapes  approaching  that 
of  the  finished  last,  and  were  cut  to  the  desired  length. 
The  roughly  formed  last  was  then  rasped  and 
scraped  until  all  surplus  wood  was  removed.  Holes 
were  drilled  or  bored  for  the  insertion  of  hooks  to 
draw  the  last  from  the  completed  shoe.  The  last 
was  finished  by  sandpapering  and  rubbing  down. 

Modern  Last-Making.  Because  of  the  increase 
in  the  numbers  of  shoes  manufactured  and  the 
multiplication  of  styles,  it  long  ago  became  necessary 
to  produce  lasts  faster  than  could  be  done  by  hand. 
Early  in  the  last  century,  about  the  year  1820,  we 
find  the  last-making  machine,  or  last-lathe,  long 
antedating  the  use  of  shoe  machinery.  The  last- 
lathe  is  a  modification  of  the  wood-turning  lathe. 
Instead  of  producing  symmetrical  forms  the  lathe 
is  made  to  yield  forms  of  irregular  shape,  like  that  of 
the  human  foot.  The  lathe  has  been  but  little 
changed  in  later  years.  Its  chief  features  are  what 
are  known  as  the  model  end  and  the  cutter  end. 

The  blocks  from  which  the  lasts  are  to  be  turned 
are  brought  from  the  forests  in  the  rough,  sometimes 
cut  by  hand  and  sometimes  by  a  lathe  into  shape 
approaching  that  necessary  for  the  last.  Before 


74  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

being  utilized  they  are  kiln-dried  for  six  or  seven 
weeks,  to  prevent  the  finished  last  from  shrinking. 

The  Model  Last.  The  making  of  the  model  from 
which  other  lasts  are  to  be  made  is  the  most  difficult 
process  connected  with  the  industry.  An  old  last 
is  sometimes  built  over  by  adding  thicknesses  of 
leather  in  places,  or  a  paste  of  glue  and  sawdust,  and 
by  cutting  down  the  wood  in  other  places  to  produce 
the  measurements  necessary  for  a  desired  style. 
Sometimes  the  model  is  entirely  new,  made  by  hand 
to  meet  the  required  measurements.  A  standard 
size  is  used,  a  number  seven  or  eight  in  men's  shoes 
and  a  four  in  women's  shoes.  From  these,  by 
adjustments  of  the  lathe,  sizes  and  widths  are  graded 
up  and  down,  usually  five  sizes  each  way.  Three 
models  are  generally  made  use  of  for  children's 
lasts. 

The  Use  of  the  Last-Lathe.  The  standard 
model  last  is  clamped  in  the  model  end  of  the  lathe, 
and  the  rough  block  of  kiln-dried  wood  from  which 
the  last  is  to  be  turned  is  set  in  the  cutter  end  of 
the  machine.  When  the  machine  is  put  in  motion 
the  model  swings  against  a  model  wheel,  at  the  same 
time  that  the  last  block  is  forced  solidly  against 
the  cutter  wheel.  As  both  the  model  and  the  block 
revolve,  the  model  wheel  guides  and  regulates  the 
knife  which  cuts  the  block,  from  toe  to  heel,  into  an 
exact  duplicate  of  the  model,  except  for  projections 
at  either  end  which  are  cut  down  on  the  heeler  or 
shaving  machine.  The  last  is  then  placed  upon  a 


LAST-MAKING  75 

* 

polishing  wheel  for  the  processes  of  finishing.  The 
bottoms  are  tested  by  a  sole  pattern  of  the  desired 
size,  and  the  size  and  width  are  stamped  on  them. 
Metal  heels  or  entire  metal  soles  are  also  attached. 
The  lathe  machine  works  so  accurately  that  the 
slightest  imperfection  or  variation  in  the  model  is 
reproduced  in  the  finished  last.  A  machine  turns 
out  about  fifteen  pairs  of  lasts  an  hour. 

Devices  for  Reducing  Last  in  Use.  There  are 
various  methods  of  making  a  part  of  the  last  remov- 
able or  reducing  its  length,  so  that  it  may  be  more 
easily  drawn  from  the  finished  shoe  or  inserted  in  a 
shoe.  The  earlier  and  a  still  common  method  is 
to  saw  out  a  portion  of  the  instep  of  the  last,  leaving 
what  is  called  the  block  last.  Formerly  by  having 
variously  shaped  substitutes  for  the  part  sawed  out 
modifications  of  styles  were  effected.  Another 
form  is  the  Arnold  hinged  last,  the  last  being  cut 
entirely  in  two,  a  v-shaped  portion  cut  out  of  the 
instep,  and  the  two  parts  joined  by  a  hinge,  so  that 
the  heel  swings  up  freely.  Some  firms  make  a  busi- 
ness of  remodeling  or  building  over  lasts  for  shoe 
manufacturers  to  meet  changes  in  style.  And  old 
lasts  are  sometimes  steamed  to  restore  their  shape 
and  fulness. 

The  Storage  of  Lasts.  The  lasts  when  made,  or 
when  returned  from  factory  use,  are  usually  stored 
in  bins,  by  styles  and  sizes,  in  a  room  convenient 
to  the  lasting  or  making  room.  They  are  also  some- 
times stained  different  colors  to  indicate  different 


76  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

styles  or  different  widths  of  the  same  style.  When 
required  for  use  they  are  taken  from  the  bins,  in 
sets  according  to  lots  of  shoes  to  be  made,  placed 
upon  the  shoe  racks,  and  started  on  their  way  through 
the  factory. 

One  person,  very  frequently  a  boy,  usually  has 
charge  of  the  storage  room.  He  must  be  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  lasts  in  his  care,  and  able  to  select 
quickly  such  as  may  be  called  for  each  day. 

To  become  a  last  maker  one  must  have  mechanical 
ability  to  learn  any  or  all  of  the  few  processes  in- 
volved. The  work  is  interesting  but  requires  the 
constant  attention  of  the  operator,  as  the  slightest 
error  or  inaccuracy  would  result  in  an  imperfect  last. 
The  operator  has  a  fairly  constant  occupation,  as 
the  last  factory  runs  more  steadily  through  the  year 
than  does  the  shoe  factory,  and  experience  and  skill 
are  an  asset  to  the  last  worker.  His  earnings  run 
higher  than  those  of  the  average  shoe  worker. 


CHAPTER  IV 
PATTERN-MAKING 


07) 


CHAPTER  IV 

PATTERN-MAKING 

Definition.  Patterns  are  the  forms  or  shapes  j 
used  in  cutting  the  various  parts  of  the  upper  portion 
of  the  shoe.  While  a  sole  pattern  is  sometimes 
used,  the  sole  is  generally  blocked  or  died  out  in  the 
rough,  being  trimmed  to  shape  in  a  later  process. 
Pattern-making  had  advanced  from  a  very  rude 
beginning  to  processes  requiring  the  highest  skill 
and  adaptation  to  modern  styles.  In  early  days 
patterns  were  made  of  paper.  Sometimes  tissue 
paper  was  wet  and  placed  upon  the  last,  marked  in 
lines  where  the  joints  of  the  upper  should  be  made, 
and  cut  in  these  lines  when  dried  and  removed 
from  the  last.  There  was  no  allowance  for  grad- 
ing in  sizes,  and  separate  lasts  were  used  for  the 
various  sizes. 

The  Pattern  Designer.  In  a  modern  shoe  factory 
there  is  a  person  called  the  designer,  who  makes  a 
constant  study  of  styles .  He  receives  the  suggestions 
of  the  traveling  salesmen,  who  are  always  on  the 
watch  for  novelties  in  style  and  fashion.  He  seeks 
information  from  every  source  as  to  the  permanency 
of  old  styles,  the  popularity  of  the  new,  and  of  changes 
in  dress  and  custom  that  are  likely  to  demand  still 

<79) 


80  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

other  styles  in  foot  wear.  The  designer  is  in  close 
touch  with  salesmen,  manufacturers  and  depart- 
ment heads  in  his  own  factory.  He  sometimes  acts 
as  superintendent  of  the  pattern-making  depart- 
ment. Upon  his  skill  and  judgment  depend  in 
large  measure  the  volume  and  permanency  of  trade 
secured  by  his  company.  He  should  have  high 
artistic  skill  and  knowledge  of  shoemaking.  The 
ordinary  designer  must  be  familiar  witli  about 
25,000  different  designs. 

Frequently  after  a  study  of  styles,  the  designer, 
the  sales  manager,  and  the  factory  manager  confer 
on  the  most  economical  styles  to  be  made. 

There  have  already  been  established  a  few  factories 
for  the  designing  and  making  of  shoe  patterns,  to 
sell  to  the  manufacturer. 

The  Pattern  Model.  In  making  a  model  for 
patterns  the  last  is  taken  as  a  basis.  With  due  con- 
sideration of  the  shape  and  style  of  the  shoe,  the 
material  to  be  used,  and  the  use  to  which  the  shoe 
is  to  be  put,  the  pattern  is  made  to  conform  to  the 
proportions  of  the  last.  The  last-maker  and  the 
pattern-maker  work  together  to  a  definite  end  of 
utility  and  style. 

Sample  patterns  are  submitted  to  the  manufac- 
turer for  approval,  after  which  the  pattern-maker 
draws  plans  for  his  model.  The  sets  of  model 
patterns  are  cut  in  sheet  iron  by  hand.  Patterns  are 
reproduced  from  them  in  sheet  iron  or  in  card- 
board by  the  pattern|machine.  The  standard  size 


PATTERN-MAKING  81 

of  the  model  is  seven  in  men's  shoes,  and  four  in 
women's,  and  by  gradations  above  and  below  these 
numbers,  as  in  last-making,  other  sizes  are  obtained. 

From  the  model  the  pattern-maker  produces 
such  quantities  in  each  size  as  may  be  desired  in  a 
factory. 

The  Trial  Shoe.  Sometimes  a  shoe  is  made  as  a 
trial  or  sample  of  a  new  style.  This  is  taken  out  by 
the  salesman  and  shown  to  the  trade.  If  sufficient 
orders  are  placed  on  this  particular  shoe,  patterns 
are  made  and  the  shoe  is  manufactured  in  quantities. 

The  Number  of  Patterns  to  a  Shoe.  The  number 
of  patterns  necessary  for  the  ordinary  shoe  varies 
according  to  the  kind  or  style  of  shoe.  The  button 
boot,  for  example,  has  the  following  parts,  each  re- 
quiring a  separate  pattern:  Two  quarters,  two 
linings,  button-piece,  button-piece  lining,  top  stay, 
vamp,  foxing,  tip,  back-stay,  vamp-lining,  button- 
stay,  backer  for  button  holes,  and  marker  for  button 
holes.  Other  kinds  of  shoes  have  a  larger  or  smaller 
number  of  parts. 

Pattern  Material.  Sheet  iron  has  long  been  used 
for  patterns,  and  is  still  largely  used  for  those  of  lin- 
ings and  the  cloth  parts  of  shoes.  "Junk-board"  or 
heavy  card-board,  made  by  grinding  up  old  news- 
papers, is  gradually  taking  the  place  of  sheet  iron, 
some  factories  using  it  altogether.  Zinc,  also,  is  used. 
Wooden  patterns  are  sometimes  used  for  the  soles 
of  shoes,  by  which  the  soles  are  shaped  upon  a  sole- 
rounding  machine. 


82  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Making  Patterns.  The  iron  model  is  clamped 
to  the  bed  of  the  grading  or  pattern-making  ma- 
chine. This  machine  operates  by  a  system  of 
levers,  so  that  the  model  is  reproduced  in  junk- 
board  or  iron,  just  as  in  last-making  the  last  is  de- 
termined by  the  model.  By  lengthening  or  shorten- 
ing the  levers  sizes  above  and  below  the  model  are 
produced.  Junk-board  patterns  are  then  bound 
with  strips  of  metal  which  are  smoothed  at 
the  corners  and  soldered  at  the  joints.  The 
patterns  are  then  stamped  with  size  numbers, 
widths,  and  styles.  Sometimes  various  colors 
of  the  junk-board  are  used  to  indicate  different 
widths. 

The  Standardization  of  Lasts  and  Patterns. 
There  has  been  considerable  effort  in  recent  years 
to  standardize  patterns  for  those  parts  of  the  shoe 
which  change  least  in  shape  from  season  to  season. 
This  is  accomplished  largely,  of  course,  through 
permanent  forms  in  corresponding  parts  of  the  last, 
especially  the  parts  back  of  the  ball  of  the  foot.  A 
reduction  in  the  number  of  patterns  used  by  the 
cutter  or  of  the  dies  required  for  a  full  run  of 
sizes,  when  dies  are  used,  is  a  great  gain  in  shoe 
manufacture. 

The  constant  increase  in  the  cost  of  shoe  material 
makes  it  all  the  more  necessary  to  reduce  cost  in 
some  other  line.  This  reduction  can  be  accom- 
plished in  part  by  reducing  varieties  in  form,  or  by 
a  standardization  of  patterns. 


PATTERN-MAKING  83 

The  Storage  of  Patterns.  The  patterns  when 
made  in  quantities  are  stored  in  racks  or  pigeon 
holes,  according  to  sizes  and  kinds,  in  a  pattern 
room  which  is  convenient  to  the  cutting  room  of  the 
shoe  factory. 

Positions  in  the  Pattern-Making  Department. 
The  positions  in  this  department  are:  the  Designer, 
or  superintendent  of  pattern-making;  an  assistant 
designer,  in  very  large  establishments;  the  model 
grader,  who  does  hand  work;  the  power  grader, 
who  runs  the  pattern-making  machine;  the  truer- 
up,  who  levels  the  metal  pattern;  the  binder,  who 
puts  the  steel  border  on  the  card  board  pattern; 
the  finisher,  who  solders  and  smooths  the  binding; 
and  the  stamper,  who  places  the  necessary  numbers 
upon  the  pattern. 

The  pattern  boys  have  charge  of  the  patterns  in 
storage,  taking  them  to  the  cutting  room  and  bring- 
ing them  back  and  placing  them  in  their  proper  spaces 
after  use. 

The  Pattern  Maker.  The  pattern  maker  may  be 
a  person  skilled  in  some  of  the  operations  of  shoe- 
making.  He  should  at  least  be  familiar  with  its 
general  processes,  and  should  have  good  mechanical 
ability.  The  occupation,  like  that  of  the  last- 
maker,  is  less  crowded  than  most  of  the  divisions 
of  the  work  in  the  shoe  factory. 

The  Price  of  Patterns.  "It  is  figured  in  a  gen- 
eral way  that  a  manufacturer  of  women's  shoes 
should  spend  at  least  one-half  of  one  per  cent. 


84  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

of  the  gross  volume  of  his  business  for  patterns. 
That  is,  if  he  is  doing  a  business  of  $1,000,000 
annually,  he  should  spend  at  least  $5,000  for 
new  patterns.  It  is  quite  likely  that  some 
manufacturers  are  spending  a  larger  percentage 
than  this.  In  the  last  few  seasons,  a  number 
of  manufacturers  have  had  to  increase  their 
expenditures  for  patterns,  because  patterns 
have  become  much  more  important  in  the  mak- 
ing '  of  shoe  styles  than  they  ever  were  before. 
While  complaints  are  common  that  too  much 
money  is  spent  for  patterns,  yet  the  pattern 
bills  are  among  the  smallest  that  a  manufac- 
turer has  to  pay.  They  are  nowhere  nearly 
as  expensive  as  lasts,  nor  as  costly  as  the 
trimmings  that  are  used  to  put  style  into 
shoes. 

"Sometimes  it  pays  a  manufacturer  to  buy 
a  new  set  of  patterns  just  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  out  a  new  style  in  footwear.  For  in- 
stance, supposing  a  manufacturer  buys  a  new 
set  of  patterns,  at  twenty  dollars,  and  livens  up 
his  line  during  the  dull  spell  of  between  seasons, 
and  gets  orders  for  one  hundred  cases  of  shoes 
made  according  to  the  new  patterns.  His  profit 
is  five  cents  a  pair,  and  his  total  profit  is  $180. 
Surely  it  is  worth  while  to  spend  twenty  dollars 
to  make  $180.  Of  course,  the  real  cost  of  the 
patterns  depends  upon  the  number  of  times 
they  are  used.  They  may  be  thrown  aside  at 
the  end  of  the  month  to  make  way  for  new 
patterns.  In  that  case  their  cost  will  figure 
high.  But  if  they  are  used  through  a  season, 
and  are  carried  over  to  the  next  season,  then  their 
real  cost  figures  down  pretty  low.  But  the  main 


PATTERN-MAKING  85 

point,  in  dealing  with  the  pattern  department, 
is  not  to  consider  chiefly  what  they  cost,  but 
chiefly  what  they  bring  in  the  way  of  new  and 
additional  orders."* 


•American  Shoemaking.    Boston,  March  6,  1915. 


CHAPTER  V 
LEATHER 


(87)     *6 


CHAPTER  V 
LEATHER 

Its  Nature.  Leather  is  the  skin  of  an  animal, 
tanned  or  otherwise  preserved,  shrunk,  and  tough- 
ened. The  skins  of  beast,  bird,  fish,  or  reptile  may 
be  made  into  leather.  Leather  in  some  form  has 
been  used  from  time  immemorial  for  clothing,  foot- 
wear, harness  material,  and  other  articles  for  human 
use. 

Tanning.  Tanning  consists  in  converting  animal 
skins  or  hides  into  leather  by  the  use  of  astringent 
acids.  In  earlier  times  these  acids  were  derived 
from  vegetable  products,  such  as  the  bark  of  the 
hemlock  tree,  oak  tree,  willow,  and  chestnut.  The 
bark  was  finely  ground  and  steeped  in  water,  form- 
ing a  strong  solution  or  liquor  in  which  the  skins 
were  placed  in  vats,  after  the  removal  of  hair  and 
surplus  flesh.  The  action  of  the  acid  toughens  the 
skin,  condenses  it  and  hardens  the  albuminous 
matter  in  it,  thus  preserving  it  from  decay.  The 
most  common  kinds  of  bark  used  have  been  the 
hemlock  and  the  oak.  Some  months  are  required 
in  the  process,  and  the  longer  the  time  taken  usually 
the  better  is  the  quality  of  the  leather  produced.  In 
later  years  mineral  substances,  of  which  chrome 

(89) 


90  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

alum  is  a  characteristic  example,  have  come  into 
quite  general  use  for  tanning.  This  mode  is  called 
chrome  tanning.  The  acid  processes  require  a  short 
time  for  tanning  in  comparison  with  the  bark  pro- 
cesses, but  demand  careful  attention  to  prevent 
injury  to  the  leather.  They  afford  various  effects 
in  the  coloring  of  leather.  Such  leathers  are  usually 
finished  dry  or  with  only  a  light  application  of  oil. 
The  bark-tanned  leathers  go  through  various  lengthy 
oiling  processes,  according  to  thickness  and  the 
purposes  for  which  the  leathers  are  designed. 

Chrome  tanning  has  transformed  the  shoe  and 
leather  industries. 

American  Leather  Manufacturing.  The  American 
leather  industry  has  grown  from  small  beginnings 
along  with  shoe  manufacturing.  The  first  leather 
used  was  imported  from  England.  The  colonists 
also  used  Indian  tanned  deer  skins. 

The  first  tanner  to  settle  in  this  country  was 
Francis  Ingalls  of  Lincolnshire,  England,  who  came 
to  Lynn  in  1629.  Philemon  Dickerson,  an  English 
tanner,  came  to  Salem  in  1637.  The  tanning  of 
leather  was  carried  on  at  the  same  time  probably 
in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Southern 
Colonies.  In  1800  William  Rose,  another  English 
tanner,  was  induced  to  come  to  Lynn  by  Ebenezer 
Breed,  who  had  done  so  much  to  promote  American 
shoe  manufacture  by  means  of  the  protective  tariff 
on  shoes.  Rose  became  "the  father  of  the  American 
morocco  manufacturing  industry." 


LEATHER  91 

Shortly  before  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  machinery 
was  introduced  into  the  tanning  industry,  and  today 
machinery  is  used  in  the  place  of  hand  labor  in  all 
its  branches.  Machinery  and  the  chrome  process 
have  given  American  tanners  leadership  in  the 
leather  producing  industry. 

American  tanneries  treat  annually  about  20,000,- 
000  hides  or  heavy  varieties  of  leather,  and  about 
100,000,000  skins  or  lighter  varieties.  They  import 
annually  more  than  $50,000,000  worth  of  untanned 
skins  from  Europe,  Africa,  India,  China,  Siberia, 
Australia,  and  South  American  countries.  American 
tanners  produce  about  $300,000,000  worth  of 
leather.  Of  this  the  greater  part  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes.  A  much  smaller 
part  is  used  for  upholstering,  automobiles  and  furni- 
ture, harnesses,  bookbinding,  machinery  belting, 
trunks  and  bags,  card  cases,  pocketbooks,  gloves, 
and  novelties. 

The  Increasing  Shortage  of  Leather.  In  recent 
years  the  leather-producing  animals  the  world  over 
have  been  either  actually  decreasing  in  numbers, 
as  in  the  great  West  of  this  country,  or  have  not 
increased  as  rapidly  as  has  the  demand  for  leather. 
The  population  of  the  various  countries  of  the 
world  increases  steadily  and  the  wearing  of  shoes 
becomes  more  widely  a  custom  in  the  less  civilized 
countries,  as  in  the  case  of  the  countries  concerned 
in  the  Spanish  War,  and  new  uses  are  steadily  found 
for  leather.  Such  a  generally  increasing  demand 


92  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

tends  to  raise  the  price  of  leather  and  of  leather 
products.  Any  lessening  of  freedom  in  the  com- 
merce of  the  world,  as  in  the  case  of  the  European 
war,  tends  also  to  bring  about  higher  prices  in 
leather  products  as  in  other  imported  articles. 

Leather  Substitutes.  As  a  result  of  the  growing 
shortage  of  leather,  the  use  of  leather  substitutes 
is  becoming  more  and  more  common  in  the  shoe 
industry.  First  and  chief  among  substitutes  for 
upper  leather  are  the  fabrics,  white  canvas  being 
most  used.  The  fabric  top  does  not  stretch,  affords 
a  good-looking  shoe,  and  would  find  an  increased 
demand  even  if  there  were  no  shortage  of  leather.  It 
has  become  a  fashion  in  some  localities  to  have  the 
top  of  the  woman's  shoe  match  the  dress.  This 
can  be  done  easily  by  the  use  of  fabrics,  as  well  as 
by  fancy  leathers.  Among  substitutes  for  sole 
leather,  leatherboard  has  been  widely  used.  This 
consists  of  fibers  of  hard  leather,  waste  paper,  rags 
and  wood  pulp,  rolled  into  hard  sheets  by  machin- 
ery. It  is  cut  and  handled  in  the  same  way  as 
sole  leather,  and  is  used  in  particular  in  making  the 
bottoms  of  the  cheaper  grades  of  shoes.  Wooden 
heels  cut  in  block  are  widely  used  in  the  making  of 
slippers  and  the  lighter  kinds  of  shoes.  Waterproof 
felt  is  also  coming  into  use  more  and  more  for  the 
sole  of  the  shoe.  Celluloid  and  even  oilcloth  prod- 
ucts are  sometimes  used  for  toe  boxes.  It  has  long 
been  the  custom  in  shoe  manufacture  to  make 
heels  of  pieced  leather.  One  of  the  latest  substi- 


LEATHER  93 

tutes  is  "hideite  leather."  This  is  a  leather  fiber 
product  consisting  of  soft  leather  skivings  or 
remnants  pressed  into  sheets.  Rubber  is  used 
more  and  more  extensively  for  the  bottoms  of 
shoes,  and  is  in  increasing  demand  on  the  part  of 
the  public. 

The  Tannery  Divisions  of  Hides  and  Skins. 
According  to  the  size,  the  general  divisions  made 
in  the  tanneries  are  three,  as  follows: 

First,  * 'hides."  This  is  the  term  used  for  skins 
of  full-grown  or  large  animals,  such  as  cows,  oxen, 
horses,  the  buffalo  and  the  walrus.  These  animals 
yield  thick,  heavy  leather  for  shoe  soles,  machinery 
belting,  or  other  uses  demanding  strength  and 
durability.  An  untanned  upper  leather  hide  usually 
weighs  from  twenty-five  to  sixty  pounds;  a  sole 
leather  hide,  from  forty  to  seventy  pounds;  hides 
weighing  from  seventy  or  seventy-five  pounds  up 
are  used  for  the  heavier  kinds  of  belting. 

Second,  "kips,"  skins  of  the  smaller  beeves, 
weighing  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  pounds. 

Third,  "skins"  of  such  small  animals  as  calves, 
sheep,  goats,  and  dogs. 

The  skins  of  other  animals  are  used  for  leather. 
The  kangaroo,  for  instance,  provides  one  of  the 
best  leathers  used  in  shoemaking.  Upper  leather 
is  made  mainly  from  cow  hides,  kips,  and  large 
calfskins. 

Because  of  the  greater  demand  for  thin  leathers, 
thick  hides  are  often  split  into  thin  layers  by  ma- 


94  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

chinery.  This  is  done  by  passing  the  hide  through 
a  set  of  rollers  between  which  is  a  keen  knife,  which 
divides  the  parts  into  any  desired  thickness.  The 
outer  parts  of  the  leather,  on  the  hair  side,  are  the 
most  valued,  and  are  called  "grain"  leather.  The 
inner  parts  are  made  into  a  variety  of  different 
kinds  of  leather  by  special  treatment.  Various 
kinds  of  finishes  are  given,  such  as  seal  grain,  glove 
grain,  oil  grain,  buff,  satin,  russet,  or  plain. 

A  Side  of  Leather.  The  larger  skins  are  generally 
cut  along  the  back  into  two  halves  or  sides.  The  usual 
names  for  the  parts  of  each  side  are,  head,  shoulder, 
bend,  and  belly.  The  "bend"  is  the  best  portion 
of  the  back,  behind  the  shoulders,  the  firmest  leather 
of  the  entire  skin.  This  part  is  devoted  to  the  best 
uses  and  the  higher  grades  of  shoes,  other  parts  to 
lower  grades. 

Divisions  of  Leather  in  Shoe  Manufacture.  In 
shoe  manufacture  leather  is  divided  into  two 
general  classes,  upper  leather,  and  sole  leather.  The 
upper  leather  includes  the  outer  parts  of  the  shoe 
above  the  sole  and  leather  when  used  for  linings. 
Sole  leather  includes  that  used  for  the  outer  and 
inner  soles,  heels,  counters,  and  rands.  Upper  leather 
is  usually  measured  by  the  square  foot;  sole  leather, 
by  the  pound. 

The  Varieties  of  Upper  Leather.  There  are  five 
chief  kinds  of  upper  leather,  as  follows :  Kid  or  goat, 
calfskin,  side  leather,  sheepskin,  and  coltskin  or 
horsehide.  There  are  also  other  kinds,  such  as 


96  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

kangaroo,  chamois,  buckskin,  pigskin,  and  a  few 
special  and  fancy  leathers. 

Kid.  Kid  is  the  name  for  leather  made  from  the 
skins  of  full-grown  goats,  coming  mainly  from  the 
mountains  of  India,  Europe,  and  South  America. 
There  are  over  sixty  recognized  varieties  of  goat- 
skins. According  to  its  tanning  and  finishing,  kid 
is  classed  as  glazed,  mat,  royal,  cadet,  patent, 
suede,  bronze,  pebbled  or  morocco,  etc. 

"Glazed  kid,"  from  the  French  "glace  kid,"  is 
polished  after  tanning,  and  its  glossy  surface  is  ob- 
tained by  burnishing  on  the  grain  side.  It  is  pro- 
duced in  various  colors.  Glazed  kid  is  used  for  the 
uppers  of  shoes. 

"Mat  kid"  has  a  dull,  soft,  black  finish,  from 
treatment  with  beeswax  or  olive  oil. 

"Patent"  leather  is  produced  by  applying  a  coat 
of  varnish  to  the  finished  surface  of  the  skin. 

"Enamel"  leather  has  a  hard,  glossy  finish  on  the 
grain  side,  being  boarded  and  varnished. 

"Suede"  leather,  a  French  term,  means  "Swedish" 
finished.  It  is  finished  on  the  flesh  side  with  a  dry, 
napped  surface.  It  is  produced  in  a  great  variety 
of  colors  and  used  extensively  in  making  slippers, 
and  to  some  extent  in  light  shoes. 

"Bronze  kid,"  or  calfskin,  is  leather  finished  with 
a  form  of  cochineal  dye.  This  is  a  method  long 
known  and  used  especially  for  women's  fancy  shoes. 

"Vici  kid"  is  a  name  first  used  by  Robert  Foederer 
of  Philadelphia,  about  1885,  and  in  common  use  now 


LEATHER  97 

for  chrome  tanned  kid  dressed  with  a  mixture  of 
soap  and  oil.  This  term  became  a  trade-mark,  and 
refers  generally  to  the  better  grades  of  kid  leather. 

Other  kinds  of  kid  are  in  less  general  use.  They 
are  finished  in  particular  ways,  according  to  effects 
desired.  "Kangaroo  kid,"  for  instance,  is  kid  fin- 
ished in  imitation  of  the  genuine  kangaroo. 

"Chamois"  is  oil-tanned  leather  made  from  the 
skins  of  chamois  and  other  small  animals.  It  is  a 
very  pliable  and  washable  leather  when  genuine. 

Calfskin.  Calfskin  is  the  leather  used  most 
extensively  in  shoemaking.  It  is  the  lightest,  most 
pliable,  serviceable,  and  satisfactory  of  all  the 
skins  of  the  neat  animals.  Its  main  sources  are 
the  farms  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  South 
America,  and  European  countries.  It  is  finished  in 
many  forms,  of  which  it  is  necessary  to  mention 
only  a  few,  as  box,  gun  metal,  patent,  wax,  willow, 
boarded,  velvet,  ooze,  and  Russia.  Kips,  the 
middle  weight  skins  already  spoken  of,  and  calfskins 
overlap  in  qualities  and  uses.  The  calfskin  is  never 
split,  but  is  generally  shaved  to  a  uniform  thickness. 
The  different  names  applied  to  calfskin,  as  in  the 
case  of  kid,  refer  to  particular  kinds  of  treatment 
in  tanning  and  finishing  the  leather,  and  the  terms 
correspond  in  the  main  with  those  already  given 
for  kid.  A  few  special  terms  for  calfskin  are  the 
following : 

"Box  calf"  is  a  proprietary  name.  It  is  a  chrome 
tanned  calfskin  "boarded,"  that  is,  treated  by 


98  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

rubbing  with  a  board  to  raise  the  grain,  giving  a 
peculiar  rough  surface.  Box  calf  is  a  waterproof 
leather  of  black  or  tan  color,  and  is  regarded  as 
the  best  material  for  rough  out-of-door  wear. 

"Buckskin"  is  primarily  deer  skin  tanned  in  oil. 
In  recent  usage  it  means  any  soft  leather,  especially 
cowhide,  finished  in  a  white,  grayish,  or  yellowish 
color. 

"Gun  metal"  is  chrome  tanned  leather,  either 
calf,  veal,  or  side,  with  gun  metal  black  finish,  or 
with  a  bright  finish.  Gun  metal  leather  is  used 
very  extensively  in  shoe  manufacture. 

"Wax  calf"  is  finished  on  the  flesh  side  with  a 
waxlike  surface.  French  calf,  also,  is  finished  on 
the  flesh  side. 

"Willow  calf"  is  a  fine,  soft,  colored,  chrome 
tanned  skin. 

"Ooze"  is  a  proprietary  term  applied  to  the  velvet 
of  soft  finish  skin. 

"Russia"  is  a  colored  calfskin  finished  and  per- 
fumed with  birch  oil,  which  gives  it  a  characteristic 
appearance  and  odor. 

Side  leather.  Side  leather  is  cow  hide,  either  bark 
or  chrome  tanned,  with  the  skin  cut  down  the  back 
into  two  halves.  The  sides  are  split  to  reduce  to 
thickness  appropriate  for  shoe  tops  and  finished  in 
various  forms  with  dry,  oiled,  smooth,  or  boarded 
surfaces,  in  imitation  of  the  various  finishes  of  calf- 
skin. It  is  used  largely  in  the  cheaper  grades  of 
men's  and  boys'  shoes. 


LEATHER  99 

Sheepskin.  Sheepskin  is  used  chiefly  for  shoe 
linings  and  outer  parts  where  the  wear  is  light. 

Coltskin.  Coltskin  and  the  better  part  of  the 
horsehide  have  firmness  of  texture  and  suscepti- 
bility to  high  polish.  They  are  used  in  the  form  of 
patent  leather  and  in  dull  finish,  mainly  for  men's 
high-grade  shoes. 

Sole  Leather.  Sole  leather  includes  the  heavier 
and  thicker  kinds  of  leather  from  the  skins  of 
mature,  neat  animals,  such  as  are  suitable  for  use 
in  the  bottoms  and  heels  of  shoes.  It  is  tanned  and 
finished  so  as  to  produce  a  firm,  solid  texture  rather 
than  great  pliability. 

Sole  leather  is  tanned  from 

Green  hides  generally  ranging  between  forty  and 
seventy  pounds,  with  an  average  of  about  fifty-five 
pounds. 

Dry  hides  generally  ranging  between  sixteen  and 
thirty  pounds,  with  an  average  of  about  twenty  to 
twenty-two  pounds. 

Previous  to  ten  years  ago  sole  leather  hides  were 
tanned  in  liquors  extracted  from  hemlock  or  oak 
bark,  or  a  combination  of  the  two,  and  the  tanned 
leather  received  its  name  according  to  the  tanning 
material  used;  namely,  oak  leather  was  tanned  in 
oak  bark  liquors;  hemlock  in  hemlock  bark  and 
leather  tanned  in  the  combination  of  the  two  was 
called  union.  As  the  supply  of  bark  diminished  in 
the  various  sections  where  tanneries  were  located 
tanners  were  obliged  to  substitute  other  tanning 


100  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

materials,  such  as  barks,  nuts,  and  extract  made 
from  various  foreign  and  domestic  woods,  so  today 
leather  is  tanned  in  the  combination  of  several 
materials  and  the  finished  product  is  designated 
according  to  the  color  of  the  leather  which  it  re- 
sembles. Leather  having  a  light  color,  resembling 
the  color  of  old  oak  is  called  oak.  That  which  has 
a  more  reddish  shade  is  called  union  and  that  which 
has  a  very  dark  red  shade  is  called  hemlock.  Oak 
leather  is  used  largely  in  high  grade  men's  and 
women's  shoes  and  for  the  finding  trade.  A  large 
percentage  of  the  union  leather  is  bought  by  con- 
cerns which  make  a  business  of  cutting  soles,  and 
these  are  sold  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
women's  shoes.  Hemlock  is  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  medium  and  lower  priced  men's  shoes.  There  is 
also  a  very  large  export  business  in  this  class  of 
leather. 

A  very  small  percentage  of  sole  leather  hides  is 
now  being  tanned  by  a  chrome  process,  the  basis 
of  this  tannage  being  bichromate  of  soda.  It  is 
practically  the  same  process  as  that  used  in  tanning 
chrome  upper  leather.  Very  heavy  hides  are  gen- 
erally used  for  leather  tanned  in  this  process  because 
of  the  fact  that  the  tannage  does  not  swell  the  hides 
as  does  the  vegetable  process  and  it  is  necessary  to 
get  a  hide  averaging  from  eighty  to  ninety  pounds 
in  order  to  obtain  the  required  thickness.  This 
process  produces  a  piece  of  leather  which  has  a  pearl 
gray  color  in  its  natural  state  and  when  water- 


LEATHER  '';*>'10i 

proofed  is  of  a  dark  greenish  shade.  The  leather  is 
used  in  the  natural  state  for  soles  on  cheap  outing 
shoes  and  waterproofed  for  heavy  storm  shoes. 

Oak  tanned  leather  is  the  best  kind  of  sole  leather, 
as  is  indicated  always  by  its  market  price.  It  has 
a  light,  creamy  tan  color,  and  is  both  firm  and 
flexible.  Hemlock  tanned  is  of  a  lower  grade  than 
oak  or  union  tanned  leather.  Chrome  tanned  sole 
leather  is  dense,  hard,  and  durable,  but  has  hardly 
passed  beyond  its  experimental  stage. 

Hides,  from  which  sole  leather  is  made,  vary 
according  to  climatic  conditions  in  various  quarters 
of  the  world.  Animals  living  in  warm  climates  have 
a  thick  and  tough  skin  with  thin  hair;  those  living 
in  cold  climates  have  a  thick  coat  of  hair  with 
light  weight  skin. 

The  cost  of  sole  leather  makes  a  large  item  in  the 
general  costs  of  shoe  manufacture,  and  leather 
substitutes  are  used  chiefly  for  sole  leather. 

Some  other  leather  terms  and  varieties  of  leather 
not  necessarily  included  in  this  chapter  will  be  found 
in  Chapter  XIV  on  shoemaking  terms. 

The  Cut-Sole  Industry.  The  great  development 
of  the  shoe  industry  in  recent  years  has  produced 
not  only  dealers  in  all  kinds  of  leather  and  shoe 
supplies,  but  special  manufacturers  of  the  various 
materials  required  by  the  shoe  factory.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  automobile,  shoe  manufacture  may  be 
made  almost  a  matter  of  assembling  prepared 
parts. 


K)2  Tn£  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

The  industry  connected  with  the  preparing  of 
sole-leather  parts  is  especially  extensive,  including 
cut  soles,  insoles,  counters,  heels,  top  lifts,  taps, 
box  toes,  and  rands.  All  these  parts  are  now  pro- 
duced in  highly  specialized  factories,  and  furnished 
to  the  shoe  manufacturer  at  the  lowest  cost,  in 
great  numbers  in  uniform  size  and  quality.  Some 
of  the  largest  manufacturing  companies,  however, 
have  subsidiary  factories  in  their  plants  for  the 
production  of  such  parts,  but  the  smaller  factories 
are  compelled  to  buy  them  from  the  independent 
manufacturer. 

Most  of  the  lines  of  industry  connected  with  the 
cutting  of  sole  leather  center  in  the  United  States, 
and  there  are  no  factories  at  all  outside  this  country 
for  cut-soles,  heels,  top  pieces,  and  rands.  There 
are  forty  cut-sole  factories  in  this  country,  which 
do  an  annual  volume  of  business  of  $40,000,000, 
supplying  the  home  and  foreign  markets. 


LEATHER,  TANNED,  CURRIED,  AND  FINISHED— VALUE 

OF  PRODUCTS  FOR  LEADING  STATES: 

1909  AND  1899 


MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS 


PENNSYLVANIA 

WISCONSIN 

MASSACHUSETTS 

NEW  JERSEV 

NEW  YORK 

MICHIGAN 

ILLINOIS 

WEST  VIRGINIA 

DELAWARE 

OHIO 

CALIFORNIA 

VIRGINIA 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

KENTUCKY 

MARYLAND 

TENNESSEE 

INDIANA 

MISSOURI 


(103) 


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(105) 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  DEPARTMENTS  OF  SHOE 
MANUFACTURE 


(107) 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  DEPARTMENTS  OF  SHOE  MANUFACTURE 

The  Business  Departments.  The  business  side 
of  modern  shoemaking  has  definite  and  numerous 
divisions.  There  are  the  usual  officers:  President, 
vice-president,  treasurer,  superintendent  or  general 
manager,  employment  manager,  welfare  manager, 
office  manager,  and  other  heads  of  departments 
and  divisions,  with  their  many  assistants.  The 
functions  and  the  duties  connected  with  all  these 
divisions  are  such  as  are  found  in  the  general  busi- 
ness world,  and  are  described  in  the  volume  upon 
Business  Employments.  From  fifteen  to  twenty  per 
cent.,  or  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  persons  connected 
with  the  shoe  industry,  are  employed  upon  its  busi- 
ness side. 

The  accompanying  chart,  on  page  111,  gives  a  list 
of  the  usual  business  departments  and  shows  their 
three-fold  nature, — of  executive  control,  maintenance 
of  business,  and  maintenance  of  manufacture.  The 
two  divisions  of  employment  and  social  service  are 
in  a  sense  independent  of  the  three  major  divisions, 
or  supplementary  to  them.  The  employment  depart- 
ment deals  with  all  questions  of  the  hiring,  training, 
and  discharge  of  employees;  the  social  service 

(109) 


110  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

department,  with  all  questions  of  their  general 
welfare. 

The  Executive  Officers.  The  executive  officers 
are  those  who  work  out  and  control  the  general 
plans  and  policies  of  the  company.  They  may  or 
may  not  be  stockholders.  They  are  responsible 
to  the  stockholders  for  the  success  of  the  com- 
pany. 

The  General  Offices.  The  general  offices  are 
concerned  in  building  up  the  business  side  of 
manufacture  and  reach  out  into  the  field  of  trade. 
These  offices  take  charge  of  the  orders  received  from 
shoe  dealers,  of  correspondence,  bookkeeping,  and 
the  credits  and  collections  of  the  company.  They 
have  charge  of  purchasing  and  caring  for  materials 
used  in  manufacture,  and  of  the  large  and  important 
functions  of  advertising  and  of  selling  manufactured 
goods. 

The  Factory  Offices.  The  factory  offices  are  those 
concerned  closely  with  manufacture,  touching  the 
factory  at  every  department.  These  offices  are 
often  separate  from  the  others  and  placed  as  near 
the  factory  departments  as  possible.  They  take 
charge  of  tags  made  from  the  orders  received  by 
the  order  department  and  follow  them  through  the 
factory.  They  provide  a  schedule  of  the  time  in 
which  shoes  shall  be  made  or  passed  from  room  to 
room.  They  maintain  supplies  for  all  factory 
purposes,  pay  employees,  and  supervise  the  costs  of 
manufacture. 


CHART  OF  THE  BUSINESS  DEPARTMENTS  OF  SHOE 
MANUFACTURE 


STOCKHOLDERS 


EXECUTIVE  OFFICERS 


DIRECTORS 


PRESIDENT 


VICE-PRESIDENT 


TREASURER 


SUPERINTENDENT 


Office  Manager 


1 

1 

GENERAL  OFFICES 

FACTORY   OFFICES 

Order  Department 

Advance  Information  Dep't 

Correspondence  Department 

Tag  Department 

Bookkeeping  Department 

Dispatch  Department 

Credit  and  Collection  Dep't 

Supply  Department 

Sales  Department 

Upper  Leather  Office 

Purchasing  Department 

Schedule  Department 

Receiving  Department 

Pay  Roll  Department 

Publicity   Department 

Cost  Department 

Mailing  Department 

1 

4 


Messenger  Service 


(111) 


112  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Factory  Service  and  Office  Service.  Factory 
service  does  not  necessarily  lead  to  office  service. 
In  general  the  two  fields  of  employment  are  quite 
separate.  Boys  and  young  men,  however,  are 
sometimes  taken  into  the  business  offices  of  a  com- 
pany, usually  as  messengers,  and  given  at  the  same 
time  factory  training,  such  as  observation  of  processes 
and  routine  of  manufacture.  Less  frequently  the 
plan  is  followed  of  giving  six  months'  training  in  an 
office  and  then  the  same  period  in  the  factory.  The 
purpose  in  such  double  training  is  usually  to  prepare 
young  men  to  act  as  assistants  to  superintendents 
or  heads  of  departments.  Sometimes,  on  the  other 
hand,  employees  in  factory  departments  who  show 
clerical  ability  also  are  taken  into  the  factory  offices, 
where  there  is  always  need  of  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  work  of  the  factory. 

The  Factory  Departments.  In  the  following  chap- 
ters the  present  volume  treats  of  actual  shoemaking, 
or  of  factory  departments  and  processes.  There  are 
six  general  divisions  in  the  modern  shoe  factory. 
These  are  shown  by  the  following  chart  upon  factory 
departments.  They  are:  the  Upper  Leather  depart- 
ment, the  stitching  department,  the  sole  leather 
department,  the  making  department,  the  finishing 
department,  and  the  treeing,  packing,  and  shipping 
department.  These  are  each  minutely  subdivided 
into  factory  rooms,  sections,  or  departments,  as  will 
appear  in  the  following  pages.  The  last  division, 
treeing,  packing,  and  shipping,  in  a  large  factory,  are 


DEPARTMENTS  OF  SHOE  MANUFACTURE     113 

each  separate  departments,  making  eight  in  the  major 
divisions  rather  than  six.  In  large  factories  we  find 
numerous  additional  departments  of  which  the 
chief  ones  are  shown  in  the  second  division  of  the 
diagram,  or  heel  department,  box  toe  department, 
box  factory,  and  printing  department.  There  may 
be  sub-divisions,  also,  in  this  second  group,  accord- 
ing to  the  magnitude  of  manufacture.  A  large 
company,  indeed,  may  produce  all  its  materials  in 
the  endeavor  to  lower  the  cost  of  every  item  that 
enters  into  shoemaking. 

Other  names  are  used  for  some  of  these  divisions, 
usually  according  to  locality;  for  instance,  the 
stitching  department  is  sometimes  called  the  fitting 
department,  the  making  department,  the  bottoming 
department,  and  the  sole  leather  division  is  called 
the  stock-fitting  division.  The  word  "room"  is  very 
generally  used  for  "department"  for  the  sake  of 
brevity  in  speaking. 

The  Modern  Shoe  Factory.  The  modern  shoe 
factory,  in  which  are  found  the  many  offices  and  the 
factory  departments  just  enumerated,  has  become 
quite  typical  in  general  form.  The  width  of  the 
factory  is  a  very  important  consideration.  Build- 
ings are  constructed  with  a  width  of  about  fifty 
feet,  as  single  long  buildings,  or  having  wings  of 
the  same  width,  and  less  often  in  hollow  squares, 
maintaining  the  same  width  throughout.  This  con- 
struction allows  plenty  of  daylight  along  the  middle 
of  each  room  from  the  two  sides.  As  good  light 


CHART  OF  THE  FACTORY  DEPARTMENTS 


FACTORY  DEPARTMENTS 


Upper  Leather  Department 


Stitching  Department 


Sole  Leather  Department 


Making  Department 


Finishing  Department 


Treeing  Department* 


Packing  Department 


Shipping  Department 


ADDITIONAL  DEPARTMENTS  IN 
LARGE  FACTORIES 


Heel  Department 


Box  Toe  Department 


Box  Factory 


Printing 


*Treeing,  Packing,  and  Shipping  may  be  treated  separately  or  as  one  department. 

(114) 


CHART  OF  FACTORY  MANAGEMENT 


FACTORY  MANAGER 


Superintendents 


Foremen  and  Forewomen 


Assistants  Floorpeople 


Operatives  throughout  Departments 


Messengers 


(115) 


116  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

is  necessary  to  accurate  work,  it  is  essential  that 
rooms  be  constructed  in  this  way. 

In  length,  factories  vary  from  about  two  hundred 
feet  up  to  several  hundred  feet.  The  most  common 
form  is  the  long,  single  building,  with  capacity  for 
a  few  hundred  or  perhaps  a  thousand  employees. 
Some  factories  have  small  wings  or  adjacent  struc- 
tures. The  plan  followed  by  some  very  large  manu- 
facturing companies  of  extensive  wings  or  units 
affords  great  length  of  rooms  with  floor  space  all 
well  lighted  from  two  sides,  sometimes  up  to  a 
quarter  or  a  half  mile  in  length.  Such  plants  employ 
four  or  five  or  more  thousands  of  people,  and  turn 
out  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand  pairs  of  shoes 
daily. 

The  Typical  Factory.  The  typical  factory  has  four 
floors  for  its  six  major  departments.  The  sole  leather 
department  occupies  the  first  or  basement  floor. 
The  upper  leather  and  stitching  departments  occupy 
the  fourth  or  upper  floor.  The  making  department 
occupies  the  third  floor.  The  finishing,  packing, 
and  shipping  departments  are  upon  the  second  floor. 
The  business  offices  are  usually  divided  between  the 
second  and  third  floors.  The  factory  offices  are 
usually  placed  as  near  their  factory  departments 
as  possible. 

In  the  very  large  factories,  or  in  the  case  of  a 
plant  consisting  of  several  factories,  there  are  usu- 
ally central  administrative  offices,  while  the  factory 
offices  are  in  the  various  buildings  of  the  plant. 


117 


DEPARTMENT  OF  SHOE  MANUFACTURE     119 

Some  large  factories  now  have  as  many  as  seven 
or  eight  floors.  In  such  buildings  the  general  plan 
already  given  is  followed.  The  sole  leather  depart- 
ments are  on  the  basement  floor;  the  upper  leather 
departments  occupy  the  top  floor.  Shoes  in  process 
of  making  pass  downward  continually  to  the  packing 
and  shipping  rooms  on  the  first  floor.  Height  is 
sought  only  when  the  length  of  the  building  is 
limited  for  providing  needed  floor  space.  Indeed, 
the  long,  low  building  or  plan  of  separate  buildings 
is  preferable  in  many  respects,  giving  less  move- 
ment of  manufacture  up  and  down,  less  crowding 
of  employees,  better  light  and  ventilation,  and  less 
intense  jar  and  rumble  of  machinery,  all  tending 
to  improve  conditions  of  employment. 

On  the  other  hand,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
manufacturer,  the  closest  working  arrangement  of 
rooms  consistent  with  free  movement  and  safety, 
is  the  better,  since  it  brings  smaller  overhead  charges, 
less  expensive  administration  and  oversight,  and  a 
quicker  passage  of  the  shoe  from  its  beginning  to  its 
completion.  Location  and  available  building  space, 
however,  are  the  usual  factors  that  determine  the 
departure  of  a  factory  plan  from  the  general  and 
natural  four-floor  division. 

The  most  modern  shoe  factories  are  built  of  steel 
and  concrete,  with  the  outer  walls  largely  given  up 
to  window  space,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  accom- 
panying illustration. 


CHAPTER  VII 
METHODS  IN  SHOE   MANUFACTURE 


(121)     *8 


CHAPTER  VII 

METHODS  IN  SHOE  MANUFACTURE 

The  Chief  Methods.  The  chief  methods  in  manu- 
facturing shoes,  developed  mostly  with  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  are  as  follows: 

The  Goodyear  Welt, 

The  McKay, 

The  Turned, 

The  Standard  Screw, 

The  Pegged, 

The  Nailed. 

The  distinctions  indicated  in  these  terms  arise 
from  the  methods  of  attaching  the  sole  of  the  shoe 
to  the  upper,  which  has  always  been  the  most 
important  problem  of  the  shoemaker.  Prior  to  the 
introduction  of  shoe  machinery,  all  sewing  upon 
shoes,  the  attaching  of  the  bottom  to  the  upper  as 
well  as  sewing  together  the  parts  of  the  upper,  was 
done  by  hand.  In  the  beginning  of  the  factory 
industry  people  often  took  parts  from  the  factory 
to  their  homes  for  hand  stitching. 

The  first  improvements  consisted  of  the  use  of 
wooden  pegs  and  nails,  leading  to  the  use  of  the 
"standard  screw."  In  the  chapter  upon  the  history 
of  shoemaking  we  have  noted  inventions  which  have 

(123) 


124  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

dealt  with  the  attaching  of  the  sole  to  the  upper — 
that  of  August  Destouy  in  1862,  a  machine  with  a 
curved  needle  for  sewing  turned  shoes;  that  of 
Lyman  R.  Blake,  adapted  by  Gordon  McKay, 
introduced  in  1862  for  the  same  purpose,  and  since 
known  as  the  McKay  sewing  machine;  and  that 
of  Charles  Goodyear,  who  adapted  the  Destouy 
machine  for  turned  shoes  to  the  sewing  of  welts 
in  1871,  known  as  the  Goodyear  Welt  machine. 

Illustrations  of  Methods  Now  in  Use.  Upon  the 
following  pages  are  presented  diagrams  and  descrip- 
tions of  the  methods  now  in  use  in  shoe  manufac- 
ture. Most  factories  confine  themselves  to  one  or 
two  of  these  methods,  one  manufacturer  being 
known  as  a  maker  of  Goodyear  Welt  shoes,  another 
of  McKay  shoes,  and  so  on.  The  lighter  grades  of 
shoes  and  those  worn  by  women  and  children  are 
Goodyear  Welt,  McKay,  and  turned.  Many  of 
the  heavier  grades,  and  especially  shoes  for  outdoor 
wear,  such  as  are  worn  by  farmers,  fishermen,  and 
soldiers  in  some  countries,  are  of  the  pegged  and 
standard  screw.  The  McKay  method  has  been 
very  extensively  used  in  medium  weight  and  cheaper 
shoes  for  many  kinds  of  wear.  The  Goodyear  Welt, 
however,  has  been  used  more  and  more  extensively 
in  the  medium  and  better  grades  and  is  the  leading 
process  in  importance  at  the  present  time. 


-WELT 1     ^CQRK  rUUNST--- STITCH  UNITING 
< OUTSOLE  INSOLE.  UPPER 


AND  WELT 

LIP  OF  INSOLE—*' 


Cross  Section  of  a  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe 

This  diagram  shows  the  ingenious  method  em- 
ployed in  constructing  this  now  widely  worn  type 
of  shoe,  which  is  perfectly  smooth  inside.  The  tacks 
used  in  lasting  are  all  withdrawn  and  a  machine 
with  a  curved  needle  sews  the  welt  and  shoe  upper 
to  the  insole  without  going  inside  the  shoe.  The 
heavy  outsole  is  then  stitched  to  the  welt.  The 
thread  used  is  of  the  strongest  linen  and  thoroughly 
waxed.  It  makes  the  most  durable  and  comfortable 
type  of  shoe,  and  one  on  which  the  outsole  can 
readily  be  renewed. 

The  excellent  qualities  and  popularity  of  the  welt 
shoe  have  led  to  many  imitations  of  it  in  the  McKay 
method. 


(125) 


/         ^CHANNEL?" 
^•CLINCHING  POINT 
o  LASTING  TACK. 


BLASTING  TACK. 
^STITCH  «1M*KAY  MACHINE 
UNITING   OUTSOLE  AND  INSOLE. 


Cross  Section  of  a  McKay  Sewed  Shoe 

While  this  is  a  sewed  shoe,  it  differs  radically  from 
those  made  by  the  Goodyear  Welt  process,  inasmuch 
as  the  lasting  tacks  and  a  line  of  stitches  appear 
inside.  It  is  the  method  very  generally  employed 
in  making  the  cheap  and  medium  grades  of  shoes. 


(126) 


UPPERy 

UNINGv 


BLASTING   TACK. 

STANDARD   SCREW. 
CLINCHING  POINT  of  LASTING  TACK. 

Cross  Section  of  a  Standard  Screwed  Shoe 

In  making  this  type  of  shoe  the  tacks  used  in 
lasting  are  driven  away  in  and  clinched  against  the 
steel  bottom  of  the  last.  The  heavy  outsole  is  tacked 
in  place  and  fastened  by  means  of  screws.  The 
metal  which  forms  this  fastening  is  in  the  form  of 
wire  with  continuous  screw  thread.  When  the 
screw  reaches  the  inside  of  the  shoe,  the  machine 
automatically  cuts  it  off  and  feeds  to  the  next 
fastening.  This  method  makes  a  strong  but  stiff 
shoe. 


(127) 


UPPER 


LINING 


>  VUSTIN6  TACK. 
X^PEG. 

CLINCHING  POINToj  LASTING  TACK. 

Cross  Section  of  a  Pegged  Shoe 

This  type  of  shoe  differs  from  the  Standard 
Screwed  shoe  only  in  the  sole  fastening,  which  is 
of  wood,  in  the  form  of  a  shoe  peg.  The  machine 
which  drives  the  fastening  forms  the  peg  from  a 
coil  of  calendered  beech  wood,  which,  as  it  is  required 
by  the  machine,  is  cut  into  individual  pegs  which 
are  driven  by  the  machine  and  cut  off  inside  the 
shoe.  It  is  a  method  of  manufacture  which  was 
very  generally  used  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century,  but  which  has  been  largely  replaced  by 
other  methods. 

The  nailed  shoe  has  nails  in  place  of  wooden  pegs. 


(128) 


METHODS  IN  SHOE  MANUFACTURE        129 

The  Turned  Shoe.  The  "turned"  or  "turn" 
method  is  used  in  making  fine  shoes  and  slippers  for 
women  and  children.  The  shoe  is  made  wrong  side  \ 
out  and  then  turned  right  side  out.  The  sole  is  fas-  ! 
tened  to  the  last  and  the  upper  is  drawn  over  it,  wrong 
side  out,  and  sewed  to  it  through  a  channel  cut  in  the 
edge  of  the  sole.  The  seam  does  not  show  upon  the 
finished  shoe.  The  chief  difference  between  the  turn 
shoe  and  the  welt  or  McKay  is  the  absence  of  an  in- 
sole. Only  good  leather  of  pliable  quality  can  be  used 
successfully  in  making  this  kind  of  a  shoe,  which  is 
distinguished  always  for  lightness  and  flexibility. 
This  method  was  extensively  used  for  light  weight 
footwear  before  the  introduction  of  machinery.  The 
chief  process  has  simply  become  a  machine  process. 

The  Lace  Shoe.  The  items  shown  in  the  analysis 
of  the  lace  shoe  are  as  follows: 

Tongue  and  tongue  lining,  welt,  welting  thread,  top 
facing,  back  stay,  top,  eyelet  stay,  foxing,  laces, 
eyelet  stay,  top,  back  stay,  bobbin  thread,  vamp, 
toe  box,  eyelets,  top  thread,  outer  sole,  tip,  inner 
sole,  eyelet  lining,  doubler,  steel  shank,  top-lift, 
heel,  heel  pad,  lining,  counter. 

The  McKay  method  of  manufacture  led  in 
1909,  with  41.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  production; 
the  machine  or  hand-welt  method  was  second, 
with  32.3  per  cent. ;  and  the  turned  product  ranked 
third,  with  16.3  per  cent.,  followed  by  the  wire- 
screw  or  metal-fastened,  with  7.9  per  cent.,  and  the 
wooden  pegged,  with  2  per  cent. 


130  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

The  McKay  method  also  predominated  for  three 
of  the  four  classes  of  boots  and  shoes  and  for  the 
two  classes  of  slippers  for  which  separate  figures 
are  presented.  Infants'  shoes  and  slippers  were 
chiefly  turned,  while  for  "all  other  kinds"  the 
machine  or  hand-welt  methods  show  the  largest 
number. 

The  Different  Stages  in  Goodyear  Welt  Manu- 
facture. The  various  parts  of  the  Goodyear  welt 
shoe  as  they  are  brought  together  in  the  making 
are  shown  in  the  illustration  upon  the  following 
page.  They  are: 

1.  A  last. 

2.  An  upper. 

3.  An  insole. 

4.  Shoe  lasted  and  ready  to  have  welt  sewed  on. 

5.  Welt  partially  sewed  on. 

6.  Welt  entirely  sewed  on  and  shoe  ready  to 

have  outsole  laid. 

7.  An  outsole. 

8.  Shoe    with    outsole     laid     and    rounded. 

Channel    lip    turned    up    ready    to    be 
stitched. 

9.  Shoe  with  sole  stitched  on. 

10.  Shoe  with  heel  in  place. 

11.  Heel  trimmed  and  shoe  ready  for  finishing. 


A  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe  in  the  Different  Stages  of 
Manufacture 


(131) 


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CHAPTER  VIII 
THE   UPPER   LEATHER   DEPARTMENT 


(133) 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 


The  Importance  of  Detail  in  Shoe  Manufacture. 
It  is  the  purpose  of  this  and  the  following  chapters 
to  present  actual  factory  processes  and  employment 
opportunities  in  their  order.  Most  shoe  operators 
are  restricted  to  work  on  particular  single  machines 
and  processes.  In  a  few  cases,  especially  in  the 
smaller  and  older  factories,  an  operator  may  per- 
form several  related  processes;  or,  in  other  words, 
several  related  or  consecutive  processes  may  be 
combined  in  one  or  done  on  a  single  machine. 

An  average  style  shoe  in  the  making  must  pass 
through  over  one  hundred  different  pairs  of  hands 
and  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  machines, 
involving  over  two  hundred  processes,  according  to 
the  methods  of  particular  factories.  It  is  clear,  then, 
that  the  details  of  manufacture  are  of  the  highest 
importance,  and  that  every  factory  department 
must  observe  absolutely  the  specifications  of  each 
lot  of  shoes. 

The  divisions  shown  in  the  following  chart  are 
the  natural  divisions  of  the  upper  leather  department, 
as  will  appear  in  this  chapter.  Trimmings  and  lin- 
ings need  not  be  separately  presented  at  length. 

(135) 


136  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Pattern  making,  which  has  been  treated  separately 
in  Chapter  IV,  is  sometimes  made  the  first  division 
of  the  upper  leather  department,  where  patterns 
find  their  chief  use. 

It  may  be  said  here,  also,  that  the  general  plan 
and  system  of  this  department  and  of  the  other 
departments  of  shoemaking  are  the  same  in  all 
factories,  and  that  practically  the  same  machines 
are  in  use  everywhere,  but  that  details  and  minor 
processes  are  so  numerous  that  variation  in  them 
is  to  be  expected.  It  will  not  be  wise  or  necessary, 
then,  to  go  into  the  minutest  details  of  manufacture 
in  these  pages.  Only  processes  and  methods  that 
are  general  or  typical  need  be  presented. 

Action  upon  Receipt  of  an  Order.  The  making 
of  a  pair  of  shoes  begins  simultaneously  in  the  cutting 
department  and  in  the  sole  leather  department. 
When  an  order  is  received  in  a  modern  and  well- 
organized  factory  the  order  department  records  in 
the  order  book  all  the  details  regarding  the  samples 
upon  which  the  order  was  secured.  The  shoe  must 
be  made  upon  these  specifications  in  its  course 
through  the  factory,  and  when  finished  it  must 
conform  to  them. 

In  the  order  department  each  lot  is  given  an  order 
number.  Tags  bearing  this  number  and  the  details 
regarding  the  preparation  of  the  shoe  upper,  with  one 
tag  for  each  two  dozen  shoes,  are  sent  to  the  foreman 
of  the  cutting  room.  Other  tags  containing  details 
about  the  sole  leather  to  be  used  are  sent  to  the 


CHART  OF  THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 


UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 


Sorting  Department 


Trimming,  Cutting,  and  D inking  Department 


Lining  and  Cloth  Cutting  Department 


Upper  Cutting  Department 


Counting,  Marking,  and  Skiving  Department 


Assembling  Department 


(137) 


138  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

foreman  of  the  sole  leather  department.  A  third 
lot  of  tags  is  prepared  for  the  direction  of  the  foreman 
of  the  making  or  bottoming  room,  where  are  brought 
together,  for  assembling,  the  various  parts  of  the 
uppers  prepared  in  the  cutting  and  stitching  roopas 
and  of  the  bottoms  prepared  in  the  sole  leather  room. 

The  methods  of  making  out  the  tags  or  tickets 
which  are  used  as  guides  in  the  various  rooms  of 
the  shoe  factory  vary  in  some  factories.  A  clerk 
in  the  cutting  room,  for  instance,  may  prepare  them 
upon  an  order  sent  to  him  from  the  order  department. 
In  all  cases,  however,  the  essential  points  given  in 
the  tags  are  the  same.  The  tag  specifies  the  sole, 
heel,  upper,  kind  and  quality,  the  stitching,  the  style 
of  last,  bottom  finishing,  treeing,  and  packing. 
On  the  following  pages  is  presented  a  typical  tag 
used  in  the  shoe  factory. 

The  Day  Sheet.  The  despatch  department  has 
charge  of  the  passing  of  work  into  the  factory  and 
of  following  it  up  through  the  factory.  From  the 
tags  received  by  the  order  department  the  despatch 
office  prepares  schedules  or  bulletins  called  day 
sheets.  These  sheets  show  accurately  the  details 
of  each  and  every  lot  of  shoes  passing  into  the  factory 
on  a  given  day  and  also  the  scheduled  time  when  the 
last  lot  of  each  day's  work  should  pass  a  given  point 
in  the  factory.  The  day  sheet  contains  also  supple- 
mentary information  showing  the  exact  quantity 
of  each  of  the  various  special  items  of  product  com- 
posing a  particular  day's  work.  The  sheets  are  made 


READ  THIS  TAG                       T.PJT.CKET. 

*_«•*.».                         !1».                                                    *"*•                              *W                                 *"•"• 

WhenShlp                                 DaU  of  Order 

Stitch  Ho.                    Peri. 

Toagu                    BTtStay 

Ca*eN                          ftwrtor                            * 

utpL&L                           Pn.|Width|  l|l4|2|24J  3J34J4    44    6  |  64    6 

64    7|74|8 

OHUMrtfe                 7MBP                              * 

TaiBpUa.                                          M   iE 

20  26 

30 

35|  40J45   60  1  65   60 

66    70J75  80 

Tfc*,ff                       ....J  _ 

1 

1         1  1 

1 

NT"*                        fctolag                       {a 

*****                   "~                          fRIMMmG~T]cKET."~ 

Pn.|widU»|  l|upa|tt|  3J34   4  J44    «|«]«)«|T   74(8     t«p*"              *«T 

|           |lOJ16   20J26  30  38|40|46   |»165|«0|«|70   75J80    DM.**                   ffid,SU7 

*.L.               iS 

1          1     1          1           1                1 

Pn.|.Wldtt    I.|l4|2|24|3|3l|4    44    6  |  54    6 

64    7|74    8 

CUTTING  AND  FITTING         BOTTOMING                                  10  15  20  26 

30 

35|«|«   60J55   60 

66   70J76  80 

Had 

1      1            1 

Patten  ;                                      Latt 

It» 

LINJNG  TICKET. 

Lining                                            Out  Sole 

.     Ira    Tff-r- 

'TopPao.                                         Slip 

It.  inel*                   CateNo.      -              Vp.Linl 

*a 

Sock  Lining                      Ho. 

aurttt                                    St.  Tap 

Couater                    P».  |  WldU,    1  1  14 

,2J24|  3J34J4  J44|6J64|6 

64    7|7i    8 

Vamp                                         StHeel                                                           1            10   u 

20  25 

30  1  36  1  40  *5  j  50   66   60 

65    70|76|80 

folai                                       StShg 

.  rs.ruo>         _,    1.  .,. 

II            f           1 

1     1 

Tip                                            StMge 

uST                                        SOLE  LEATHER  TICKET. 

nfa,                                     StK 

TopPo.                 *&*  

Crater                    Shank 

Tongue                                           Monogram 
Label                                              Sock  Lining 

Sole                 Heel               Slip 

l_       '   fcj""» 

2    24 

3 

34|4     44|5|6i|6j64J  7J7JJ8 

FOXING  TICKET 

Can  Ho.                          End                               P 

:  10  16 

20  26 

30 

35|  40  15   50   55   60 

66    70  75  80 

1 

J_-                ^ 

1 

Stitch  No.                                           BackStay 

INSOLE  TICKET. 

Bad                             Last 

Pn.  )  Width]  l  jl^j  !j  j^|  j  |jj|  4  J14|  5  I  5,  |  6  J6J|  7  |7J|  g     CaeeHo. 

|           |lo|l6   20  25  30   35|40|s5|50J5 

60|65    70i76  80    

2    24 

3 

34ji    44    S|64|6|64(7|74|8 

III           II           I      | 

.. 

20  26 

30 

36J40  46   50   55J-60 

65  -70   75  80 

1                  II 

CiMNo.                               TIP 

Pat.  Ho. 

STRAP  TICKET.; 

Pn.  |width|  l|li|  2  1  24    3|34|4J«|5    & 

(6    6i|  7J7«|  8    Ttapw 

|lo|l5J2o|25  30   38|40J45|&0   W 

60|6S    70|75|80   *•*• 

I           III           II           II 

i  I  i  t  i  .  »•  «»I|i 

2  J24J  8  J3i|  4     44    6  |  64    6 

64    T    74    8 

20  25 

30  1  36  1  10  -45   50J56  60 

66    70   75   80. 

I                J 

| 

II            II 

A  Typical  Shoe  Tag 


(139) 


raooy 


raooH 
aapsBi 

jo  ano 


raooa 


moon 


raooH 


I 


I 

< 


•ON 
B.wraojsno 


(140) 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       141 

in  duplicate.  One  set  is  kept  in  the  office  and  upon 
it  are  checked  off  records  of  the  work  as  it  proceeds 
through  the  factory.  This  sheet  also  contains  the 
name  of  the  customer  for  whom  the  shoes  are  being 
made,  their  price,  and  the  name  and  commission 
of  the  salesman.  Other  sets  go  to  the  various 
factory  rooms  as  guides  and  records  of  the  day's 
work.  The  sheet  used  in  the  cutting  room  contains 
the  specifications  which  constitute  the  cutting  in- 
structions, such  as  the  kind  of  the  upper  stock  and 
linings  to  be  used,  the  price,  and  the  number  of 
square  feet.  -On  this  sheet  are  recorded,  also,  all 
the  details  of  the  work  of  cutting  as  the  cutting  is 
done.  The  use  of  the  day  sheet  is  quite  universal 
in  shoe  manufacture  and  it  has  done  much  to  pro- 
mote efficient  methods.  On  page  140  is  presented 
a  typical  shoe  factory  day  sheet. 

The  Upper  Leather  Room.  The  upper  leather 
room  is  that  division  of  the  upper  leather  department 
in  which  leather  stock  is  measured  and  sorted  for 
the  cutting  room.  The  department  includes  the 
care,  sorting,  and  cutting  of  the  leather  and  other 
materials  that  enter  into  the  upper  of  the  finished 
shoe,  and  has  three  divisions,  leather,  linings,  and 
trimmings,  each  being  usually  called  a  department 
or  room. 

Measuring  Upper  Leather.  About  two  hundred 
different  kinds  of  upper  leather  are  now  in  use. 
They  usually  come  from  the  wholesale  houses  or 
store  rooms  of  the  factory  in  boxes  to  the  upper 


142  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

leather  room.  There  they  are  taken  from  the 
boxes,  counted,  measured  upon  a  machine,  and 
stamped  with  the  number  of  square  feet  in  each 
piece.  The  machine  used  in  measuring  the  upper 
leather  is  very  sensitive  to  heat  and  cold,  and  must 
be  adjusted  every  morning  for  the  day's  use.  It 
records  the  exact  number  of  square  inches  in  the 
skin.  The  operator  of  it  must  be  very  careful 
and  trustworthy.  Upper  leather  constitutes  a  large 
part  of  the  cost  of  shoe  manufacture,  and  its  econ- 
omic use  is  absolutely  essential  in  a  factory. 

The  Leather  Sorter.  Leather  sorting  follows 
measuring  and  is  equally  important.  The  cutting 
room  tags  calling  for  particular  kinds  of  leather  for 
particular  lots  of  shoes  are  given  to  the  leather 
sorter.  He  must  be  able  to  judge  by  experience 
exactly  the  amount  and  quality  of  leather  required 
to  cut  each  order,  though  the  quantity  may  be 
figured  in  the  office.  He  tests  its  quality  by  doubling 
a  skin  along  the  back  and  passing  his  fingers  over 
the  folded  edge.  He  rolls  the  skins  selected  or 
sorted  for  each  lot  of  shoes  into  a  bundle,  attaches 
the  ticket  which  he  has  used,  and  sends  the  bundle 
to  the  cutter.  The  leather  sorter  must  himself 
have  served  several  years'  apprenticeship  as  a  cutter, 
so  as  to  become  used  to  the  kinds,  feel,  and  cutting 
value  of  leather.  After  sorting,  the  upper  leather 
is  sometimes  weighed  out  by  thickness  into  lots  of 
definite  weight,  and  placed  on  shelves  in  the  room 
until  needed  for  orders  from  the  cutting  room. 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       143 

The  Lining  Sorter.  There  is  usually,  also,  a  sorter 
of  the  various  kinds  of  cloth,  such  as  twills  and 
drills,  used  for  the  linings  of  shoes.  These  are  in- 
spected for  their  weave,  strength,  and  chemical 
qualities.  They  are  inspected  both  for  acceptance 
by  the  factory  and  for  grades  for  particular  kinds 
of  shoes.  They  are  marked  and  labeled  and  put 
away  in  grades  corresponding  to  intended  uses. 
The  lining  sorter  must  usually  have  had  training 
in  a  textile  school. 

The  Positions  in  a  Sorting  Department.  In  the 
small  factory  one  or  two  persons  only  may  be  em- 
ployed in  the  work  of  measuring  and  sorting  leather. 
Very  many  shoe  factories,  however,  in  which  large 
and  valuable  quantities  of  stock  are  used  daily,  have 
a  fully  organized  sorting  department. 

The  positions  in  a  modern  sorting  department 
are  as  follows: 

1.  The    Inspector,  who    examines    the    material 
selected  by  the  sorters  for  particular  uses,  to  see  that 
it  is  rightly  chosen. 

2.  The  head  sorter,  who  has  charge  of  sorting. 

3.  Several  or  more  leather  and  lining  sorters. 

4.  One  or  two    weighers   of   the   sorted   lots  of 
leather. 

5.  Men  who  put  up  the  work  called  for  by  the 
cutter's  tags,  selecting  the  leather  according  to  the 
price  given  upon  the  tag,  and  placing  the  bundles 
in  their  proper  places  for  passage  into  the  cutting 
room. 


144  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

6.  Girls  who  figure  the  allowances  of  leather 
called  for  by  the  tags  and  keep  the  cutters'  accounts. 
This  work  must  be  accurately  done  and  demands 
considerable  ability. 

The  Lining  and  Cloth-Cutting  Section.  The 
cutting  of  cloth  tops  and  linings  was  formerly  done 
largely  by  hand.  The  hand  worker  places  a  pattern 
upon  the  cloth  and  cuts  quickly  around  the  edge 
of  the  pattern  with  a  knife.  He  may  cut  the  cloth 
in  the  single  piece  or  in  layers,  up  to  eight  thick- 
nesses. Such  cutting  is  never  accurate,  and  with 
the  increased  use  of  textiles  in  shoemaking  it  proves 
too  slow  a  method.  The  dicing  or  dinking  machine 
is  being  used  more  and  more  for  the  cutting  of  cloth 
parts.  The  die  made  in  the  shape  of  the  usual  pat- 
tern is  accurate,  and  from  twenty-four  to  forty 
thicknesses  of  cloth  may  be  cut  by  it  at  one  time, 
increasing  the  work  of  the  section  many  fold.  The 
cost  in  cases  of  die  cutting  is  reckoned  at  about 
one-tenth  of  that  by  hand  cutting.  Hand  dicing  or 
dinking  is  in  practice  to  some  extent. 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  dieing  or  dinking 
section  works  entirely  according  to  the  specification 
of  tags  for  each  lot  of  shoes.  Lots  go  through  the 
room  in  pairs  varying  from  one  hundred  and  eight 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  number  for  hand  cutting, 
and  about  four  hundred  for  machine  dieing.  The 
usual  lining  parts  to  be  cut  or  died  out  are,  quarter 
lining,  top  band,  inside  stay,  fly  lining,  back  stay, 
and  tip. 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       145 

Patterns  and  dies  are  selected  not  only  for  each  of 
these  parts  but  for  the  particular  style  of  shoe  called 
for. 

The  Positions  in  the  Lining  and  Cloth  Cutting 
Section.  The  usual  positions  connected  with  the 
cutting  of  cloth  tops  and  linings  are,  the  Foreman, 
the  hand  cutters,  the  machine  dinkers,  the  hand 
dinkers,  the  pattern  boy,  the  cloth  and  lining  folders, 
the  piece  sorters,  the  inspectors,  the  cripple  cutter, 
and  the  stock  man.  There  may  also  be  an  instruc- 
tor, to  aid  the  foreman  in  teaching  new  employees. 
After  about  one  year's  service  on  cloth  and  linings 
cutters  may  go  to  the  outside  or  leather  cutting 
room. 

The  Cutting  Room.  The  cutting  room  is  that 
division  of  the  upper  leather  department  in  which 
the  leather  is  cut,  by  hand  or  with  a  die,  for  the  upper 
parts  of  the  shoe.  It  is  the  most  important  section 
of  the  large  department.  The  cut  parts  finally  go 
to  the  assembling  room  along  with  the  linings  from 
the  lining  room,  and  are  there  put  together  ready 
for  the  stitching  room. 

The  Hand  Cutter.  Cutting  the  upper  parts  of 
the  shoe  by  hand  was  the  method  preceding  the 
introduction  of  machinery,  and  is  still  in  use,  especi- 
ally in  the  smaller  and  older  factories,  or  in  factories 
that  handle  small  skins.  It  is  an  expert  process 
demanding  years  of  practice  for  the  finest  work, 
and  has  been  so  satisfactory  that  it  gives  way  but 
slowly  to  the  use  of  machinery.  The  particular 


146  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

advantage  of  hand  cutting,  in  addition  to  the  more 
economical  use  of  leather,  is  that  the  hand  cutter  is 
more  likely  to  place  his  pattern  so  that  the  different 
parts  of  the  skin  may  be  cut  according  to  the  quali- 
ties needed  for  the  different  parts  of  the  shoe. 
With  the  improvements  in  the  tanning  of  leather  so 
that  more  uniform  qualities  are  obtained,  and  with 
the  increased  demand  for  speed  in  cutting,  large 
establishments  are  tending  gradually  to  the  use  of 
machine  dicing. 

Hand  cutting  is  done  upon  hard  wood  blocks 
made  especially  for  the  purpose,  or  thick  "cutting 
boards"  arranged  at  a  convenient  height  for  the 
workman  to  stand  before  them.  He  uses  a  short- 
bladed,  keen  edged  knife.  It  is  a  part  of  his  training 
to  know  how  to  keep  his  board  smooth  and  oiled 
regularly  and  his  knife  sharp. 

The  leather  cutter  is  sometimes  called  "outside 
cutter,"  to  distinguish  him  from  the  cutter  of  linings 
and  trimmings. 

The  cutter  receives  a  bundle  or  lot  of  leather  with 
its  tag  from  the  sorting  room,  and  the  patterns 
called  for  by  the  tag  from  the  pattern  room.  He 
lays  out  his  patterns  conveniently  at  hand  in  the 
order  of  large,  medium,  and  small.  He  places  one 
skin  at  a  time  upon  the  block.  Placing  a  particular 
pattern  upon  it,  so  that  the  part  selected  is  best 
suited  to  the  corresponding  part  of  the  completed 
shoe,  he  draws  his  knife  skillfully  around  the  metal 
edge  of  the  pattern.  This  involves  several  or  more 


A  Skin  Showing  how  Patterns  are  Placed  in  Cutting 


(147) 


148  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

motions,  with  the  dangers  of  cutting  away  from  the 
pattern  and  of  cutting  the  fingers.  The  cutter 
uses  his  patterns  alternately,  or  with  variation  of 
sizes  and  positions,  so  as  to  cut  the  skin  most  eco- 
nomically. Usually  the  waste  parts  are  very  small 
and  unsuited  to  other  purposes  in  the  factory,  except 
for  such  trimmings  as  back  straps  and  vamp  stays. 
They  are  generally  sold  to  be  consumed  in  making 
leather  substitutes,  or  for  the  oil  they  contain.  The 
cutter  lays  out  all  his  cut  parts  in  lots  and  marks 
the  upper  piece  by  pattern,  size,  width  and  style. 
He  ties  up  these  lots  with  the  tag  and  a  sticker 
attached  showing  the  case  number,  the  number  of 
pairs,  and  the  size. 

The  work  of  the  cutter  is  checked  up  in  the  sorting 
room,  making  an  exact  efficiency  record  for  each 
workman,  and  the  totals  of  cutting  are  placed  upon 
the  cutting  room  day  sheet. 

The  outside  cutter  learns  his  trade  by  work  upon 
cloth  and  linings  or  by  service  in  leather  cutting  in 
a  small  factory. 

The  Clicking  Machine.  As  has  already  been 
indicated,  large  shoe  factories  are  coming  to  use 
machines  for  cutting  leather,  in  some  factories  both 
the  hand  method  and  the  machine  method  being 
found  side  by  side.  The  machine,  which  performs 
a  process  formerly  thought  impossible  except  by 
hand,  has  a  cutting  board  or  block  like  that  of  the 
hand  worker.  A  strong  arm  or  beam  swings  from 
side  to  side  over  this  block.  A  skin  is  placed  upon 


Operating  the  Clicking  Machine 


149 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       151 

the  block  and  the  operator  of  the  machine  sets  a 
die  upon  the  leather,  just  as  the  hand  worker  would 
place  a  pattern  upon  it.  He  then  swings  the  arm 
of  the  machine  over  the  die,  which  is  pressed  through 
the  leather  by  the  automatic  action  of  the  machine. 
The  arm  then  returns  automatically  to  its  full 
height.  Dies  may  be  used  alternately  as  in  hand 
work,  so  as  to  cut  the  skin  economically.  They  are 
made  in  various  designs  and  sizes,  with  one  die  for 
each  design  and  size.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that 
machine  cutting  calls  for  a  very  large  number  of 
dies.  Each  is  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in 
height,  so  that  the  operator  can  see  clearly  where 
he  is  placing  it  upon  the  leather,  and  of  such  light 
weight  as  not  to  injure  the  leather.  Cutting  is  done 
upon  one  thickness  only.  One  movement  of  the  arm 
of  the  machine,  guided  by  the  operator,  accomplishes 
what  it  would  take  the  hand  cutter  considerable 
time  to  do  in  passing  his  knife  entirely  around  the 
edge  of  the  pattern.  All  pieces  cut  by  a  die  must 
be  identically  the  same,  while  in  hand  cutting  there 
would  necessarily  be  some  variation  in  size.  The 
dies  used  for  the  vamps  mark  the  location  of  the  toe 
cap  and  Blucher  foxings  that  may  be  added  later. 
The  cut  parts  are  treated  as  in  hand  work,  and  sent 
on  to  the  next  operations. 

The  die  cutting  machine  is  called  the  "clicking 
machine,"  and  is  one  of  the  most  important  recent 
innovations  in  the  making  of  shoes.  An  illustra- 
tion of  this  machine  is  on  page  149. 


THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 


The  Counting,  Marking,  and  Skiving  Department. 
In  a  small  factory  many  of  the  minor  operations  of 
shoemaking  are  done  in  some  part  of  the  rooms  in 
which  the  related  major  processes  are  performed. 
Such  minor  operations  may  employ  but  few  people. 
In  the  larger  factories,  however,  they  become  very 
important  because  of  the  large  number  of  shoes 
made  daily.  They  then  employ  many  persons  and 
are  carried  on  in  separate  rooms  and  departments. 
Such  is  the  department  in  which  the  counting, 
marking,  and  skiving  of  the  pieces  coming  from  the 
cutting  room  are  done.  The  cutter,  or  some  other 
employee  in  the  cutting  room,  has  marked  only 
the  top  piece  of  each  lot.  In  this  department  girls 
untie  the  lots,  count  them  to  see  that  the  number 
called  for  by  the  tag  is  present,  and  mark  the  size 
upon  each  part.  The  employees  of  this  department, 
except  for  a  machinist  who  has  charge  of  the  ma- 
chines, are  regularly  girls  and  women.  The  entire 
department  is  sometimes  called  the  skiving  depart- 
ment, from  the  chief  process  in  it. 

Skiving.  The  edges  of  the  upper  leather  which 
are  to  show  in  the  finished  shoe  are  "skived,"  or 
beveled  to  a  thin  edge  which  can  be  folded  in  so  as 
to  give  a  more  finished  appearance  to  the  completed 
shoe.  This  work  is  done  by  girls  upon  skiving 
machines.  Such  edges  on  thick  leather  are  some- 
times stained  the  color  of  the  leather  itself  instead 
of  being  skived.  The  skived  edges  are  covered  with 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       153 

a  coating  of  cement,  and  placed  in  a  machine  which 
folds  and  presses  them  at  the  same  time. 

Nicking.  All  curved  edges  of  upper  leather  parts 
are  nicked  or  cut  with  little  notches  by  girls  upon 
nicking  machines.  This  is  done  so  that  such  parts 
may  be  folded  in  evenly  and  smoothly  in  stitching 
the  shoe.  Sometimes  edges  which  will  show  in  the 
completed  shoe  are  scalloped. 

Dieing  Out  Straps.  Straps  for  Oxford  shoes  and 
button  flies  are  usually  died  out  by  hand,  by  the  use 
of  a  mallet,  in  this  department,  rather  than  by  the 
cutter  in  the  cutting  room,  where,  being  the  smallest 
parts,  they  cause  some  delay  in  cutting. 

Positions  in  the  Skiving  Department.  The  posi- 
tions in  the  skiving  department  are,  the  Forewoman; 
floor  girls,  who  give  out  work,  gather  it  up,  and 
check  it  off  as  it  leaves  the  room;  counters  and 
markers;  skivers;  nickers  and  scallopers;  edge  stain- 
ers,  and  the  machinist. 

Assembling  Department.  The  upper  parts  of 
the  shoe  come  on  trucks  from  the  skiving  room  to 
the  assembling  department.  Here  are  many  boxes 
in  which  the  lots  are  placed  according  to  numbers, 
with  four  tags  for  each  order,  the  tag  for  the  outer, 
upper  part  of  the  shoe,  for  linings,  for  trimmings, 
and  for  tip.  In  each  box  are  placed  all  the  parts 
necessary  for  the  complete  upper,  by  adding  to  each 
lot  what  its  tag  calls  for.  Linings  are  marked  upon 
a  stamping  machine  with  size,  width,  and  case 
number.  When  all  parts  have  been  assembled  they 


154  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

are  divided  for  the  various  sections  of  the  stitching 
room.  For  instance,  quarter  linings,  top  bands, 
button  flies  or  side  stays  go  to  the  tip-stitching  sec- 
tion; tips  go  to  the  tip-stitching  section;  and  the 
outside  parts,  vamps,  vamp  linings,  and  tongues, 
go  to  the  vamping  section. 

Positions  in  the  Assembling  Department.  The 
positions  in  the  assembling  department  are,  the 
Foreman,  floor  girls,  girls  for  casing  up,  for  stamping 
linings,  and  for  arranging  tags  in  order  of  precedence, 
and  a  stock  boy. 

Time  and  Pay  Statistics  in  the  Cutting  Depart- 
ment. At  the  end  of  this  and  other  chapters  on 
factory  departments  are  presented  statistics  selected 
from  Bulletin  No.  178  of  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics,  showing  average  wages,  weekly 
earnings,  and  hours  per  week  in  boot  and  shoe  manu- 
facture throughout  the  country  from  1910  to  1914, 
and  by  states  for  1914. 

The  figures  here  given  are  for  a  selected  number 
of  establishments,  but  may  he  regarded  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  entire  industry,  as  according  to  the 
census  of  1910  more  than  ninety-seven  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  of  employees  in  the  industry  were 
found  in  the  states  from  which  the  information  was 
secured. 

Among  other  things,  it  will  be  observed  by  Table 
VII,  on  pages  156  and  157,  that  hand  cutters,  whose 
work  is  more  exacting  than  that  of  machine  cutters, 
received  in  1914  thirty-six  and  three-fifth  cents  per 


THE  UPPER  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT       155 

hour,  or  $19.66  a  week;  while  machine  cutters  re- 
ceived thirty-two  and  one-half  cents  per  hour,  or 
$17.93  per  week.  It  will  be  seen,  also,  that  male 
skivers  in  1914  received  twenty-nine  and  nine- 
tenths  cents  an  hour,  or  $16.13  a  week;  while  female 
skivers  received  twenty  and  nine-tenths  cents  an 
hour,  or  $11.30  a  week.  In  Table  VIII,  on  page  159, 
may  be  seen  the  variations  of  earnings  in  these 
operations  in  the  great  shoe  manufacturing  centers 
of  the  country. 


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Time  Hours 

Ocoupati< 

Cutters,  vamp  and 
Massachusetts. 
Missouri  
New  York  .  .  . 
Ohio  
Other  States  . 

I 

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Massachusetts 
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New  York 
Ohio  
Other  States  .  . 

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M  assachusetts 
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(168) 


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(109) 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT 


(181) 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT 

Definition.  The  stitching  department  is  that 
division  of  the  factory  in  which  the  outer  parts  of 
the  upper  of  the  shoe,  the  linings,  and  the  trimmings 
are  sewed  together  upon  machines,  ready  for  putting 
upon  the  last.  In  some  factories  this  division  is 
called  the  "fitting-room."  Female  employees  gen- 
erally work  in  this  department,  but  at  present  men 
are  being  employed  more  and  more  on  the  vamping 
machines  and  other  heavy  parts  of  stitching.  In  a 
factory  having  5,000  employees  about  1,400  are 
found  in  the  stitching  department.  The  machines 
used  in  the  stitching  room  are  similar  to  the  ordinary 
sewing  machine  used  in  the  home. 

Variations  in  Stitching  Room  Processes.  Methods 
and  details  in  the  stitching  department  differ  more 
than  in  the  cutting  and  other  departments  of  the 
shoe  factory,  because  of  the  many  parts  composing 
the  upper  of  the  shoe.  There  are  more  processes 
involved  in  the  making  of  women's  shoes,  with  the 
constant  striving  after  style  and  effect,  than  in  men's 
shoes,  in  which  plainness  and  serviceable  qualities 
are  desired.  Processes  may  be  modified,  also,  in 
making  children's  and  infants'  footwear.  Different 

(168) 


164  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

kinds  of  shoes,  as  high,  low,  and  pumps,  require 
variations  in  the  methods  of  sewing  the  various 
parts  of  the  upper.  Altogether  the  stitching  depart- 
ment involves  a  large  number  of  processes  of  minute 
detail  and  possibility  of  variation.  The  generally 
prevailing  methods  are  here  presented. 

The  Number  and  Divisions  of  the  Parts  to  be 
Stitched.  For  the  uppers  of  an  ordinary  pair  of 
button  boots,  as  an  example,  there  are  forty-four 
different  pieces  of  material.  The  stitching  is  done 
upon  many  of  these  parts  simultaneously  before  the 
upper  is  ready  for  lasting.  The  size  is  marked  upon 
every  part.  The  linings  and  the  trimmings  are 
given  to  one  division  of  operators,  the  outsides  to  an- 
other, and  the  vamps  and  tips  to  still  another 
division.  All  these  parts  meet  again  when  each 
has  been  sewed,  and  are  inspected  and  sent  on  to 
the  lasting  room. 

The  Divisions  of  This  Department.  The  natural 
divisions  of  this  department  are  shown  in  the  follow- 
ing chart.  They  are,  the  Lining  department,  the 
tip  department,  closing  and  staying,  foxing,  top 
stitching,  or  closing  on  and  top  stitching,  and  the 
button  hole,  vamping,  and  toe  closing  department. 

The  Lining  Department.  In  the  lining  depart- 
ment various  parts  of  the  lining  are  pasted  and 
sewed  together  in  preparation  for  the  top  stitching 
department,  where  the  lining  as  a  whole  will  be 
sewed  to  the  upper  of  the  shoe.  Each  operation 
here  spoken  of  may  be  a  single  process  or  may 


CHART  OF  THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT 


STITCHING  DEPARTMENT 


Lining  Department 


Tip  Department 


Closing  and  Staying  Department 


Foxing  Department 


Top  Stitching  Department 


Button  Hole  Department 


Vamping  Department 


Toe  Closing  Department 


(165) 


166  THE  SHOE  INDUSTBY 

represent  several  minor  processes.  First  the  lining 
is  closed  or  sewed  in  a  seam,  and  taped,  or  stayed 
up  and  down  the  heel.  The  top  band  is  sewed  on. 
The  button  fly,  which  has  a  reinforcement  in  the 
man's  shoe,  is  also  stitched  on.  A  lining  is  stitched 
upon  the  tongue  for  some  shoes.  The  vamp  lining 
is  cemented  merely  to  hold  it  in  place  for  later 
sewing.  Labels  are  stitched  on  the  lining  of  the 
inside  of  the  heel  for  Oxford  shoes,  and  on  the  inside 
of  the  top  of  the  lining  for  boots.  The  more  common 
kinds  of  boots,  for  instance,  are,  the  button,  the 
Polish,  the  Blucher;  of  low  shoes,  the  Oxford  and 
the  pump. 

Positions  in  the  Lining  Department.  The  usual 
positions  in  the  lining  department  of  the  stitching 
room  are,  the  Superintendent,  the  forewoman,  the 
inspector,  operators  on  the  closing  of  linings,  on 
the  staying  of  linings,  on  sewing  of  top  bands,  and 
on  attaching  labels,  the  floor  girls,  and  a  cripple 
girl  who  attends  to  all  imperfect  work. 

The  Tip  Department.  The  tip  department  is 
that  section  of  the  stitching  room  in  which  the  tip 
receives  special  preparation  for  its  place  in  the  com- 
plete upper,  and  in  which  it  is  sewed  to  the  vamp. 
Tips  come  from  the  cutting  room  tied  in  bunches 
separate  from  the  other  parts  of  the  shoe.  In  the 
tip  department  they  are  skived,  perforated,  and 
fitted  with  linings  according  to  use  on  particular 
vamps,  or,  in  other  words,  on  shoes  of  particular 
styles.  Usually  a  box  to  give  reinforcement  and  style 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  167 

to  the  tips  is  cemented  inside  of  it  before  the  lining 
is  inserted,  and  before  the  tip  is  stitched  to  the 
vamp.  The  tip  may  be  skived  and  folded  in, 
perforated,  nicked,  scalloped,  or  plain,  each  process 
involved  belonging  to  this  department.  The  lining 
is  cemented  in,  taped  over  seams,  and  pressed 
firmly  in  place  upon  a  machine,  and  the  whole  is 
top-stitched  on  a  machine,  through  leather  and 
lining,  just  below  the  line  of  perforation.  Then 
the  tip  is  stitched  above  the  perforation  to  the  vamp 
of  the  upper;  and  this  part  of  the  upper  is  ready  for 
the  vamping  department. 

Perforating.  Perforating  deserves  special  mention 
since  it  gives  style  to  the  tip,  and  is  of  itself  an 
interesting  process  and  a  good  example  of  intricacy 
in  shoe  making  processes.  A  series  of  ornamental 
perforations  is  stamped  by  a  combination  of  small 
dies  upon  the  "power  tip  press"  or  upon  the  "per- 
forating machine."  The  holes  thus  stamped  take 
particular  styles  which  are  known  in  the  shoe  fact- 
ories by  numbers.  For  instance,  perforation  "num- 
ber 69"  consists  of  a  large  hole  and  a  small  one 
alternating  in  a  line  near  the  edge  of  the  tip,  over  the 
top,  thus:  OOOOQ,  and  "number  70"  consists  of  a 
large  hole  alternating  with  two  small  ones,  thus: 
o  o  o  o  o  o  o.  The  size  of  the  holes  may  vary.  If  you 
will  look  at  the  tip  of  your  shoe  you  will  probably 
find  one  of  these  styles  or  a  variation  of  them. 

The  machine  feeds  itself  automatically,  dicing  the 
full  perforation  accurately  at  one  stroke  for  each 


168  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

tip,  as  the  tips  pass  through  in  line  upon  a  moving 
band  of  paper,  which  prevents  dulling  the  die. 
This  machine  is  used  also  for  perforating  larger  parts 
of  shoes,  such  as  vamps,  foxings,  and  ornamental 
"winged  tips." 

Positions  in  the  Tip  Department.  The  positions 
in  the  tip  department  are  numerous  and  may  be 
shown  more  clearly,  as  will  other  departments  having 
many  positions  in  the  following  pages,  by  a  numbered 
list  as  follows,  using  the  terms  which  are  common 
in  the  factory: 

1.  The  Superintendent,  in  a  large  factory. 

2.  Forewomen. 

3.  Quality  Inspector. 

4.  Lining  Closers. 

5.  Stayers. 

6.  Toe  Piece  Ironers. 

7.  Tapers. 

8.  Reinforcers. 

9.  Tip  Markers. 

10.  Toe  Lining  Reinforcers. 

11.  Tip  Pressers. 

12.  Vamp  Pressers. 

13.  Vamp  Perforators. 

14.  Box  Cementers. 

15.  Stitchers  of  tongue  to  vamp. 

16.  Tip  Perforators. 

17.  Tip  Blackers. 

18.  Stitchers  of  tip  and  vamp. 

19.  Floor  Girls. 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  169 

20.  Cripple  Girls. 

21 .  "Hustle  Girls,"  who  look  up  the  dates  upon  the 
tags  and  keep  orders  moving  in  their  proper  sequence. 

The  Closing  and  Staying  Department.  The  clos- 
ing and  staying  department  deals  with  cementing, 
sewing,  and  securing  the  seams  of  the  top  of  the  upper, 
the  part  above  the  foxing  and  toe  of  all  kinds  of 
shoes,  following  the  work  done  upon  the  linings  and 
tips.  First,  the  button  fly  is  pressed,  then  closed 
or  sewed  to  one  quarter,  and  the  two  quarters  of 
the  top  are  sewed  together.  The  top  piece  is  ce- 
mented on  the  inside  of  the  large  quarter,  which 
bears  the  button  fly,  and  the  quarter  is  stayed.  The 
top  of  the  button  Oxford  is  ironed  out  at  the  heel 
seam,  and  a  reinforcement  ironed  upon  the  button 
fly.  The  Blucher  Oxford  is  nicked  and  pressed.  A 
paper  reinforcement  is  ironed  upon  the  inside  of 
the  top  of  the  circular  pump.  Bows  of  various 
kinds  and  colors  are  made  by  machines  for  Oxfords, 
and  fastened  upon  them  by  a  machine  which  drives 
a  metal  reinforcement  into  the  bow.  Canvas  stays 
are  put  in  the  top  of  Oxfords.  A  long  vamp  is  re- 
inforced for  eyelets,  and  a  stay  is  cemented  in  when 
blind  eyelets  are  to  be  inserted.  Perforations  are 
sometimes  covered  with  imitation  reinforcements 
on  the  inside,  or  stitched  around  the  outside.  Per- 
foration upon  the  top  has  tape  placed  on  the  inside 
and  stitched  underneath.  Buckle  straps  and  instep 
straps  are  attached  to  some  styles  of  shoes. 

There  are  many  such  operations  in  this  division 


170  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

of  the  stitching  department,  according  to  the  par- 
ticular kinds  of  shoes  made  in  a  factory.  Each 
style  is  kept  separate  in  going  through  the  depart- 
ment. Stitching  machines  are  now  made  for  use 
upon  certain  styles  and  parts  of  shoes  only,  special- 
ization in  machinery  extending  to  the  most  minute 
parts  of  processes  throughout  the  factory. 

Positions  in  the  Closing  and  Staying  Department. 
The  usual  positions  in  this  department  are  as  follows : 

1.  Forewomen,  or  assistants  to  foreman. 

£.  Inspectors. 

3.  Teacher  for  new  help. 

4.  Closers. 

5.  Label  Girls  and  Cementers. 

6.  Button  Fly  Pressers. 

7.  Button  Fly  Reinforcers. 

8.  Stayers. 

9.  Toe  Piece  Reinforcers. 

10.  Cementers  and  Pressers. 

11.  Floor  Girl. 

12.  Checker  Girl,  who  checks  off  all  numbers  of 
lots  so  that  it  may  be  known  when  the  parts  are 
all  done  and  have  gone  to  the  next  department. 

The  Foxing  Department.  The  foxing  department 
is  one  of  the  smallest  divisions  of  the  stitching  room. 
The  foxing  is  a  little  piece  of  upper  leather  below 
the  quarters  on  each  side  of  the  heel,  put  on  all  kinds 
of  boots  and  Oxfords.  Foxing  is  used  on  both  the 
high  and  the  low  styles  of  footwear.  It  is  both 
plain  and  ornamented,  according  to  the  style  and 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  171 

quality  of  the  shoe.  Back  straps  and  fly  stays  are 
stitched  upon  the  quarters  to  which  the  foxing  is 
attached,  and  then  the  foxing,  ornamented  with 
perforations  in  this  department,  if  need  be,  is 
stitched  upon  the  quarters,  sometimes  with  one  row 
of  stitching  and  sometimes  with  two  rows.  The 
operations  are  the  same  with  canvas  as  with  leather 
uppers.  The  work  when  done  and  checked  off  on 
the  day  sheet  goes  to  the  top  stitching  department. 

The  ordinary  Polish  shoe,  not  the  Blucher,  and 
the  Oxford  shoe,  both  Blucher  and  common,  have  a 
long  vamp  and  no  foxing. 

Several  related  or  similar  operations,  also,  are 
performed  in  the  foxing  department,  such  as  sewing 
loops  at  the  top  of  the  back  of  the  shoe,  on  men's 
shoes,  and  sewing  on  buckle  straps. 

Positions  in  the  Foxing  Department.  The  usual 
positions  here  are  these: 

1.  Forewomen,  or  assistants  to  foreman. 

2.  Teacher. 

3.  Inspector. 

4.  Perforators. 

5.  Back  Strap  Stitchers. 

6.  Side  Stay  Stitchers. 

7.  Binders. 

8.  Button  Fly  Face  Stitchers. 

9.  Foxing  Stitchers. 

10.  Floor  Girls. 

11.  Cripple  Girls. 

12.  Checker  Girls. 
•11 


172  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

The  Top  Stitching  Department.  The  top  stitching 
department  is  the  division  of  the  stitching  room  in 
which  the  tops,  the  leather  upper  part,  coming 
from  the  foxing  department,  and  the  linings,  from 
the  lining  department,  are  sewed  together.  Quarters 
and  linings  are  first  matched  upon  tables  and  tied 
together  in  bundles,  according  to  tag  numbers. 
This  work  is  done  by  floor  girls,  who  give  the  bundles 
thus  matched  to  the  machine  operators.  In  some 
factories  vamps  are  sewed  on  at  the  same  time  as 
the  tops  and  linings  are  sewed  together. 

The  methods  of  the  department  vary,  as  in  other 
sections  of  the  factory,  according  to  the  style  of 
shoes  being  made.  Generally  the  top  and  lining 
are  put  together  back  to  back,  or  wrong  side  out, 
and  stitched  along  the  edge  of  the  top.  Then  the 
top  is  turned  and  the  seam  is  pounded  out  so  that 
the  edge  of  the  leather  on  the  right  side  comes  out 
true  and  flat.  Then  this  part  goes  to  the  top  stitcher, 
who  sews  it  all  around  except  at  the  bottom  where 
the  vamp  is  still  to  be  attached.  The  side  of  the 
quarter  on  which  buttons  are  to  be  sewed  on  the 
button  shoe  is  pinked  or  notched  upon  the  edge  in 
case  of  a  raw  edge  of  the  lining  and  the  leather  sewed 
together.  Usually  in  the  case  of  canvas  shoes  vamp- 
ing is  done  in  this  department  before  top  stitching. 

More  men  are  found  in  this  department  than  in 
the  other  divisions  of  the  stitching  room  because 
the  work  is  sometimes  heavier  and  more  exacting, 
calling  for  considerable  strength  when  followed 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  173 

from  day  to  day,  as  well  as  for  skill.  The  parts 
must  be  sewed,  carefully  turned  and  thoroughly 
beaten,  and  sewed  again  in  finished  form,  making 
altogether,  perhaps,  the  most  difficult  work  of  the 
stitching  room,  and  the  department  is  the  largest 
division  of  the  stitching  room. 

Positions  in  the  Top  Stitching  Department.  The 
positions  in  this  section  are  the  following: 

1.  Forewomen. 

2.  Teacher. 

3.  Inspector. 

4.  Operators  of  closing  on  machines. 

5.  Operators  for  turning  and  pounding  top. 

6.  Top  Stitchers. 

7.  Vampers. 

8.  Floor  Girls. 

9.  Cripple  Girls. 

The  Button  Hole  Department.  The  button  hole 
department  includes  the  making  of  button  holes 
and  the  inserting  of  eyelets.  The  tops  of  button 
and  of  lace  shoes  come  from  the  top  stitching  de- 
partment to  this  department.  The  small  quarter 
under  the  button  fly  is  pinked,  and  the  fly  is  marked 
for  button  holes  by  means  of  a  perforated  pattern 
through  which  the  places  for  buttons  are  marked  by 
hand  with  a  pencil  or  yellow  crayon.  Then  the 
button  holes  are  inserted  by  a  power  machine  which 
cuts  the  hole  and  works  it  around  at  the  same  time. 
In  eyeleting  the  upper  is  marked  by  hand  for  the 
eyelet.  Then  the  eyelet  is  inserted  on  a  machine. 


174  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

A  machine  has  recently  come  into  use  which  inserts 
eyelets  in  both  sides  of  the  top  at  the  same  time. 
In  the  case  of  "blind  eyelets"  a  hole  is  stamped 
through  the  leather,  lining,  and  reinforcement. 
The  leather  is  then  held  back  by  the  operator  and 
eyelets  are  stamped  through  the  lining  and  the  re- 
inforcement, the  leather  only  showing  on  the  outside 
of  the  hole.  In  some  factories  blind  eyelets  are 
inserted  as  a  single  process  on  an  automatic  machine. 
In  men's  high  lace  shoes  hooks  are  inserted  by  a 
machine  above  the  rows  of  eyelets.  Raw  edges  are 
blacked  or  colored  so  as  to  make  the  edge  of  the 
lining  resemble  the  leather. 

Pairs  of  tops  are  now  examined  for  matching  and 
are  tagged  by  sizes  ready  for  vamping. 

Positions  in  the  Button  Hole  Department.  The 
usual  positions  in  the  button  hole  section  are  as 
follows : 

1.  Forewoman. 

2.  Teacher. 

3.  Inspector. 

4.  Quarter  Pinkers. 

5.  Button  Hole  Makers. 

6.  Button  Hole  Workers. 

7.  Machine  Eyeleters. 

8.  Button  Hole  Finishers. 

9.  Button  Hole  Trimmers. 

10.  Operators  for  Cording  the  cloth  button  shoe. 

11.  Edge  Blackers. 

12.  Girls  for  Matching  and  Tagging  pairs. 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  175 

13.  Floor  Girls. 

14.  Cripple  Girls. 

The  Vamping  Department.  The  vamp  is  the 
lower,  front  part  of  the  shoe  upper.  It  is  the  most 
important  part  of  the  upper  and  should  be  cut  from 
the  best  of  leather.  The  "cut  off  vamp"  extends 
only  to  the  shoe  tip.  The  whole  vamp  extends  from 
toe  to  heel  with  a  seam  at  the  heel  only.  Vamping 
consists  in  stitching  the  vamp  to  the  quarters  of 
the  top.  While  some  vamping  may  be  done  in  the 
top  stitching  department,  the  process  itself  is  an 
important  one,  and  is  a  separate  section  in  a  factory. 
Vamps  are  first  centered  by  being  folded  and  marked 
in  the  center  of  the  throat.  Then  the  vamp  is 
stitched  to  the  quarters,  each  style  of  shoe  calling 
for  its  special  process.  Usually  leather  parts  only 
are  sewed,  the  lining  being  held  back. 

Vamping  is  the  most  painstaking  work  of  the 
stitching  room  and  the  best  paying.  Judgment  and 
carefulness  are  absolutely  essential  to  the  operator. 
Three-fourths  of  the  vampers  are  men.  Hand 
strength  is  necessary  in  the  heavier  kinds  of  vamping, 
to  pull  and  hold  parts  in  place  while  they  are  being 
stitched,  and  to  guide  the  work  through  the  machine. 

Positions  in  the  Vamping  Department.  The  few 
positions  of  the  vamping  department  are,  the 
Superintendent,  foreman,  man  instructor,  inspector, 
vampers,  floor  girls,  cripple  girls,  and  checker. 

The  Toe  Closing  Department.  The  toe  closing 
department  is  the  final  division  of  stitching.  The 


176  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

toes  of  all  linings  are  made  in  two  pieces.  When 
the  toe  closing  department  is  reached  tops  and 
linings  have  been  stitched  together  and  vamps  have 
been  sewed  to  the  tops.  In  the  toe  closing  depart- 
ment the  leather  vamp  is  held  back  and  the  two 
parts  of  the  toe  lining,  one  being  laid  flat  upon  the 
other  so  as  to  avoid  a  thick  seam,  are  double  stitched. 
This  is  a  quick  and  easy  operation. 

Several  other  processes  best  done  at  this  stage  of 
shoemaking  are  performed  in  this  department. 
In  button  shoes  the  side  of  the  top  which  is  to  bear 
the  buttons  is  marked  for  the  buttons  through  the 
holes  of  the  other  side,  by  hand.  Then  the  buttons 
are  sewed  on  by  a  machine  operator.  Then  comes 
the  process  of  barring,  or  inserting  a  few  stitches 
on  a  machine  just  below  the  buttons  and  above  the 
vamp.  Button  Oxfords  are  fully  buttoned,  high 
button  shoes  only  part  way,  in  preparation  for 
lasting.  Laced  shoes  are  laced  by  hand  or  on  a 
machine.  Lots  are  made  ready  by  tags  and  numbers 
for  the  lasters. 

Positions  in  the  Toe  Closing  Department.  The 
positions  in  this  division  are,  the  Superintendent, 
forewoman,  inspector,  toe  closers,  markers  for  but- 
tons, button  sewers,  operators  of  barring  machines, 
girls  for  buttoning  and  lacing  shoes,  floor  girls, 
cripple  girls,  and  packers  who  sort  cases  of  lots  of 
shoes  for  lasting. 

Operating  Stitching  Machines.  The  stitching 
department  deserves  special  mention  on  account 


THE  STITCHING  DEPARTMENT  177 

of  its  magnitude,  intricate  processes,  and  peculiar 
machines. 

Machine  operators  in  the  stitching  room  generally 
learn  on  inside  work,  as  linings,  or  by  work  upon 
cheaper  leather  parts,  or  by  low  grade  work.  In  cer- 
tain seasons  of  the  year  there  is  a  transfer  of  operators 
from  department  to  department,  according  to  need. 
Some  operators  know  how  to  run  a  number  of  ma- 
chines, frequently  being  taught  to  run  a  second 
one  as  if  just  entering  the  factory.  The  difficulty 
of  handling  a  power  sewing  machine,  as  of  a  power 
machine  in  general,  is  to  know  when  to  start  and 
when  to  stop  the  machine.  On  all  machines  the 
start  is  made  by  pressing  the  toe,  and  the  stop  by 
pressing  the  heel.  Sometimes  a  factory  has  a  special 
room  where  not  only  the  processes  of  stitching  take 
place  but  all  other  processes  as  well,  for  the  making 
of  special  "hurry  orders"  of  shoes. 

Some  automatic  machines  produce  in  operators, 
especially  in  the  case  of  girls,  the  particular  move- 
ment of  the  machine  so  that  the  operator  responds 
to  the  motion,  swinging  or  jumping  the  entire  body 
or  exhibiting  a  nervous,  spasmodic  action.  This 
is  especially  noticeable  in  running  the  barring  ma- 
chine in  which  the  part  bearing  the  needle  rises  and 
springs  toward  the  operator  at  each  operation,  and 
upon  machines  having  an  eccentric  movement. 
In  such  cases  operators  are  usually  transferred  in 
time  to  different  or  less  injurious  machines  or 
processes. 


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CHAPTER  X 
THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 


(185) 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT 

Its  Nature.  As  the  upper  leather  department  is 
sometimes  called  upper  stock  fitting,  so  the  sole 
leather  department  is  often  called  bottom  stock 
fitting.  It  deals  with  the  preparation  of  the  bottom 
parts  of  the  shoe.  These  are : 

1.  Soles. 

2.  Insoles. 

3.  Counters. 

4.  Toe  Boxes. 

5.  Heels. 

The  Preparation  of  Sole  Leather  Parts.  These 
parts  may  all  be  prepared  in  specialized  factories 
and  sold  to  shoe  factories,  or  large  shoe  concerns 
may  themselves  have  special  departments  for  the 
preparation  of  these  parts  from  the  sides  of  sole 
leather.  Briefly,  in  either  case  the  sole  leather  is 
dampened  by  dipping  it  in  water  to  make  it  cut 
more  easily,  and  the  desired  parts  are  cut  out  in  the 
rough  by  means  of  dies  in  "dieing-out  machines." 
The  shoe  factory,  when  buying  such  parts,  usually 
buys  them  in  this  condition.  The  cut  parts  are  then 
made  to  conform  nearly  to  the  desired  shape  for 
shoemaking  by  rounding  them  in  the  *  'rounding 

*12  ( 187  ) 


188  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

machine."  This  machine  uses  a  pattern  of  the 
required  shape  and  by  means  of  a  knife  cuts  around 
the  sole  in  conformity  with  the  pattern.  The 
outsole  is  passed  through  a  heavy  rolling  machine 
to  press  the  fibers  very  closely  together,  so  as  to 
increase  the  wear  of  the  shoe  as  did  the  hammering 
of  the  old  time  shoemaker.  The  sole  is  then  passed 
through  a  splitting  machine  which  reduces  it  to  an 
even  thickness.  The  insole,  or  innersole,  is  made 
in  the  same  way  as  the  outersole  but  of  lighter 
leather.  These  and  other  parts  of  the  shoe  bottom 
will  be  spoken  of  again  in  the  following  pages. 

The  Division  of  Bottom  Stock  Fitting.  There 
are  three  important  divisions  in  the  bottom  stock 
fitting  or  sole  leather  department.  That  dealing 
with  the  divisions  of  the  insole  depends  upon  two 
special  methods  of  shoemaking  as  described  in 
Chapter  VIII.  The  three  divisions  are  the  following : 

1.  McKay  Insole  Division. 

2.  Welt  Insole  Division. 

3.  Outer  Sole  Division. 

The  McKay  Insole  Department.  In  the  making 
of  McKay  insoles  material  is  usually  bought  in 
roughly  blocked  form.  Since  light  leather  is  used 
regularly  for  the  inner  sole  in  this  method  of  shoe- 
making  the  blocks  are  first  dipped  in  a  solution  of 
glue,  so  that  when  dried  they  will  become  somewhat 
hardened  and  strengthened.  They  are  then  died 
out  or  dinked  upon  a  machine  in  sizes  and  widths, 
with  a  full  set  for  each  style  of  shoe  to  be  made. 


THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT        189 

They  are  cased  up  by  girls,  according  to  the  accom- 
panying tags. 

Positions  in  the  McKay  Insole  Department.  The 
few  positions  here  are,  the  Foreman,  girls  for  dipping 
the  insoles  in  glue,  dinkers  or  operators  of  dieing 
out  machines,  girls  for  casing  up  soles,  and  a  checker 
girl. 

There  may  be  other  operations  in  this  division, 
such  as  "stitch  slashing"  and  reinforcing  the  heels 
of  insoles. 

The  Welt  Insole  Department.  Inner  soles  made 
by  the  welt  method  are  of  two  kinds,  leather  and 
reinforced.  The  all-leather  sole  must  be  of  good 
quality,  and  at  least  of  a  standard  thickness.  The 
reinforced  sole  may  be  of  poorer  quality  and  thinner, 
yet  of  a  fixed  standard.  In  such  soles  the  leather 
is  reinforced  or  strengthened  by  a  covering  of  can- 
vas cemented  firmly  upon  it.  For  welt  insoles  the 
leather  is  bought  in  full  side  stock,  that  is,  uncut, 
and  in  the  rough  block  form.  The  soles  are  first 
dinked  out  as  in  the  McKay  division,  and  sizes  are 
stamped  upon  the  heels  by  hand.  Then  the  heel 
seat  is  cut  across  in  a  machine  to  indicate  the  posi- 
tion of  the  front  of  the  heel.  Girls  usually  perform 
this  operation  because  of  their  quickness  of  hand. 
One  person  may  cut  the  heels  of  10,000  insoles  in  a 
day.  This  is  a  good  illustration  of  a  process  in  which 
scarcely  more  than  one  simple  motion  is  involved. 

Channeling.  The  purpose  of  the  welt  method 
is  to  give  a  smooth,  even  inner  sole  in  the  finished 


190  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

shoe.  To  effect  this  the  sole  must  be  either  pasted 
in  or  attached  on  its  under  surface.  The  latter 
is  accomplished  by  passing  the  insole  through  the 
Goodyear  channeling  machine  which  makes  in- 
cisions, or  a  double  "lip,"  with  two  knives  acting 
at  the  same  time.  A  slit  about  one-half  inch  deep 
is  cut  from  within  along  the  edge  of  the  insole. 
Then  the  channel  thus  made  is  opened  up  on  a  lip- 
turning  machine,  forming  a  ridge  around  the  outer 
edge.  The  welt  is  later  sewed  to  this  lip  or  shoulder. 

Slashing.  The  welt  inner  sole  is  sometimes 
slashed  or  cut  across  the  ball  of  the  foot  on  the  under 
side,  to  make  it  flexible. 

Wetting.  Leather  inner  soles  are  passed  through 
heavy  rollers,  in  which  they  are  wet  and  compressed 
at  the  same  time.  They  are  now  sorted  and  packed 
to  go  to  the  lasting  room. 

Randing.  The  rand  is  a  strip  of  leather  made 
thin  at  one  edge.  It  is  attached  to  the  heel  part  of 
the  sole,  or  later  to  the  heel  itself,  so  as  to  fill  what 
would  otherwise  be  an  open  space  between  the 
sole  and  the  heel. 

Reinforced  Insoles.  The.  reinforced  insole  is 
characterized  by  lightness  and  strength.  Soles 
which  are  to  be  thus  treated  are  first  died  or  stamped 
out  as  in  other  cases.  They  are  channeled  with  a 
single  lip  which  is  turned  up  to  indicate  the  place 
of  the  canvas  reinforcement.  They  may  be  slashed 
and  dampened  as  in  the  case  of  the  leather  sole. 
They  are  then  dried  under  a  large  fan  or  in  a  blower, 


THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT        191 

having  been  cemented  by  a  brush  on  the  surface 
inside  the  lip. 

The  Canvas  Reinforcement.  A  large  roll  of  can- 
vas of  suitable  width  is  run  through  a  cement  box 
and  over  a  great  reel,  one  side  of  the  canvas  only  being 
wet  with  cement.  The  canvas  dries  upon  the  reel, 
is  taken  off  in  a  roll,  and  cut  in  the  proper  rein- 
forcement lengths,  which  are  later  fitted  by  hand 
upon  the  leather  insole  inside  of  the  lip  and  "formed" 
or  rubbed  thoroughly  into  the  space  by  a  machine. 
The  surplus  canvas  is  then  trimmed  off  at  the  edge 
of  the  lip.  The  soles  are  then  cleaned,  inspected, 
sorted,  and  packed  up  for  the  lasting  room. 

Positions  in  the  Welt  Insole  Department.  The 
positions  in  this  department,  including  those  already 
indicated  and  several  others  which  may  be  found 
in  most  factories,  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foremen. 

3.  Assistant  Foremen. 

4.  Quantity  Man,  who  makes  a  study  of  the 

volume  of  work  done  in  the  department. 

5.  Quality  Man,  who  inspects  work  for  quality. 

6.  Dinkers  and  Stampers. 

7.  Heel  Markers  and  Cutters. 

8.  Channelers. 

9.  Slashers. 

10.  Lip  Cutters. 

11.  Lip  Turners. 

12.  Toe  Cutters. 


192  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

13.  Wetters  and  Cementers. 

14.  Heel  Counters. 

15.  Randers. 

16.  Canvas  Cutters. 

17.  Canvas  Attachers. 

18.  Canvas  Formers. 

19.  Canvas  Trimmers. 

20.  Sorters  and  Packers. 

21.  Floor  Boy. 

The  Outer  Sole  Department.  The  treatment  of 
outer  soles  is  largely  like  that  given  to  inner  soles. 
The  main  processes  are  much  the  same  with  a  few 
additional  processes  and  features.  Outer  soles  are 
first  cut  into  the  rough  block  form  and  are  then 
dinked  out,  or  "rounded"  by  being  cut  by  pattern 
upon  a  machine.  Sizes  are  stamped  upon  the  heel. 
They  are  shanked  out  and  the  heel  seat  is  smoothed 
by  a  machine.  They  are  then  wet  and  moulded 
upon  a  high  pressure  machine  to  the  shape  of  the 
shoe  bottom,  being  at  the  same  time  hardened  by 
the  pressure.  A  feather  edge  is  given  to  the  fore- 
part and  heel  seat  of  the  soles  which  are  to  be  treated 
by  the  McKay  process.  Channels  are  cut  and 
turned  in  those  to  be  treated  by  the  welt 
process. 

Positions  in  the  Outersole  Department.  The 
positions  in  this  department,  from  the  superintendent 
down,  are  practically  the  same  as  those  of  the  insole 
department,  on  page  191,  with  the  exception  of 
cementers  and  canvas  workers. 


THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT        193 

The  Counter  Department.  As  has  been  said 
already,  small  parts  of  the  shoe,  such  as  the  counter, 
toe  box,  and  heel,  presented  briefly  at  this  place,  are 
largely  manufactured  in  special  factories  and  pur- 
chased in  quantity  by  the  shoe  companies.  Large 
factories,  however,  or  shoe  manufacturing  companies 
operating  a  number  of  factories,  usually  have  de- 
partments for  making  their  own  counters,  toe 
boxes,  heels,  and  other  minor  parts.  Opportunities 
for  employment  in  the  specialized  factories  depend 
mainly  upon  the  magnitude  of  manufacture,  the 
large  number  of  parts  turned  out  daily  requiring 
little  skill  but  many  hands  in  the  making. 

The  counter  is  a  stiffening  in  the  back  part  of  the 
shoe  between  the  leather  and  the  lining,  and  lasted 
with  the  rest  of  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  shoe. 
Its  purpose  is  to  prevent  running  over  at  the  heel. 
It  is  made  of  sole  leather,  leatherboard,  leather 
fiber,  or  similar  substance  that  may  be  easily  worked 
and  yet  left  firm  after  treatment,  and  sometimes  of 
metal  in  the  case  of  heavy  shoes. 

The  counter  is  died  out  and  its  edges  skived  thin. 
It  is  treated  with  shellac  or  glue  and  moulded  into 
shape. 

The  Toe  Box  Department.  The  toe  box  is  a  re- 
inforcement placed  in  the  toe  of  the  shoe  to  give 
permanency  of  shape  or  a  distinctive  style.  It  is 
usually  made  of  sole  leather,  but  it  may  be  made  of 
leatherboard,  pasteboard,  canvas,  linoleum,  cellu- 
loid, or  of  other  materials  which  can  be  easily  worked 


194  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

and  made  to  retain  their  shape.  The  box  is  died 
out,  skived  upon  the  part  above  the  toe,  soaked  in 
shellac  or  gum  so  as  to  be  stiff  when  dry,  and  usually 
moulded  to  the  desired  form,  ready  for  use  in  the 
lasting  room. 

The  Heel  Department.  In  Chapter  XIV,  upon  the 
terms  used  in  shoemaking,  an  explanation  is  given 
of  the  heel  and  its  varieties.  So  it  is  necessary 
here  to  speak  only  of  the  materials  and  processes  of 
its  manufacture. 

Heels  are  usually  made  of  the  poorer  parts  of  sole 
leather,  including  the  remnants  from  counters  and 
toe  boxes,  leatherboard,  "hydite,"  or  other  leather 
substitutes,  and  of  wood. 

The  Processes  of  Making  Heels.  The  leather 
is  first  "fitted,"  which  consists  of  skiving  and  rolling. 
It  is  skived  by  being  run  through  a  machine  to  give 
it  an  even  thickness,  and  rolled  to  make  it  hard 
and  firm.  It  is  then  weighed  and  given  to  the 
cutter.  Each  operator  on  the  cutting  or  dinking 
machine  has  five  or  six  dies  and  cuts  the  leather 
as  economically  as  possible  into  various  sizes  for 
heel  lifts.  These  are  then  sorted  by  hand  into 
four  grades,  and  put  into  bins  according  to  sizes, 
ready  for  "heel  building."  The  heel  builder  receives 
a  tag  calling  for  so  many  heels  of  a  certain  size  and 
gets  from  the  bins  the  lifts  required  by  the  size. 
The  lifts  are  placed  one  upon  another,  by  a  grada- 
tion of  sizes,  up  to  the  height  necessary  for  the  heel. 
The  pile  is  pasted  or  glued  and  a  nail  is  driven 


THE  SOLE  LEATHER  DEPARTMENT        195 

through  by  a  machine  to  hold  it  firmly  together. 
Many  of  these  piles,  or  heels  in  the  rough  form, 
are  put  upon  boards  and  placed  in  the  flat  press 
where  they  remain  for  twenty-four  hours  under 
high  pressure.  They  are  then  put  into  a  com- 
pressing machine  which  moulds  them  into  any  de- 
sired shape.  After  this  rands  are  tacked  upon  them, 
when  not  first  attached  to  the  heel  seat,  so  that 
they  will  fit  closely  upon  the  heel  seat  of  the  sole 
of  the  shoe.  Then  the  front  part  or  breast  of 
the  heel  is  cut  off  smoothly,  as  this  can  be  done 
better  before  the  heel  is  attached.  Heels  are  then 
sorted,  gauged  for  height,  trimmed  upon  their  edges, 
put  into  bags,  and  stored  away  until  called  for  by 
the  making  department.  A  top  piece,  or  lift  of 
superior  leather  is  put  upon  the  heel  later  in  the 
making  department. 

Positions  in  Heel  Making.  The  usual  positions 
in  a  heel  factory  or  in  the  heel  department  of  a 
modern  shoe  factory  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Assistant  Superintendent. 

3.  Foreman. 

4.  Assistant  Foreman. 

5.  Skivers. 

6.  Rollers. 

7.  Cutters. 

8.  Weighers. 

9.  Heel  Lift  Sorters. 
10.  Heel  Lift  Gangers. 


196  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

11.  Heel  Builders. 

12.  Flat  Press  Men. 

13.  Rand  Makers. 

14.  Rand  Tackers. 

15.  Compressors. 

16.  Heel  Sorters. 

17.  Heel  Repairers. 

18.  Lumpers. 

Employees  in  the  Sole  Leather  Department.  The 
heavier  processes  in  this  department  and  the  larger 
machines  require  men  as  operators, -but  the  many 
lighter  processes  and  the  handling  of  small  parts 
make  possible  the  employment  of  large  numbers 
of  boys  and  girls  and  women.  In  the  average 
factory  this  department  usually  has  about  an  even 
division  of  male  and  female  employees,  standing 
next  to  the  stitching  room  in  its  proportion  of  the 
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CHAPTEK  XI 
THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT 


(199) 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT 


Its  Nature.  This  department  is  called  also  the 
bottoming  department  and  the  "gang"  room,  the 
last  name  arising  from  the  earlier  custom  of  work 
in  this  department  under  the  gang  system.  Here 
the  uppers  of  shoes,  prepared  in  the  cutting  room 
and  stitching  room,  and  the  soles,  fitted  in  the  sole 
leather  room,  are  brought  together,  lasted,  and 
made  into  shoes  ready  for  finishing.  This  depart- 
ment falls  into  natural  divisions  as  follows: 

1.  The  Lasting  Department. 

2.  The  Welt  Bottoming  Department. 

3.  The  McKay  Bottoming  Department. 

4.  The  Heeling  Department. 

5.  The  Turn  Shoe  Department. 

6.  The  Standard  Screw,  Nailed,  or  Pegged  De- 

partment. 

These  divisions  are  not  clearly  drawn  and  through 
them  all  runs  the  large  general  method  of  bottoming, 
modified  only  by  the  variations  necessary  for  attach- 
ing uppers  to  the  bottoms  of  certain  styles  and  kinds 
of  shoes,  as  has  been  already  explained  at  length 
in  Chapter  VIII  upon  "Methods  in  Shoe  Manu- 
facture." There  are  many  processes  in  the  making 

201 


THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

room,  about  fifty,  for  instance,  following  through 
any  one  method,  and  many  more  made  necessary 
by  the  multiplication  of  methods. 

The  Lasting  Department.  There  are  two  methods 
of  lasting,  by  hand  and  by  machinery.  The  first, 
like  most  other  processes  in  shoemaking,  is  giving 
way  rapidly  to  the  machine  method. 

Adjusting  the  upper  of  the  shoe  to  the  last  is  the 
beginning  of  the  work  done  in  the  bottoming  depart- 
ment. The  box  toe  is  put  in  its  proper  place  between 
the  lining  and  the  upper,  and  the  counter  in  its  place 
at  the  heel,  between  the  lining  and  the  upper.  Then 
the  upper  is  drawn  over  the  last  upon  which  has 
already  been  tacked  the  insole,  which  conforms 
exactly  to  the  shape  of  the  last,  and  is  tacked  to 
hold  it  in  place. 

The  Pulling  Over  Machine.  As  the  parts  of  the 
shoe  have  been  cut  to  conform  to  the  shape  of  the 
last  they  must  be  accurately  attached  upon  it. 
The  pulling  over  machine  has  pincers  which  act 
exactly  like  the  human  fingers.  These  pincers 
grasp  the  leather  at  various  points  around  the  toe 
and  draw  it  closely  against  the  wood  of  the  last 
upon  the  inner  sole.  By  an  adjustment  of  levers  all 
parts  of  the  upper  are  drawn  in  evenly  and  tacked 
securely  in  place. 

Toe  and  Heel  Wiping.  The  toe  and  heel  are 
the  most  difficult  parts  to  last  properly.  These  are 
drawn  in  by  a  series  of  wipers  upon  the  lasting 
machine,  so  evenly  that  no  wrinkles  are  left,  and 


Operating  the  Rex  Pulling  Over  Machine 


203 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  205 

held  in  place  by  a  strip  of  tape,  fine  wire,  or  by  tacks. 
Tacks  except  at  the  heel,  where  they  are  clinched 
on  the  inside,  are  driven  only  part  way  in  so  that  they 
may  later  be  withdrawn  to  leave  the  inside  of  the 
shoe  perfectly  smooth,  the  distinctive  feature  of  the 
welt  method. 

The  Upper  Trimming  Machine.  The  surplus 
upper  leather  drawn  over  the  bottom  at  the  toe  and 
heel  and  sometimes  at  the  sides  of  the  shoe,  is  re- 
moved upon  the  upper  trimming  machine  in  which 
a  knife  cuts  the  extra  parts  away  very  smoothly 
and  evenly,  while  at  the  same  time  a  small  hammer 
pounds  the  leather  smooth  along  the  sides  and  toe 
of  the  shoe. 

The  shoe  then  passes  to  another  machine  by  which 
the  leather  and  counter  around  the  heel  are  beaten 
into  conformity  with  the  last,  making  the  entire 
bottom  ready  for  the  welt  bottoming  processes. 

Positions  in  the  Lasting  Department.  The  chief 
positions  in  this  department  are,  the  Superintendent, 
foreman,  operators  of  the  pulling  over  machine,  the 
lasting  machine,  and  the  trimming  and  pounding 
machines. 

The  Welt  Bottoming  Department.  The  welt 
method  of  bottoming  is  coming  increasingly  into 
use  because  of  producing  a  smooth  inside  bottom 
of  the  shoe,  and  because  of  the  ease  with  which  a 
welt  shoe  can  be  repaired  after  being  worn.  After 
the  lasting  operations  the  shoe  is  ready  to  receive 
the  outsole. 

*13 


206  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Welting.  First  the  welt  which  is  distinctive  of 
this  method  of  shoemaking  is  attached.  The  welt 
is  a  narrow  strip  of  leather  so  prepared  that  it  may 
be  sewed  first  to  the  lip  of  the  inner  sole  and  to  the 
upper  leather  and  later  to  the  outer  sole,  no  stitching 
passing  entirely  through  the  bottom  of  the  shoe  as 
in  the  McKay  method.  The  welt  extends  in  front 
of  the  heel  entirely  around  the  shoe.  This  process 
was  a  very  difficult  one  in  the  days  of  hand  shoe- 
making,  but  as  performed  upon  a  machine  it  becomes 
simple  and  rapid.  It  is  claimed,  indeed,  that  this 
particular  machine  process  has  been  the  leading 
factor  in  the  great  development  of  shoe  manu- 
facturing in  recent  times.  After  this  process  the 
surplus  parts  of  the  lip,  upper,  and  welt  are  trimmed 
off  by  the  inseam  trimming  machine. 

Welt  Beating.  The  next  process  is  welt  beating 
upon  a  machine  in  which  a  small  hammer  with  rapid 
strokes  beats  the  welt  down  evenly  at  the  side  of  the 
shoe.  The  insole  and  the  welt  are  now  coated  over 
with  rubber  cement.  At  the  same  time  the  outsole 
receives  a  coating  of  cement. 

Sole  Laying.  When  this  has  dried  slightly  the 
process  of  sole  laying  takes  place.  The  sole  is  put 
in  place  and  pressed  firmly  upon  the  shoe  and  welt 
in  the  sole  laying  machine,  remaining  in  the  machine 
a  sufficient  length  of  time  for  the  cement  to  set  firmly. 

Rough  Rounding.  Next  comes  the  trimming  of 
the  sole  and  welt  so  that  they  will  extend  a  uniform 
distance  from  the  upper  leather.  This  process  is 


Operating  the  U.  S.  M.  Co.  Lasting  Machine 


207 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  209 

called  rough  rounding  and  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant, exacting,  and  arduous  processes  found  in 
the  entire  factory.  A  machine  gauges  the  distance 
at  which  the  cutting  shall  be  done  from  the  last, 
cutting  usually  wider  on  the  outside  of  the  shoe 
than  on  the  inside  and  reducing  the  width  of  the 
shank.  In  any  lot  of  shoes,  large  or  small,  passing 
through  the  hands  of  the  rough  rounder  there  must 
be  the  same  variation  of  margin  according  to  size 
and  design. 

The  rough  rounding  machine  cuts  also  a  little 
slit  or  channel  along  the  edge  in  the  bottom  of  the 
sole.  This  channel  was  formerly  cut  by  hand.  Its 
purpose  is  to  allow  a  covering  for  the  stitching 
that  follows. 

Heel  Seat  Nailing.  The  process  of  rough  round- 
ing deals  simply  with  that  part  of  the  shoe  in  front 
of  the  heel  to  which  the  welt  has  been  sewed.  The 
heel  portion  of  the  outsole  is  next  fastened  by  nailing 
securely  through  to  the  inner  sole.  The  surplus 
leather  around  the  heel  is  now  trimmed  off  on  the 
heel  seat  rounding  machine,  which  cuts  a  channel 
also.  This  channel  is  opened  evenly  to  provide 
for  stitching. 

Sole  Sewing.  The  outsole  is  now  stitched  to  the 
welt  entirely  around  the  shoe  upon  the  outsole 
lockstitch  machine,  a  process  very  similar  to  welt 
sewing.  This  stitching,  however,  is  finer  and  very 
durable.  It  shows  on  the  upper  side  of  the  welt 
around  the  finished  shoe. 


210  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Channel  Laying.  The  lip  of  the  channel  is  now 
cemented  upon  a  machine,  partly  dried,  and  is 
rolled  smoothly  and  evenly  back  into  place  upon  the 
channel  laying  machine,  completely  covering  the 
stitches  which  would  otherwise  show  on  the  bottom 
of  the  shoe. 

Leveling.  The  shoe  is  passed  beneath  a  vibrating 
roller  under  heavy  pressure  in  the  automatic  sole 
leveling  machine.  The  roller  passes  completely 
up  and  down  each  side  of  the  shoe,  canting  first 
to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left  and  removing 
every  unevenness  on  the  bottom. 

Welt  Finishing.  The  edge  of  the  fore  part  of  the 
shoe  was  left  in  a  slightly  rough  condition  after  the 
process  of  rough  rounding.  This  roughness  is  now 
smoothed  away  upon  the  trimming  machine,  which 
has  a  set  of  rapidly  revolving  cutters.  The  edge 
and  welt  of  the  shoe  receive  a  coat  of  blacking, 
and  the  stitches  showing  on  the  upper  side  of  the 
welt  are  separated  upon  a  machine  so  as  to  present 
an  even  appearance.  The  indentations  thus  made 
are  burnished  upon  a  machine.  The  edge  of  the 
shoe  is  burnished  upon  the  edge  setting  machine 
by  means  of  two  rapidly  vibrating  hot  irons.  The 
surface  of  the  top  lift  of  the  heel  is  leveled  upon  the 
top  lift  sanding  machine,  and  the  breast  is  scoured 
on  a  rapidly  revolving  disk. 

Other  Finishing  Processes.  From  this  point  on 
there  are  various  processes  of  finishing  the  heel  and 
the  bottom  of  the  shoe,  which  may  be  performed  in 


Operating  the  Goodyear  Welt  Sewing  Machine 


211 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  213 

the  bottoming  department  or  in  a  separate  finishing 
department.  Some  of  these,  such  as  tip  repair- 
ing, are  quite  separate  from  the  work  of  the 
bottoming  department.  The  more  important  of 
the  finishing  processes  may  be  presented  here. 

The  heel  and  the  edges  of  the  shoe  are  blacked  or 
covered  with  the  dressing  suitable  to  the  leather 
used  on  shoes  other  than  black,  and  finished  on 
burnishing  machines.  The  bottom  of  the  shoe  is 
buffed  upon  revolving  rollers  covered  with  sand- 
paper, to  remove  the  marks  of  handling  in  various 
processes.  It  is  then  buffed  to  a  finer  degree  on  the 
Naumkeag  buffing  machine  upon  a  pad  of  rubber 
covered  with  fine  emery  paper,  revolving  still  more 
rapidly  than  the  first  buffing  machine.  The  bottom 
of  the  shoe  is  now  "hard  finished"  by  receiving  coats 
of  stain  or  other  material,  and  by  polishing.  In 
some  cases  the  bottoms  are  blacked  in  whole  or  in 
part,  and  some  receive  a  dull  finish  on  the  forepart, 
while  the  whole  is  thoroughly  polished  upon  re- 
volving brushes. 

Positions  in  the  Welt  Bottoming  Department. 
The  more  usual  positions  in  the  welt  bottoming 
department  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foreman. 

3.  Assistant  Foreman. 

4.  Tack  Pullers. 

5.  Welters. 

6.  Inseam  Trimmers. 


214  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

7.  Welt  Scarfers. 

8.  Welt  Beaters. 

9.  Shank  Nailers. 

10.  Bottom  Fillers. 

11.  Welt  Cementers. 

12.  Sole  Cementers. 

13.  Sole  Layers. 

14.  Heel  Seat  Nailers. 

15.  Rough  Rounders. 

16.  Channel  Openers. 

17.  Goodyear  Stitchers. 

18.  Channel  Cementers. 

19.  Channel  Layers. 

20.  Wheelers. 

21.  Randers. 

22.  Levelers. 

23.  Heelers. 

24.  Sluggers. 

25.  Heel  Shavers. 

26.  Heel  Breasters. 

27.  Edge  Trimmers. 

28.  Heel  Scourers. 

29.  Heel  Jointers. 

30.  Edge  Setters. 

31.  Burnishers. 

32.  Blackers. 

33.  Buffers. 

34.  Hard  Finishers. 

35.  Polishers. 

36.  Floor  Persons. 


Operating  the  Goodyear  Rough  Rounding  Machine 


215 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  217 

The  McKay  Bottoming  Department.  The  McKay 
bottoming  department  is  that  division  in  which  the 
upper  is  attached  to  the  sole  by  a  machine  which 
sews  directly  through  the  outsole,  upper  leather, 
and  insole.  The  upper  parts  come  to  the  McKay 
room  from  the  lasting  room;  the  outer  soles  come 
from  the  sole  leather  department,  having  been  kept 
in  humidifiers  so  as  to  be  moist  and  ready  for 
use. 

Processes  Connected  with  the  McKay  Method. 
First  the  toes  of  the  uppers,  already  upon  the  lasts, 
are  buffed  upon  an  emery  wheel  which  grinds  off  the 
surplus  leather  and  nails,  so  that  the  outer  sole 
will  lie  even  upon  the  shoe.  The  outer  sole  is  then 
"layed"  in  place  and  nailed  or  tacked  in  the  toe, 
shank,  and  heel  upon  a  machine.  The  lasts  are  now 
pulled  or  withdrawn  from  the  shoe  by  hand,  and 
the  McKay  stitching  process  is  performed  upon  the 
McKay  machine.  This  is  a  very  particular  and 
exacting  process  and  is  found  in  most  shoe  factories 
at  the  present  time.  For  comparison  between  this 
and  other  methods  the  reader  is  referred  again  to 
Chapter  VII. 

The  usual  processes  following  the  McKay  stitch- 
ing are,  Heel  seat  nailing  on  a  machine,  channel 
lifting  or  opening  and  cementing,  wetting  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shoe  upon  a  brush  revolving  in  water, 
channel  laying  upon  a  steel  roller  which  by  a  cor- 
rugated lip  draws  the  channel  in  smooth,  beating 
out  the  bottom  on  a  machine  and  by  hand  to  make 


218  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

it  smooth  and  give  it  proper  lines,  drying,  and  heel 
attaching. 

Before  relasting  McKays  and  sending  them  on 
to  finishing,  the  bottom  lining  must  be  inserted,  a 
work  generally  done  by  girls.  Linings  of  thin 
leather  or  leather  substitute,  which  were  dinked  out 
in  the  upper  cutting  department,  are  selected  by 
sizes.  The  inside  of  the  bottom  of  the  shoe  is 
cemented  by  a  brush,  and  the  linings  are  inserted 
by  hand  and  smoothed  down  by  means  of  a  stick. 
Wooden  lasts  or  "followers'*  are  now  inserted  upon 
a  machine. 

Positions  in  the  McKay  Bottoming  Department. 
The  positions  in  this  department  are  generally  as 
follows : 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foreman. 

3.  Buffers. 

4.  Sole  Layers. 

5.  Last  Pullers. 

6.  McKay  Stitchers. 

7.  Heel  Seat  Nailers. 

8.  Channel  Lifters. 

9.  Cementers. 

10.  Bottom  Wetters. 

11.  Channel  Layers. 

12.  Inside  Bottom  Cementers. 

13.  Lining  Inserters. 

14.  Lasters. 

15.  Floor  People. 


Operating  the  Goodyear  Stitching  Machine 


219 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT 

The  Heeling  Department.  The  heel  is  now  at- 
tached to  the  shoe  upon  the  heeling  machine.  The 
shoe  is  placed  upon  a  jack  in  the  machine  and  an 
arm  bearing  the  nails  is  swung  automatically  over 
the  heel,  driving  the  nails  through  the  heel,  outsole, 
upper  leather,  and  insole,  where  they  are  clinched 
upon  the  inside. 

Blind  Nailing.  The  heads  are  left  extending  far 
enough  outside  the  heel  to  receive  the  top  lift. 
This  is  made  from  the  best  of  leather,  and  is  sub- 
jected to  great  pressure  to  harden  it.  Previously 
prepared,  and  with  a  coating  of  glue,  it  is  now  placed 
in  position,  with  the  shoe  still  in  the  machine,  and 
driven  down  over  the  protruding  nails.  This  is  the 
process  of  * 'blind  nailing." 

Slugging.  Short  nails,  or  "slugs,"  of  brass  or 
other  metal  are  now  driven  into  the  top  lift  by  the 
slugging  machine,  to  increase  the  wearing  qualities 
of  the  heel. 

Heel  Trimming.  The  top  lift  is  made  in  the 
exact  size  of  the  finished  heel,  and  is  a  guide  for  the 
operator  of  the  trimming  machine,  which  by  means 
of  a  rapidly  revolving  knife  cuts  away  all  the  sur- 
plus leather  on  the  outside.  The  breast  or  front 
is  trimmed  evenly  across  on  the  "heel-breasting" 
machine.  The  outside  of  the  heel  is  scoured  or 
smoothed  by  rolls  covered  with  sandpaper,  on  the 
heel  scouring  machine. 

Heel  trimming,  like  the  rough  rounding  of  the 
sole,  is  an  exacting  process,  calling  for  strength  and 


222  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

/ 
skill.     It  sometimes  produces  in  the  operator  what 

is  called  "broken  wrist,"  or  a  weak  wrist,  as  the 
shoe,  held  firmly  in  both  hands  against  the  knife 
of  the  machine,  must  be  turned  nearly  through  an 
entire  circle,  both  turning  and  twisting  the  wrist 
joints.  When  the  effect  upon  the  operator  be- 
comes marked  he  usually  changes  to  some  other 
process. 

Positions  in  the  Heeling  Department.  The 
chief  positions  in  this  small  department  are,  the 
Superintendent,  the  foreman,  and  the  operators 
of  the  nailing,  slugging,  and  trimming  ma- 
chines. 

The  Turned  Shoe  Department.  The  turned  shoe 
or  slipper  is  made  with  an  ordinary  upper,  usually 
of  light  weight,  and  with  a  single  sole  of  flexible 
quality.  Soles  are  prepared  or  fitted  in  this  depart- 
ment one  day  in  advance  of  their  use.  The  main 
processes  in  the  preparation  of  the  soles  are  the 
following : 

The  soles  are  channeled  and  placed  in  humidi- 
fiers over  night.  In  the  morning  the  shank  is  trimmed 
out,  the  heel  scarfed  or  trimmed  off,  and  the  sole 
is  moulded  into  shape. 

Lasting  the  Turned  Shoe.  In  lasting  the  sole 
is  placed  upon  the  last  upside  down,  and  the  upper 
is  drawn  over  the  last,  inside  out.  The  counter  is 
put  in  wrongside  out.  All  parts  are  tacked  care- 
fully in  place. 

The  sewing  of  the  upper  to  the  sole  now  takes 


Operating  the  Sole  Leveling  Machine 


223 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  225 

place  upon  a  special  turn  shoe  machine.  Tacks 
are  withdrawn  and  the  selvage  trimmed  off,  and  a 
small  steel  shank  is  sewed  in  the  space  between 
the  heel  and  the  ball  of  the  front.  The  last  is  then 
withdrawn  and  the  shoe  is  turned  by  hand  over  the 
toe  upon  an  iron  support.  The  last  is  then  put 
back  in  the  shoe  and  the  lining  smoothed  out  around 
the  heel  part,  which  is  then  leveled  and  prepared 
for  the  heel  which  is  to  be  added,  either  of  leather, 
leather  substitute,  or  of  wood.  This  is  glued, 
clamped  on  firmly  and  left  to  dry,  and  finished  later. 
Usually  three  nails  are  inserted  to  hold  it  perma- 
nently. A  lining  or  heel  piece  is  inserted  for  smooth- 
ness. 

Positions  in  the  Turned  Shoe  Department.    The 
usual  positions  in  this  department  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foreman. 

3.  Inspector. 

4.  Stock  Fitter. 

5.  Laster. 

6.  Stitcher. 

7.  Tack  Puller. 

8.  Trimmer. 

9.  Shank  Soler. 

10.  Second  Laster. 

11.  Heel  Laster. 

12.  Leveler. 

13.  Finisher. 

14.  Heeler. 


226  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

15.  Cover  Sewer,  who  sews  a  cover  over  white 

shoes  to  keep  them  clean  while  passing 
through  the  various  processes  of  the  de- 
partment. 

16.  Floor  Boys. 

The  Standard  Screw,  Pegged,  and  Nailed  Depart- 
ments. Various  kinds  of  heavy  working  shoes  are 
manufactured  by  the  standard  screw  method,  by 
pegging,  or  by  nailing  the  outsole  and  insole  to- 
gether, thus  fastening  the  bottom  of  the  shoe  to  the 
upper.  By  the  first  method  a  wire  with  screw 
thread  upon  it  is  driven  through  the  bottom  and 
automatically  cut  off  by  the  machine,  piece  after 
piece,  rapidly  around  the  bottom.  This  is  practi- 
cally a  wire  sewing  in  place  of  McKay  stitching. 
The  pegged  shoe  is  made  in  about  the  same  manner, 
a  machine  inserting  wooden  pegs  instead  of  the 
sections  of  wire.  The  use  of  pegs  was  once  very 
general,  but  is  now  gradually  giving  way  to  other 
methods.  Nails  when  used  are  generally  clinched 
on  the  inside.  These  three  methods  give  strong 
and  firm  but  inflexible  and  heavy  bottoms  to  foot- 
wear. 

The  other  processes  connected  with  these  special 
kinds  of  footwear  are  similar  to  the  general  processes 
of  welt  and  McKay  manufacture.  Finishing  does 
not,  however,  call  for  so  high  a  degree  of  per- 
fection. 

Aside  from  the  operators  of  the  special  machines 
used  for  inserting  the  wire  screws,  pegs,  and  nails, 


Operating  the  Heeling  Machine 


227 


THE  MAKING  DEPARTMENT  229 

the  positions  in  general  are  the  same  as  in  the  welt 
and  McKay  departments. 

Work  in  the  Making  Department.  In  the  early 
days  of  American  shoe  factories  the  bottoming  of 
shoes  was  quite  generally  let  out  to  men  on  con- 
tract, as  has  been  indicated  earlier  in  this  volume. 
Such  contract  work  was  performed  by  gangs  of  men 
who  went  from  factory  to  factory.  And  we  find  the 
gang  system  in  use  to  a  degree  in  factories  at  the 
present  time.  It  is  easier,  for  instance,  for  several 
men  to  work  together  upon  a  process  or  group  of 
processes  involving  operations  that  must  be  done 
together  in  a  very  brief  space  of  time,  working  at 
one  bench  or  upon  a  complicated  machine. 

This  department  involves  the  heaviest  and  most 
exacting  processes  of  shoe  manufacture,  and  the 
major  processes  are  regularly  performed  by  men, 
who  in  the  main  must  be  strong  and  active.  Boys, 
girls,  and  women  assist  in  the  minor  processes  and 
in  the  handling  of  materials. 

In  the  bottoming  or  making  room  the  machines 
are  always  ranged  along  the  sides  of  the  room, 
next  to  the  windows,  so  that  there  may  be  good 
light  for  the  many  intricate  operations  necessary. 
Shoes  in  process  of  making  are  arranged  upon  racks 
along  the  inner  spaces  of  the  room. 


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(243) 


CHAPTER  XII 

FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  AND 
SHIPPING 


(245) 


CHAPTER  XII 

FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  AND  SHIPPING 

Additional  Departments.  In  a  large  shoe  factory 
the  magnitude  of  manufacture  calls  for  separate 
departments  of  considerable  size  for  the  finishing 
and  treeing  of  the  shoe,  and  for  the  packing  and 
shipping  of  the  completed  product.  There  will  be 
found  in  especially  large  establishments,  also,  various 
other  departments,  or  even  small  factories,  manu- 
facturing particular  supplies  or  doing  particular 
work.  Such  are  departments  or  factories  for  the 
manufacture  of  leather  parts  of  shoes,  for  the  prep- 
aration of  accessory  materials,  and  for  the  provision 
for  work  that  would  otherwise  have  to  be  given  to 
outside  companies  or  individuals.  We  have  already 
spoken  of  the  heel,  toe  box,  and  counter  depart- 
ments and  factories.  The  second  division  is  seen 
in  cases  where  the  great  shoe  manufacturing  cor- 
poration conducts  its  own  sawmill  and  factories 
for  the  making  of  wood  shipping  cases  and  paper 
cartons  in  which  shoes  are  sent  out  to  the  trade. 
An  example  of  the  third  division  is  the  printing  de- 
partment or  shop  now  being  added  to  many  factories 
because  of  the  great  cost  of  printing  the  many  busi- 
ness forms  necessary  for  office  and  factory  use,  and 

247 


248  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

because  of  the  continual  increase  in  the  output  of 
advertising  material. 

All  such  factories,  departments,  and  shops  provide 
numerous  opportunites  for  employment  according 
to  the  trades  involved,  but  with  little  interchange  of 
labor  between  them  and  the  shoe  factories  except 
where  the  manufacture  of  shoe  parts  is  involved. 
Then,  of  course,  it  is  a  matter  of  employment  in  a 
subdivision  of  the  shoe  industry. 

Finishing.  It  has  already  been  said  that  in  a 
large  shoe  manufacturing  establishment  the  finishing 
processes  detailed  in  the  preceding  chapter  would 
constitute  a  separate  department.  In  a  small 
factory,  however,  the  only  part  of  the  finishing  that 
would  be  distinctly  separate  from  other  operations 
is  tip  repairing. 

The  Tip  Repairing  Department.  In  the  passage 
of  the  shoe  through  the  factory  we  have  seen  the 
vamp,  the  linings,  the  toe  box,  and  the  tip  brought 
together  in  the  completed  toe  of  the  shoe.  Some- 
times, also,  oiled  paper  is  added  as  a  protection 
against  injury  in  the  handling  of  the  shoe.  All  of 
these  parts  give  a  thickness  of  about  one-half  inch 
to  the  toe  of  the  ordinary  shoe.  In  lasting  so  many 
thicknesses  it  is  especially  hard  to  draw  the  tip 
evenly  over  the  last  without  injuring  the  leather 
of  the  tip.  This  danger  is  considerably  increased 
by  the  use  of  patent  leather,  which  is  easily  broken 
or  scarred,  for  tips.  The  use  of  patent  leather  is  so 
general  that  tip  repairing  is  a  problem  of  consider- 


FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  SHIPPING  249 

able  magnitude  in  all  factories.  In  the  general 
handling  to  which  a  shoe  is  subjected  in  passing 
through  the  various  departments  of  the  factory, 
tips  are  likely  to  be  scratched  and  broken.  In  the 
case  of  ordinary  leather  scratches,  scars,  or  other 
marks  can  be  quite  easily  disposed  of  by  rubbing 
down,  by  hand  or  upon  machine  brushes.  But 
patent  leather,  having  a  varnished  surface,  is  re- 
paired with  greater  difficulty.  If  the  injury  is  con- 
siderable the  old  enamel  or  varnished  surface  is 
sandpapered  entirely  off,  and  a  new  coat  of  varnish 
is  applied  by  hand.  This  is  allowed  to  dry  and  is 
polished,  giving  usually  an  entirely  fresh  and  perfect 
surface.  This  work  is  mainly  a  hand  process, 
usually  done  by  women,  though  recently  a  tip 
repairing  machine  has  been  introduced  in  some 
factories. 

Tip  repairing  calls  for  careful  observation,  pains- 
taking application  to  a  process  often  requiring  con- 
siderable time  upon  a  single  shoe,  deftness  of  touch, 
and  good  judgment. 

The  Treeing  Department.  Treeing  is  the  method 
of  making  the  shoe  conform  perfectly  to  the  shape  of 
the  last,  and  of  restoring  the  finish  belonging  to  the 
leather,  after  its  passing  through  many  hands. 
The  last  is  removed  in  this  department,  or  before 
reaching  this  department,  to  allow  for  the  processes 
of  treeing.  The  shoe  is  first  examined  for  tacks  or 
other  imperfections  inside.  Bottom  linings  or  heel 
pads  are  put  in  by  girls,  when  this  has  not  been  done 

*15 


250  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

in  the  making  room.  The  shoe  is  then  placed  upon 
the  tree  arm,  there  being  several  arms  revolving 
upon  a  machine,  so  that  one  shoe  may  be  worked 
upon  while  others  are  drying.  The  department  is 
sometimes  called  the  treeing  and  dressing  room. 
Nearly  every  kind  of  leather  or  shoe  material  requires 
a  distinct  method  of  handling  and  of  dressing  or 
finishing.  Dirt  or  other  materials  that  have  ad- 
hered to  the  surface  of  the  shoe  in  making  are 
removed  by  a  brush  which  is  adapted  to  the  surface 
of  the  leather,  or  by  washing  with  different  cleaners. 
Then  an  oil  lubricator  or  dressing  is  applied  to  fill 
the  pores  of  the  leather.  The  covers  of  fabric  shoes 
and  of  shoes  made  of  delicate  shades  of  leather  are 
removed  by  hand,  cutting  with  a  knife  closely 
around  the  sole  so  that  no  trace  of  the  cover  remains 
and  no  injury  results  to  the  shoe.  The  operator 
may  have  to  restain  some  leathers  as  well  as  to  fill 
the  pores  with  oil,  so  as  to  bring  out  the  richest 
effect  of  the  surface.  There  are  many  special 
processes  in  various  factories,  according  to  particular 
styles  of  shoe  and  kinds  of  finish  used. 

Embossing.  Then  on  the  bottom  of  the  shoe  or 
upon  the  lining  at  the  top  a  trade-mark  or  the  name 
of  the  maker  of  the  shoe  is  embossed  or  stamped. 

Ironing.  When  the  surface  of  the  upper  has  been 
fully  restored  the  shoe  is  ironed  upon  the  tree  to  give 
it  perfect  and  permanent  form.  Rubbing  over  with 
the  warm  or  hot  iron  is  a  very  important  and  careful 
process,  and  is  done  regularly  by  men. 


FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  SHIPPING    251 

Inspecting.  Slight  repairs  not  made  before  the 
processes  of  treeing  are  made  after  it,  and  the  shoe 
is  inspected  before  passing  out  of  the  department. 
Shoes  intended  for  samples  or  display  in  store  win- 
dows have  a  wooden  form  placed  in  them,  rather 
than  a  last,  to  keep  them  in  shape. 

The  "treeing  man"  should  be  familiar  with  the 
nature  and  tanning  of  leather,  and  with  the  processes 
of  shoe  making,  so  that  he  may  correct  defects  in 
leather  or  poor  workmanship  in  the  earlier  processes 
of  the  factory. 

Positions  in  the  Treeing  Department.  The  posi- 
tions usually  found  in  treeing  and  dressing  are  the 
following: 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foreman. 

3.  Instructor. 

4.  Inspectors. 

5.  Embossers. 

6.  Toe  Crease  Stampers. 

7.  Lacers. 

8.  Repairers. 

9.  Treeing  Men. 

10.  Floor  Boy. 

11.  Cripple  Boy. 

The  Packing  Department.  The  great  advance  in 
shoe  manufacture  during  the  last  half  century  is 
seen  not  only  by  studying  machinery  and  processes, 
but  by  observing  the  excellent  condition  in  which 
boots  and  shoes  are  sent  out  to  the  trade.  Before 


252  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

the  use  of  special  cartons,  which  is  distinctive  of  the 
present  day,  shoes  were  tied  in  bundles  or  packed 
loose  in  barrels  and  boxes,  often  reaching  the 
customers  in  wrinkled  and  battered  condition. 
Now  a  single  pair,  except  in  the  case  of  heavy  and 
cheap  grades,  is  packed  in  a  pasteboard  box  or 
carton. 

For  packing,  shoes  are  first  brushed  upon  the  heels 
and  bottoms,  inspected,  and  placed  out  on  tables 
in  pairs  by  sizes.  The  labels  on  the  ends  of  the  car- 
tons are  stamped  in  a  machine  with  style,  stock 
number,  size,  width,  kind  of  leather,  or  other  dis- 
tinguishing term.  Then  the  shoes  are  wrapped  in 
tissue  paper  and  placed  carefully  in  cartons,  which 
are  packed  securely  in  wooden  or  fibre-board  cases, 
usually  with  thirty-six  pairs  to  a  case,  ready  for 
shipment. 

Positions  in  the  Packing  Room.  The  work  of 
this  room  is  done  mainly  by  girls  and  women,  and 
the  few  positions  are,  the  Superintendent,  foreman, 
brushers,  inspectors,  carton  stampers,  packers,  and 
floor  girl. 

The  Shipping  Department.  From  the  packing 
room  shoes  are  sent  to  the  shipping  department 
where  they  are  placed  in  "assembling  aisles"  in 
alphabetical  arrangement,  according  to  the  names  of 
customers  orders  and  styles.  Copies  of  original 
orders  as  received  by  salesmen  are  kept  in  the  ship- 
ping department,  and  shoes  are  checked  off  upon  one 
set  as  they  come  from  the  packing  room,  another 


FINISHING,  TREEING,  PACKING,  SHIPPING    253 

set  of  orders  being  used  for  shipping.  The  cases  of 
shoes  are  sent  out  to  the  freight  offices  accompanied 
by  bills  of  lading  as  the  time  for  filling  each  order 
approaches,  and  shipment  is  made  so  that  the  goods 
will  reach  each  customer  on  a  specified  day. 

Foreign  shipments  require  a  great  amount  of 
detail,  since  they  must  have  a  different  form  for 
bills  of  lading  and  different  weights  and  measures. 

Large  shipments  go  out  by  freight,  small  ones  by 
express,  and  by  parcel  post. 

After  the  bills  of  lading  which  are  to  go  with  ship- 
ments are  made  out,  special  tags  bearing  full  par- 
ticulars about  each  shipment  are  sent  to  the  book- 
keeping department  so  that  the  proper  charges  may 
be  entered  in  that  department. 

Positions  in  the  Shipping  Department.  The  po- 
sitions of  the  shipping  department  are  as  follows: 

1.  The  Superintendent. 

2.  Foreman. 

3.  Checkers. 

4.  Assemblers. 

5.  Men  for  casing  up,  sealing,  nailing,  and  stack- 

ing goods. 

6.  Truck  Boys. 

7.  Shippers. 

8.  Clerks  and  Assistants. 


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(257) 


CHAPTER  XIII 

EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  AND 
SUPPLEMENTARY  MATERIAL 


(259) 


CHAPTER  XIII 

EMPLOYMENT   CONDITIONS  AND   SUPPLEMENTARY 
MATERIAL 

The  Sex  Division  of  Employees.  In  a  shoe 
factory  making  both  men's  and  women's  shoes  of 
the  ordinary  kinds,  substantially  the  following  per- 
centages of  labor  are  found : 

Male  employees,  sixty-nine  per  cent. 

Female  employees,  thirty-one  per  cent. 

Boys  under  eighteen  years,  one-seventh  or 
fourteen  per  cent,  of  male  employees. 

Girls  under  eighteen  years,  one-twenty-fifth 
or  four  per  cent,  of  female  employees. 

These  percentages  may  be  given  as  fairly  exact 
for  the  average  shoe  factory  and  for  the  boot  and  shoe 
industry  as  a  whole.  In  factories  making  mostly 
heavy  shoes  or  men's  wear,  however,  the  proportion 
of  male  employees  runs  somewhat  higher  than  the 
sixty-nine  per  cent,  and  that  of  female  employees 
lower  than  the  thirty-one  per  cent.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  factories  making  women's,  children's,  and 
infants'  footwear,  there  will  be  found  some  increase 
in  the  percentage  of  female  employment  with  a 
corresponding  decrease  in  the  male. 

(261) 


262  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

In  studying  the  departments  of  shoe  manufacture 
we  have  seen  that  the  more  difficult  processes  and 
the  operation  of  heavy  machines  are  given  regularly 
to  male  employees.  This  is  especially  true  in  the 
cutting  department,  in  some  divisions  of  the  stitch- 
ing department,  in  the  sole  leather  department,  in 
the  gang  room,  and  in  treeing.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  lighter  processes  and  the  simpler  machines  are 
regularly  given  to  girls  and  women,  especially  in 
stitching,  finishing,  dressing,  and  packing. 

Further  statistical  information  upon  employment 
in  the  shoe  industry,  in  comparison  with  other 
leading  industries,  is  given  in  Table  XX  on  page  290. 

The  Divisions  of  Employees  Among  Departments. 
To  enable  a  factory  to  work  as  a  whole  with  all 
operatives  in  all  manufacturing  departments  equally 
busy  each  day,  the  division  of  employees  among 
departments  must  have  about  the  percentages 
following: 

In  the  cutting  room,  twelve  per  cent,  of  all 
operatives. 

In  the  stitching  room,  twenty-seven  per  cent. 
In  the  sole  leather  room,  twelve  per  cent. 
In  the  gang  room,  twenty-three  per  cent. 
In  finishing,  eight  per  cent. 
In  treeing  and  dressing,  ten  per  cent. 

Small  numbers  of  employees,  making  perhaps 
seven  or  eight  per  cent.,  are  found  in  minor  depart- 
ments of  the  factory. 

At  the  same  time  the  business  offices  employ  from 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  263 

fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of 
people  connected  with  the  industry. 

Shoe  Manufacture  Highly  Specialized.  Shoe 
manufacture  has  become  more  and  more  highly 
specialized  in  recent  years.  Each  factory  can  pro- 
duce a  larger  output  with  smaller  costs  when  making 
only  a  single  or  a  few  kinds  of  footwear.  The  large 
American  market  has  greatly  aided  in  this  special- 
ization; an  increased  trade  abroad,  in  about  ninety 
different  countries  at  the  present  time,  makes  it 
still  more  profitable -for  the  American  shoemaker 
to  devote  his  plant  to  a  single  line  of  product  in  the 
assurance  that  he  will  find  a  steady  market.  We 
find,  then,  factories,  for  example,  making  men's 
heavy  work  shoes,  leg  boots,  walking  shoes,  or  shoes 
for  dress  wear;  and  other  factories  making  foot- 
wear for  women,  children,  and  infants,  exclusively. 
At  the  same  time  we  find  the  long  list  of  factories 
manufacturing  special  parts  and  findings. 

Seasons.  One  of  the  chief  objections  to  entering 
into  shoe  manufacture  is  the  fact  that  it  is  a  sea- 
sonal employment.  The  busiest  seasons  are  the  fall 
and  winter;  the  least  busy  season  is  the  summer, 
with  an  average  idle  period  of  from  three  to  eight 
weeks,  coming  usually  in  or  around  the  month  of 
July.  As  has  been  said  earlier,  the  progressive  shoe 
manufacturers  are  making  great  efforts  to  obtain 
orders  far  enough  in  advance,  and  to  study  trade 
conditions,  so  that  a  year's  steady  employment  may 
be  provided  for  the  factory.  Large  concerns  capa- 


264  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

ble  of  ^handling  extensive  contracts  may  do  this  more 
easily;  the  small  concern  with  a  limited  trade  must 
adjust  its  output  to  its  volume  of  trade  and  suffer 
usually  from  an  idle  season. 

In  a  few  rare  cases  factories  having  large  contracts 
or  accumulations  of  orders  make  a  twenty-four 
hour  day,  with  three  full  shifts  of  employees  work- 
ing in  eight-hour  periods. 

Shoemaking  a  Trade.  Shoemaking  is  a  trade, 
with  many  specialized  divisions.  Some  of  these 
divisions,  such  as  the  simpler  operations  in  the 
various  rooms,  are  distinctly  unskilled  trades; 
others,  like  cutting,  welting,  and  trimming  edges, 
are  highly  skilled  trades.  The  first  kind  calls  for  a 
very  brief  period  of  learning,  sometimes  a  few  days 
only ;  the  other  division  includes  processes  requiring 
in  many  cases,  several  years  for  learning. 

The  operator  may  learn  several  related  processes, 
but  in  the  large  factory  he  remains  essentially  a 
worker  or  an  expert  in  one. 

Entering  Upon  Work  in  a  Shoe  Factory.  In  a 
small  shoe  establishment,  and  quite  regularly  in  a 
country  town,  inexperienced  persons  may  be  taken 
in  to  learn  most  processes.  Persons  thus  learning 
branches  of  shoe  manufacture  quite  often  enter  the 
large  factories  as  experienced  operators.  In  the  large 
factories,  especially  in  the  great  shoe  centers,  inex- 
perienced persons  are  taken  in  only  for  the  minor 
processes,  and  more  often  in  the  stitching  than  in 
other  departments.  There  is  quite  a  steady  move- 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  265 

ment  of  the  more  highly  skilled  shoe  operatives  from 
factory  to  factory,  and  from  one  shoe  center  to 
another. 

Promotion.  The  operator  who  can  perform  several 
processes  in  shoemaking  is  usually  kept  upon  the 
process  in  which  his  work  is  most  needed  at  any 
time.  Frequently  a  worker  showing  a  special 
aptitude  for  an  advance  process  is  put  forward  to 
learn  it,  and  given  permanent  promotion  if  he  be- 
comes expert  in  it.  There  is  not,  however,  such 
a  gradation  of  operations  in  the  departments  of  the 
shoe  factory  as  to  offer  promotion  regularly  or  to 
the  many.  The  most  conspicuous  promotion  is  that 
of  a  workman  who  comes  to  understand  the  work 
of  a  room  fully,  with  ability  to  direct  others,  to  the 
position  of  assistant  foreman  or  foreman. 

Securing  Skilled  Labor.  "The  desirability  of 
securing  employees  that  are  skilled  in  their  respec- 
tive branches  of  work  is  appreciated  in  every  in- 
dustry, and  in  none  more  so  perhaps  than  in  the  shoe 
industry.  The  truth  of  this  assertion  is  evidenced 
by  the  methods  of  securing  employees  in  different 
shoe  manufacturing  centers. 

"In  some  of  these  centers  shoe  manufacturers  co- 
operate through  their  local  association  in  keeping 
records  as  to  the  workmanship  and  character  of 
their  employees  which  have  some  bearing  upon 
future  employment.  In  other  places  each  factory 
may  have  a  bulletin  board  on  which  it  makes  known 
the  classes  of  employees  that  are  desired,  but  in 


266  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

both  cases  the  kind  of  an  operator  that  is  wanted 
is  specified,  and  this  in  itself  is  an  indication  of  the 
desire  of  the  concern  to  engage  a  skilled  employee  for 
that  particular  operation. 

"We  are  sometimes  told  by  thoughtless  persons 
that  the  amazing  improvement  in  shoe  machinery 
that  has  been  witnessed  in  the  last  fifty  years  has 
practically  eliminated  the  skill  of  the  shoe  operative. 
It  would  perhaps  be  more  proper  to  say  that  the  larger 
use  of  vastly  improved  machinery,  subdividing  the 
labor  of  shoemaking  as  it  has,  has  simplified  shoe- 
making  to  the  extent  that  it  is  much  easier  to  manu- 
facture skilled  employees  in  the  shoe  factory  of  today 
than  it  was  in  the  shoe  factory  of  fifty  years  ago, 
when  it  was  necessary  to  teach  the  shoe  operative 
much  more  of  the  shoemaking  art  than  he  needs  to 
know  at  the  present  time."* 

Schools  and  Courses  for  Shoemaking.  In  several 
large  shoe  centers  private  schools  for  shoe  workers 
have  been  established.  The  work  upon  which 
operators  learn  usually  consists  of  low  grade  shoes 
made  by  the  school  for  factories,  on  a  contract 
basis,  or  upon  shoes  manufactured  from  materials 
of  second  quality,  bought  at  a  low  price  from 
supply  factories  or  from  shoe  factories.  Persons 
wishing  to  learn  a  process  of  shoemaking  are 
taken  on  rather  as  helpers  at  first  in  that  process, 
giving  their  time  and  paying  a  fixed  tuition,  such  as 
thirty  or  sixty  or  eighty  dollars,  without  special 

*  Superintendent  and  Foreman,  Boston,  August  26,  1914. 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  267 

regard  to  the  time  required  for  learning.  The  time 
spent  in  learning,  however,  may  run  from  one  to 
seven  or  eight  months.  Operators  run  the  same 
machines,  though  sometimes  second  hand,  as  are 
used  in  the  shoe  factory,  and  generally  become 
capable  of  entering  factories  as  fairly  efficient 
workers. 

A  few  towns  and  cities,  in  co-operation  with  shoe 
and  leather  manufactures,  have  established  courses 
in  shoe  and  leather  subjects  in  the  public  school 
system.  These  courses,  however,  are  mainly  at- 
tended by  persons  already  working  in  factories  and 
leather  houses  and  seeking  additional  training  to 
increase  their  efficiency  and  earning  capacity. 

The  instructors  are  superintendents  and  experts 
in  the  trade  who  have  been  given  special  training 
for  teaching.  The  establishment  of  such  courses 
marks  a  great  advance  in  the  shoe  and  leather 
industries. 

Superintendents  and  foremen  sometimes  conduct 
classes  at  the  factory  for  employees  under  them. 

Quotation  from  a  Report  Upon  Industrial  Educa- 
tion in  Shoe  Manufacture.  The  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Industrial  Education  of  the  National 
Boot  and  Shoe  Manufacturers'  Association,  at  the 
annual  convention  of  the. association  in  New  York 
on  January  13,  1915,  contains  the  following: 

"The  subject  of  industrial  education  in  the 
shoe  manufacturing  industry,  which  was  referred 
to  the  undersigned  Committee,  is  in  our  opinion 


268  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

a  matter  of  great  importance  to  our  trade — so 
important  indeed  that,  disturbed  by  the  prevail- 
ing business  conditions,  in  common  with  the 
other  manufacturers  in  our  country,  we  have 
been  unable  to  give  to  it  the  careful  investigation 
that  it  deserves.  This  report,  therefore,  may  be 
considered  as  merely  one  of  progress,  designed 
to  lead  to  a  broader  investigation  of  the  subject 
later. 

"That  there  is  need  of  higher  efficiency,  based 
on  a  broader  knowledge  of,  and  a  greater  en- 
thusiasm for,  the  work  in  which  they  are  engaged 
on  the  part  of  the  employees  in  our  American 
shoe  factories,  and  especially  the  young  begin- 
ners in  the  industry,  is  sufficiently  obvious  to  re- 
quire no  argument. 

"This  same  need  has  been  recognized  in  many 
other  manufacturing  industries,  not  only  in  this 
country,  but  in  many  foreign  countries,  and  in 
the  case  of  several  of  the  latter  notable  progress 
has  been  made  during  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

"We  therefore  find  that  not  only  is  industrial 
education  of  various  grades  being  generally 
carried  out  in  the  older  countries,  like  England, 
France,  Germany,  Belgium,  Holland,  Switzer- 
land, and  Denmark,  but  that  even  the  great 
Orient  countries,  just  now  awakening  from 
their  centuries  of  conservatism,  and  incidentally 
opening  up  encouraging  vistas  of  future  trade 
opportunities  for  our  United  States  manufact- 
urers— China,  Japan,  and  India — are  also  ser- 
iously taking  up  this  question  of  higher  efficiency 
in  industry.  Canada,  one  of  the  most  progress- 
ive of  all  the  world's  countries,  has  established  a 
National  Commission  for  the  investigation  of 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  269 

this  question,  and  its  report  will  be  awaited  with 
much  interest  by  the  friends  of  modern  educa- 
tion. 

"The  more  active  campaign  along  this  line  in 
the  United  States  has  extended  over  the  last  ten 
years,  and  already  has  brought  forth  some  valu- 
able results.  At  the  present  time  the  National 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Edu- 
cation is  making  an  exhaustive  national  survey 
of  the  field,  somewhat  similar  to  that  under- 
taken by  Canada;  and  naturally  the  conclusions 
that  may  be  reached  by  this  organization  will 
have  a  far-reaching  influence  on  the  future  of 
industrial  education. 

"In  so  far  as  our  American  shoe  industry  is 
concerned  we  find  that  some  excellent  prelim- 
inary work  already  has  been  accomplished  by 
one  of  our  leading  organizations,  the  New 
England  Shoe  and  Leather  Association. 

"This  Association  had  the  merits  of  the  Ger- 
man and  English  system  of  continuation,  or 
part-time,  industrial  instruction  brought  to  its 
attention  by  representatives  of  the  Boston 
School  Committee,  and  arranged  to  co-operate 
with  that  Committee  in  the  establishment  in 
1910  of  what  we  understand  was  the  first  shoe 
and  leather  continuation  school  in  the  United 
States. 

"The  first  class  brought  together  numbered 
thirty-nine  pupils,  representing  twenty-nine  dif- 
ferent concerns  in  various  branches  of  the  allied 
shoe  and  leather  trade,  mainly  boys  and  young 
men  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty, 
employed  in  offices,  warehouses,  and  manufac- 
turing departments,  etc.,  of  the  shoe  factories, 


£70  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

tanneries,  and  other  establishments.  Since  that 
time,  there  have  been  graduated  from  this  school 
more  than  two  hundred  pupils,  each  of  whom 
has  received  an  official  certificate  of  his  tech- 
nical ability,  and  in  this  way  there  has  been  laid 
a  splendid  foundation  for  the  larger  scheme  of 
industrial  education  that  is  now  being  consid- 
ered by  the  Association. 

"The  working  method  of  this  Boston  Shoe 
and  Leather  Continuation  School  Class,  briefly, 
is  the  holding  of  a  series  of  two-hour  sessions  on 
two  afternoons  a  week,  covering  a  period  of 
twelve  weeks. 

"The  School  Committee  provides  the  class- 
room and  the  instructor,  who,  of  course,  has 
specialized  in  this  particular  branch  of  in- 
dustry; and  the  Association  and  the  trade  it 
represents  co-operates  by  furnishing  competent 
lecturers,  and  other  experts,  who  from  time  to 
time  give  the  pupils  formal  or  informal  talks  on 
the  subjects  in  which  they  are  experts. 

"Incidentally  various  trips  of  inspection  are 
made  to  nearby  shoe  factories,  tanneries,  and 
other  plants,  the  result  being  that  the  boys  not 
only  acquire  a  broad  idea  of  the  fundamentals  of 
tanning  and  shoemaking,  together  with  its  rami- 
fications of  foreign-trade  extension,  advertising, 
and  general  efficiency,  but,  what  perhaps  is  as 
important  as  anything,  they  graduate  with  an 
interest  and  enthusiasm  for  their  chosen  voca- 
tion that  will  mean  more  than  half  the  battle 
for  them  in  their  future  life. 

"This  lack  of  real  interest  on  the  part  of  so 
many  young  beginners  in  our  industry,  which 
springs  largely  from  the  existing  narrow  vision 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  271 

of  their  work  that  lies  before  them,  in  any  one 
department  of  it,  is  one  of  the  greatest  handi- 
caps to  both  the  youths  and  to  the  manufacturer 
who  employs  them;  and  if  the  continuation 
school  did  nothing  more  than  inspire  them  with 
a  real  interest  in  what  they  are  doing  day  by  day 
for  a  livelihood,  it  would  well  repay  all  that  it 
costs. 

"There  is  no  charge  for  tuition  in  the  Boston 
Shoe  and  Leather  Continuation  School,  except 
that  non-resident  pupils  are  charged  a  nominal 
fee,  so  that  the  only  expense  entailed  is  the  four 
hours  or  so  per  week  of  the  pupils'  time  that  the 
employer  donates  to  the  good  cause. 

"In  conclusion  your  Committee  would 
strongly  recommend: 

"First. — The  establishment  of  shoe  and  leather 
continuation  schools,  similar  to  the  Boston 
School,  in  every  shoe  manufacturing  city  and 
town  in  the  United  States  that  is  in  a  position 
to  support  one,  in  this  way  possibly  laying  a 
foundation  for  a  broader  scheme  of  industrial 
education  in  the  trade. 

"Second. — That  the  National  Boot  and  Shoe 
Manufacturers'  Association  establish  a  Standing 
Committee  on  Industrial  Education  to  make 
a  careful  survey  of  the  question  and  report  to 
each  annual  meeting;  and 

"Third. — That  the  Association  co-operate  in 
every  feasible  way  with  the  National  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education." 

The  Shoe  Superintendent.  The  superintendent 
of  a  shoe  factory  or  of  a  department  or  room  must  be 
first  of  all  a  manager.  He  need  not  necessarily  have 


272  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

exact  knowledge  of  processes,  but  he  must  know 
much  of  resources,  materials,  equipment,  employees, 
and  of  methods  of  efficiency  and  improvement  in 
employment  conditions.  He  must  be  able  to  work 
through  subordinates  and  yet  keep  a  firm  and  help- 
ful hand  on  the  activities  of  manufacture. 

The  superintendent  usually  comes  to  his  position 
from  the  business  side  of  the  industry.  Young 
men  are  trained  for  this  work  in  some  factories  by  a 
period  in  office  service,  of  from  six  months  to  several 
years,  followed  by  service  in  the  factory  long  enough 
to  make  them  familiar  with  the  general  features  of 
manufacture. 

The  superintendent  may  be  a  member  of  the 
firm  or  corporation,  a  stockholder,  or  simply  an 
employed  officer.  His  salary,  as  in  other  great  lines 
of  manufacture  in  present  times,  may  vary  from  some 
hundreds  of  dollars  in  a  small  factory  or  department 
to  many  thousands  of  dollars  in  the  great  corpor- 
ation. 

The  Shoe  Foreman.  The  shoe  foreman,  on  the 
other  hand,  rises  from  the  bench  or  is  promoted  from 
the  machine.  He  must  have  intimate  knowledge  of 
processes  and  be  able  to  train  employees  in  them; 
he  must  be  able  to  select  operators  for  his  depart- 
ment and  to  make  their  work  efficient;  he  must  be  a 
master  of  method,  of  handling  men  at  work,  and  of 
maintaining  discipline  in  his  room,  tactful,  firm, 
friendly  with  all,  yet  not  forfeiting  their  obedience 
and  respect. 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  273 

The  position  of  the  foreman  is  exacting.  He 
stands  between  the  superintendent  and  the  operator 
and  is  responsible  for  the  work  of  his  department. 
He  must  keep  every  employee  occupied  and  the  work 
passing  through  on  schedule  time.  His  pay  is  usually 
about  the  same  as  that  of  the  most  expert  operators 
in  his  room,  varying  from  $15.00  upwards  a  week, 
reaching  $50.00  or  $60.00  in  some  cases. 

Forewomen  are  employed  in  divisions  of  the 
stitching  room  or  in  small  departments  in  which 
the  employees  are  mostly  girls  or  women. 

The  superintendents  and  foremen  of  a  factory 
usually  hold  weekly  meetings  for  the  discussion  of 
topics  of  mutual  interest  and  helpfulness. 

Assistant  superintendents  and  foremen  receive 
salaries  graded  below  the  amounts  given,  accord- 
ing to  the  responsibility  and  service  demanded. 

There  is  considerable  change  of  foremen  among 
shoe  factories,  more,  probably,  than  of  other  officers 
or  employees.  In  every  shoe  journal  advertise- 
ments like  the  following  are  constantly  appearing: 

"POSITION  WANTED  as  foreman  of  sole 
leather  room.  Experience  on  welts,  turns,  and 
McKays,  and  can  operate  all  machines.  Also, 
expert  on  new  economy  insole.  Best  of  refer- 
ences. Address,  -  — ,  care  of  American  Shoe- 
making." 

The  Quality  Man  and  the  Quantity  Man.  Some 
factories  have,  in  addition  to  superintendent  and  fore- 
men, a  person  whose  special  duty  is  to  examine  all 


274  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

work  being  done  in"  a  department  for  its  quality  of 
workmanship  and  another  person  who  observes  all 
work  for  its  quantity,  so  that  each  room  is  held  up 
to  the  standard  set  by  the  factory  both  in  grade  and 
volume  of  product.  These  persons  are  practically 
assistants  to  the  foremen,  yet  responsible  to  the 
factory  management  only.  With  them,  the  fore- 
man can  give  his  time  more  fully  to  training  and 
supervising  employees.  On  the  other  hand  such  a 
multiplication  of  supervisors, — superintendent,  fore- 
man, and  inspectors, — is  likely  to  bring  uncertainty 
as  to  authority  and  confusion  of  oversight. 

The  quality  and  quantity  men  have  about  the 
same  rank  and  pay  as  foremen. 

The  Efficiency  Engineer.  Some  large  concerns 
employ  a  person  skilled  in  efficiency  methods.  His 
work  in  the  factory  consists  in  studying  methods 
and  processes  so  that  the  best  results  may  be  ob- 
tained with  the  least  expenditure  of  time,  with  the 
least  wear  of  machinery,  and  with  the  most  econ- 
omical use  of  materials  possible.  When  his  duties 
deal  with  the  operations  of  manufacture  he  is  usually 
called  an  efficiency  engineer.  He  is  a  specialist  in 
work  belonging  more  naturally  to  the  foreman,  and 
attended  to  by  the  foreman  or  his  assistant  in  the 
smaller  establishments. 

The  efficiency  engineer  must  have  a  very  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  nature  of  machine  operations,  of 
the  qualities  of  materials,  of  the  factory  schedule,  of 
the  mental  and  physical  qualities  of  the  operative, 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  275 

of  the  effect  of  monotony  and  routine,  and  of  the 
value  of  encouragement  and  incentive  for  the 
worker. 

The  Monotony  of  Shoemaking.  Like  those  of 
many  other  kinds  of  manufacture  the  machine 
processes  of  shoemaking  are  monotonous.  The  hand 
processes  are  in  general  of  a  lighter  and  less  wearing 
nature,  and  are  not  so  distinctly  characterized  by 
monotony.  Operating  an  automatic  machine,  how- 
ever, upon  which  materials  or  parts  of  shoes  must  be 
placed  and  controlled  in  an  unvarying  time  period,  is 
depressing  and  wearing  for  the  operator.  In  a  sense 
he  becomes  a  part  of  the  machine  until  he  may 
almost  seem  to  have  little  mental  or  physical  activity 
aside  from  it. 

There  are  several  possible  offsets  to  monotony  in 
shoe  manufacture.  One  is  an  incentive  to  speed, 
which,  while  in  itself  a  wearing  element  for  the 
workman,  has  a  speeding  up  effect  upon  him  in  the 
case  of  payment  by  piece.  He  works  faster,  and 
in  many  cases  accomplishes  a  full  day's  work  in 
less  than  a  full  day's  time,  thus  gaining  for  him- 
self some  hours  of  the  working  day  to  spend  out- 
doors or  at  home.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  enter 
the  gang  room  of  a  shoe  factory,  for  instance,  to- 
wards night  and  find  some  machines  idle  because 
the  operators  upon  them  have  performed  their  work 
on  the  lots  of  shoes  passing  through  the  room  on  that 
day. 

A  second  offset  is  found  in  the  advantage  to  the 


276  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

operator  of  learning  to  run  more  than  one  machine, 
so  that  at  times  he  may  be  transferred  from  one  to 
another. 

It  is  a  relief  and  often  a  pleasure  to  the  mind  of 
the  worker  to  have  to  handle  leathers  and  other  shoe 
materials  of  high  grade  and  finish. 

Another  means  of  lessening  monotony  lies  in  the 
operator's  being  able  to  care  for  his  own  machine, 
to  understand  its  parts,  or  to  suggest  improvement 
upon  it.  This  kind  of  ability,  which  is  much  sought 
after  in  the  shoe  factory,  often  leads  to  promotion 
and  to  work  upon  more  important  machines. 

Quotation  Upon  Efforts  in  Some  Factories  to 
Lessen  Monotony.  The  following  quotation  indi- 
cates the  tendency  of  the  present  time  to  ameliorate 
the  effects  of  monotony: 

"In  some  German  factories  the  routine  of  the 
day  is  broken  by  a  recess  in  the  morning  and 
in  the  afternoon.  In  a  western  factory,  which 
makes  supplies  for  the  shoe  trade,  there  is  a 
morning  and  afternoon  recess  for  employees. 
Lunch  is  served  during  the  recess.  Some  of  the 
employees  work  as  waitresses.  In  a  number  of 
shoe  factories  there  are  now  rest  rooms  for 
women. 

"In  some  high-class  American  manufacturing 
establishments,  the  grounds  about  the  factories 
are  made  attractive.  When  an  employee  looks 
out  the  window,  he  sees  a  cheerful  prospect. 
This  breaks  the  monotony  of  his  task.  It  is 
possible  that  the  American  shoe  factory  system 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  277 

requires  too  steadfast  an  application  of  the. 
worker  to  his  machine.  The  enthusiasm  with 
which  shoemakers  demand  factory  legislation, 
particularly  short  working  hours,  is  a  sign  that 
this  is  so.  Perhaps  shoemakers  would  be  more 
steady  and  more  efficient  if  they  had  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  of  recess  in  the  morning  and  in 
the  afternoon.  The  idea  may  seem  radical, 
perhaps  preposterous;  but  it's  pretty  certain 
that  something  will  be  done  the  next  few  years 
to  break  up  the  monotony  of  the  task  of 
shoemaking."* 

Social  Service  in  the  Shoe  Factory.  Some  large 
factories  conducted  under  modern  conditions  take 
measures  for  the  occupational  and  social  welfare  of 
their  employees.  They  provide  classes  for  training, 
in  some  features,  at  least,  of  the  work  of  the  factory ; 
separate  rooms  for  rest  and  recreation,  dancing,  and 
social  clubs  for  male  and  female  employees;  libraries 
equipped  with  books  and  magazines  relating  to  shoe 
manufacture,  and  with  general  literature;  restau- 
rants conducted  on  a  co-operative  basis,  or  at  low 
rates,  so  that  employees  may  afford  to  patronize 
them;  medical  attendance  and  equipment;  and  some- 
times elaborate  parks  and  playgrounds. 

Quotation  from  a  Government  Study  of  Social 
Service.  The  best  summary  of  social  service,  or 
welfare  work,  as  it  has  long  been  called,  in 
the  shoe  industry,  is  to  be  found  in  the  report 
upon  Employers'  Welfare  Work,  published  by  the 

*  American  Shoemaking,  Boston,  October  18,  1913. 


278  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  at  Washington  in  1913, 
as  follows: 


"The Shoe  Co., 


has  done  much  to  improve  working  conditions 
for  its  5,000  employees.  The  huge  factory  is 
built  in  the  form  of  a  hollow  square,  so  that  all 
the  workrooms  are  well  lighted.  On  the  top 
floor,  where  the  shoe  leather  is  cut,  the  roof  has 
saw-tooth  skylights  to  increase  the  light.  The 
ventilation  throughout  the  building  is  admirable, 
and  every  effort  is  made  to  keep  down  dust.  The 
lavatories  are  very  sanitary  and  clean.  Indi- 
vidual lockers  of  perforated  iron  are  placed 
about  in  the  workrooms  near  the  machines,  and 
are  turned  over  to  employees  on  their  making  a 
small  deposit — enough  to  cover  the  cost  of  the 
key.  There  is  a  check-room  for  umbrellas  and 
wet  garments.  Separate  elevators  are  installed 
to  transport  the  women  employees  to  the  upper 
floors.  The  company  has  a  lunch  counter  for  the 
employees,  where  food  is  sold  at  cost.  Em- 
ployees who  bring  their  lunches  eat  them  in  the 
workrooms. 

"Apart  from  good  workroom  conditions  the 
company  conducts  recreation  work — the  name 
it  gives  the  usual  welfare  work.  The  ground 
around  the  building  has  been  converted  into  a 
noonday-rest  park  for  the  employees,  with  a 
beautiful,  trim,  green  lawn  and  flowers.  There 
is  besides  a  roof  garden  covering  over  half  of 
the  roof  space.  Part  of  this  is  reserved  for 
women  and  part  for  men,  with  separate  stair- 
ways leading  to  each  section.  A  dance  hall 
for  women  open  at  noon  and  on  special  oc- 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  279 

casions  in  the  evening,  a  pool  room  and  bowling 
alleys  for  men,  open  every  evening  after  work- 
ing hours  until  ten  o'clock,  give  the  much- 
needed  amusement.  The  men  pay  a  small  fee 
for  the  use  of  the  tables  and  the  alleys.  A 
handsomely  furnished  reading  room,  with  at- 
tractive ferns  and  flowers  from  the  company's 
greenhouse,  has  been  opened  to  the  employees. 
There  is  a  branch  station  of  the  City  Public 
Library  here,  besides  books  owned  by  the  com- 
pany and  numerous  weekly  and  monthly 
periodicals. 

"A  woman  physician,  constantly  in  at- 
tendance, has  the  medical  care  of  the  employees 
under  her  supervision.  There  are  rest  rooms 
and  an  emergency  hospital,  with  a  nurse  regu- 
larly employed,  in  the  building.  Twice  a  week 
an  oculist  spends  the  forenoon  at  the  factory 
and  may  be  consulted  free  by  the  employees. 
He  fits  them  with  glasses  at  very  reduced  prices. 

"The  company,  with  the  aid  of  employees' 
dues,  maintains  the  Relief  Fund  Department. 
Out  of  this  fund,  sick,  accident,  and  death 
benefits  are  paid.  There  is  at  present  over 
$5,000  in  the  treasury.  The  dues  are  ten  cents 
each  week  for  adults  and  five  cents  for  employees 
under  twenty  years  of  age,  and  they  are  de- 
ducted from  wages  by  the  paymaster's  de- 
partment. In  case  of  sickness  or  accident  the 
members  receive  $7  and  $3.50  a  week.  No 
member  can  draw  benefits  longer  than  seven 
weeks  in  one  year.  Benefits  do  not  become 
due  until  the  member  has  been  incapacitated 
one  week,  except  in  case  of  severe  injury.  At 
death  $100  or  $50  is  paid  the  beneficiaries  of 


280  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

the  deceased,  according  to  the  amount  of  the 
weekly  dues.  A  medical  examiner  is  employed 
to  report  upon  the  condition  of  disabled  members 
and  to  decide  upon  the  members'  claims  for  bene- 
fits. The  administration  of  the  relief  fund  is 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  company,  and  all 
the  receipts  of  the  fund  are  held  by  the  com- 
pany in  trust  for  the  relief  department." 

General  Sanitary  Conditions  Observed  in  Boot 
and  Shoe  Factories.*  The  general  sanitary  con- 
ditions, dangers,  and  injurious  processes  in  shoe 
factories  have  been  clearly  presented  in  the  report 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health  for 
1912,  upon  the  Hygiene  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  In- 
dustry in  Massachusetts.  As  this  State  has  always 
been  the  center  of  the  industry  in  this  country,  and 
as  its  factories,  some  six  hundred  in  number,  are 
typical  of  the  American  shoe  factories,  the  facts 
presented  in  this  report  may  be  considered  fairly 
typical  of  the  industry  at  the  present  time.  The 
following  is  taken  from  the  report: 

"The  construction,  location  and  interior  con- 
ditions of  the  shoe  factories  of  Massachusetts 
vary  so  widely,  even  in  the  same  community, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  formulate  general  state- 
ments which  would  be  applicable  to  all  of  them. 
Not  a  few  of  these  factories  are  located  in  small 
country  towns  and  are  operated  by  employees 
descended  from  generations  of  shoemakers. 


*  Hygiene  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Industry  in  Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Health,  1912. 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  281 

These  factories  are  generally  isolated  and,  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  neighboring  structures, 
quite  well  lighted.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 
cities,  where  all  available  space  is  utilized,  the 
buildings  are  at  times  crowded  together,  im- 
pairing the  lighting  conditions  of  the  workrooms. 
It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that,  unlike 
the  textile  industry,  the  operatives  in  shoe  factor- 
ies work  at  machines  or  at  benches  placed  along 
the  sides  of  the  rooms  near  the  windows.  The 
only  exception  to  this  may  be  found  in  the 
stitching  rooms,  where  the  operatives  work  in 
all  parts  of  the  room.  This  room,  however, 
was  as  a  rule  found  well  lighted  in  all  estab- 
lishments visited. 

"It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  modern  buildings 
constructed  for  the  shoe  industry  have  been  so 
placed  that  neighboring  structures  cannot  shut 
out  natural  illumination.  This  feature  of  con- 
struction has  proved  a  valuable  asset  to  those 
who  have  constructed  these  buildings.  Note 
has  already  been  made  of  the  use  of  electricity 
as  an  artificial  illuminant. 

"The  laws  of  Massachusetts  require  that  all 
factories  be  kept  clean  and  well  ventilated,  and 
these  laws  are  well  observed. 

"The  odor  of  leather  is  inseparable  from  the 
art  of  making  shoes,  as  is  the  odor  of  wool  and 
of  cotton  in  the  textile  industry. 

"One  of  the  most  vexing  problems  that  has 
arisen  in  the  inspection  of  shoe  factories  has 
been  the  maintenance  of  proper  toilet  facilities. 
This  question,  by  no  means  common  to  the  shoe 
industry,  can  only  be  met  through  repeated 
inspections  and  the  education  of  the  manu- 

17* 


282  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

facturer.  It  is  not  that  the  manufacturer  is 
not  willing  or  does  not  desire  to  maintain  proper 
toilet  facilities,  but  he  is  oftentimes  careless 
and  leaves  this  part  of  the  work  to  others  who 
fail  in  their  duty.  A  decided  improvement  in 
these  conditions  has,  however,  been  noted. " 

Conditions  in  483  Factories,  as  to  Light,  Ven- 
tilation, and  Water-closets: 

Light: 

Excellent 30 

Good 441 

Moderately  bad       .      .      .       2 
Distinctly  bad         ...     10 

483 
Ventilation : 

Excellent 7 

Good 468 

Moderately  bad       ...       3 
Distinctly  bad         ...       5 

483 
Water-closets : 

Excellent 6 

Good        ...      .      .      .415 

Moderately  bad       ...       7 
Distinctly  bad   ....     55 


483 


For  further  information  on  health  conditions  in 
shoe  manufacture,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  re- 
port from  which  the  preceding  quotation  has  been 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  283 

made.  In  that  report  he  will  find  an  exhaustive 
discussion,  with  numerous  diagrams,  of  the  injurious 
features  of  the  occupation.  There  is  danger  in 
operating  most  machines,  which  can,  however,  be 
avoided  with  due  care  on  the  part  of  the  operator; 
there  is  danger,  also,  from  the  fumes  of  naphtha, 
from  cement  used  in  the  stitching  room  and  making 
room;  and  while  dust  removers  are  in  general  use, 
under  the  compulsion  of  state  legislation,  there  is 
considerable  menace  to  the  health  from  dust  which 
is  produced  by  nearly  all  processes  of  work  upon 
the  bottoms  of  shoes,  such  as  edge  trimming,  bottom 
scouring,  buffing,  and  bottom  finishing. 

Piece  and  Time  Payment.  Two-thirds,  or  about 
sixty-six  per  cent,  of  the  processes  of  boot  and  shoe 
manufacture,  are  paid  for  on  a  piece  basis,  usually 
at  a  fixed  rate  per  dozen  pairs.  Such  processes  are 
those  in  which  good  work  can  be  done  at  high  rate 
of  speed,  and  in  which  the  possibility  of  increased 
earnings  produces  a  larger  volume  of  work  from 
the  shoe  operator.  On  the  other  hand,  where 
accuracy  and  care  are  required,  as  in  the  cutting 
room,  and  where  work  is  of  a  routine  nature,  as  in 
shipping,  pay  rests  upon  a  time  basis. 

The  Best  Paying  Processes.  Some  of  the 
best  paying  processes  in  the  factory  are,  cutting, 
stitching,  lasting,  wiping  in,  welting,  rounding, 
trimming,  and  edge  setting.  The  pay  in  these 
processes  ranges  from  $15.00  to  $35.00  or  more  per 
week. 


284  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Wages  and  Variation  in  Employment.  Wages 
have  been  given  in  statistics  at  the  ends  of  the 
chapters  on  factory  departments.  Additional  fig- 
ures are  presented  in  the  following  tables,  and  pay 
is  so  associated  with  variation  in  employment  that 
the  two  are  properly  treated  together.  The  material 
here  given  is  drawn  from  "Wages  and  Hours  of  Labor 
in  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Industry:  1907  to  1914," 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Wash- 
ington, 1915. 

Following  are  explanatory  statements  from  the 
report: 

"This  report,  based  on  information  obtained 
from  representative  establishments,  shows  the 
full-time  weekly  earnings,  the  full-time  hours  of 
labor  per  week,  and  the  rates  of  wages  (or 
earnings)  per  hour  in  the  principal  occupations 
of  the  boot  and  shoe  industry  of  the  United 
States.  Figures  relating  to  full-time  hours  of 
labor  per  week  and  rates  of  wages  (or  earnings) 
per  hour  are  presented  for  the  years  1907  to 
1914,  inclusive,  and  for  full-time  weekly  earn- 
ings for  the  years  1910  to  1914,  inclusive. 

"In  addition,  this  report  presents  material 
relating  to  the  variations  in  the  amount  of  em- 
ployment furnished  by  this  industry  in  the  year 
ending  in  February,  1914. 

"Earlier  reports  of  this  bureau  have  pre- 
sented wages  and  hours  of  labor  in  the  industry 
from  1890  to  1913. 

"Summarized  briefly,  the  average  full-time 
weekly  earnings  of  the  employees  in  this  indus- 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  285 

try  in  1914  were  the  same  as  in  1913,  eight 
per  cent  higher  than  in  1912,  six  per  cent  higher 
than  in  1911,  and  nine  per  cent  higher  than  in 
1910. 

"The  average  full-time  hours  of  labor  per  week 
in  1914  were  one  per  cent  lower  than  in  1913, 
two  per  cent  lower  than  in  1912,  and  three  per 
cent  lower  than  in  1911  or  1910. 

"The  average  rates  of  wages  (or  earnings) 
per  hour  in  1914  were  one  per  cent  higher  than 
in  1913,  nine  per  cent  higher  than  in  1912,  ten 
per  cent  higher  than  in  1911,  and  twelve  per 
cent  higher  than  in  1910.  Owing  to  the  reduction 
of  hours,  the  increase  in  full-time  weekly  earn- 
ings between  1910  and  1914  was  not  so  much 
as  in  rates  of  wages  per  hour. 

"A  summary  of  the  rates  of  wages  and  hours 
of  labor  in  1914  in  the  principal  occupations 
of  the  industry  is  presented  in  the  table  fol- 
lowing." 

"In  this  table  it  is  seen  that  in  1914  the  average 
full-time  weekly  earnings  of  males  engaged  in 
the  industry,  represented  by  twenty-seven 
specific  occupations,  varied  from  $15.37  for 
assemblers  to  $27.68  for  Goodyear  welters. 

"The  average  full-time  weekly  earnings  of 
females  in  1914,  represented  by  ten  specific 
occupations,  varied  from  $9.12  for  treers  or 
ironers,  hand,  to  $13.14  for  vampers." 

The  average  earnings  of  shoe  factory  employees, 
as  given  in  the  census,  vary  from  about  $375.00  per 
year  to  about  $530.00  per  year,  according  to  local 
conditions  in  the  differ ent  shoe  manufacturing  states. 


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288 


THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 


The  accompanying  graphic  chart  is  based  upon 
the  percentages  of  figures  gathered  from  eighty- 
three  representative  establishments  throughout  the 
country. 


APR.        MAY  JUNE        JUUr 


5  EPT       OCT         NOV. 


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Variations  in  Number  of  Employees,  Total  Pay  Rolls,  and 
Biweekly  Earnings  Per  Employee* 

In  some  establishments  the  regular  pay-roll 
period  covers  two  weeks.  Of  this  twelve-day  work- 
ing period  the  factories  whose  number  of  employees 
and  pay  roll  were  the  basis  of  the  preceding  chart, 
were  in  operation  11.4  days.  This  was  in  the  pro- 
portion of  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  working  days 
of  the  year  ending  in  February,  1914,  or  48.4  weeks, 
leaving  the  equivalent  of  an  average  idle  period  of 
3.6  weeks. 

It  will  be  observed  by  the  chart  that  the  number 
of  employees  does  not  vary  greatly  throughout  the 

*  Wages  and  Hours  of  Labor,  1907  tol!914— Boots  and  Shoes.  U.  S.  Depart- 
ment of  Labor,  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  289 

year  from  the  normal  of  one  hundred  per  cent.,  but 
that  the  pay  roll  and  earnings  do  vary  considerably, 
according  to  seasons,  being  highest  in  March, 
August,  December,  the  latter  part  of  January,  and 
February,  and  lowest  in  April,  July,  September, 
October,  and  the  early  part  of  January.  In  the 
busy  season  individual  earnings  are  at  a  maximum; 
in  the  dull  season,  with  fewer  hours,  they  are  at  a 
minimum. 

Sex  and  Age  Distribution  of  Wage  Earners  in  the 
United  States  by  Leading  Industries:  1909.  Table 
XX  shows,  for  the  forty-three  leading  industries, 
the  number  and  percent,  of  distribution,  by  age  and 
sex,  of  wage  earners  as  reported  for  December  15, 
or  the  nearest  representative  day.  It  does  not 
include  salaried  persons.  As  a  means  of  judging 
the  true  importance  of  the  several  industries  as  em- 
ployers of  labor,  the  average  number  employed  for 
the  entire  year  is  also  given  in  each  case,  this  number, 
in  the  case  of  seasonal  industries,  being  much  smaller 
than  the  number  on  the  representative  day.  The 
per  cent,  of  distribution  for  all  industries  combined, 
based  on  the  average  number  employed,  is  also 
presented. 

In  all  industries  combined,  seventy-eight  per  cent, 
of  the  average  number  of  wage  earners  were  males 
sixteen  years  of  age  or  over,  19.5  per  cent,  females 
sixteen  years  of  age  or  over,  and  2.5  per  cent,  chil- 
dren under  the  age  of  sixteen. 

The  industries  for  which  the  largest  proportions 


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(391) 


292  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

of  males  sixteen  years  of  age  or  over  are  shown  are 
those  in  which  the  work  is  of  a  nature  requiring 
considerable  physical  strength  or  a  high  degree  of 
skill. 

The  proportion  of  women  and  children,  naturally 
is  larger  in  those  industries  in  which  the  processes 
require  dexterity  rather  than  strength. 

The  importance  of  the  shoe  industry  as  a  field  of 
employment,  in  comparison  with  the  other  staple 
industries,  may  be  seen  by  this  table. 

The  average  number  of  wage  earners  employed 
in  the  industry  during  the  year  is  93.7  per  cent,  of 
the  total  number  employed  on  the  day  taken  by 
the  Census  Department  as  properly  representative. 
Of  those  sixteen  years  of  age  or  over,  62.6  per 
cent,  are  males,  and  33.3  per  cent,  are  females. 
The  percentage  under  sixteen  is  4.1  of  the  whole 
number. 

The  Shoe  Repairing  Industry.  Besides  the  repair 
work  done  by  the  individual  shoe  cobbler  in  every 
community,  repairing  has  become  an  important  and 
well  organized  shop  industry  in  recent  years.  A 
brief  and  comprehensive  statement  of  this  develop- 
ment is  the  following,  from  American  Shoemaking 
for  June  12,  1915: 

"The  industry  of  repairing  shoes  has  grown 
swiftly  in  the  last  few  years,  and  now  is  of  such 
size  that  it  may  be  recognized  as  a  special 
branch  of  the  great  shoe  industry.  There  are 
about  45,000  shops  in  this  line,  and  they  do  a 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  293 

business  of  about  $100,000,000  annually.  Be- 
sides there  are  many  retail  stores  that  have 
repair  departments.  Of  the  45,000  shoe  repair- 
ing shops,  about  18,000  are  equipped  with 
machinery.  The  machinery  of  the  modern 
repair  shop  corresponds  to  that  of  the  factory, 
save  that  it  is  simplified.  Necessarily,  it  is 
simple  because  it  often  must  be  operated  by 
unskilled  workers,  or  at  least  by  workers  who 
have  had  scant  experience  in  operating  shoe 
machinery.  Commonly,  the  machines  are  all 
set  on  one  motor-drive  shaft,  along  one  side  of 
the  repair  shop.  There  is  a  lock-stitch  machine 
at  the  head  of  the  shaft.  This  machine  has 
about  260  parts.  It  is  easy  of  adjustment,  and  it 
is  capable  of  good  all-around  work,  such  as 
changing  quickly  from  a  woman's  flexible  sole 
shoe  to  a  boy's  stiff-soled  shoe.  It  will  stitch 
anywhere  from  four  to  sixteen  stitches  to  the 
inch.  Along  the  shaft  there  are  machines  for 
finishing  the  sole  after  it  is  sewed  on.  Among 
these  machines  are  levelers,  sanders,  trimmers, 
edge  setters,  stitch  cleaners,  burnishing  rolls 
and  polishing  brushes.  Besides  there  are  tool 
boxes,  shelves  for  the  work,  and  fans. 

"The  largest  of  the  modern  shoe  repairing 
shops  handle  from  60,000  to  70,000  pairs  of 
shoes  a  year.  They  employ  from  twenty-five  to 
thirty-five  men.  They  use  a  tag  system,  some- 
thing like  that  of  the  regular  factories.  They 
subdivide  the  work.  In  the  small  shops,  one  or 
two  men  may  do  all  the  work.  One  man  may 
run  all  the  machines  on  the  shaft,  operating 
one  after  the  other.  Or,  seven  men  may  work 
at  one  time  on  the  machines  on  one  of  the 


294  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

longest  of  the  shafts,  say  one  of  the  twenty-two- 
foot  shafts. 

"The  main  thing  in  the  modern  shoe  repairing 
business  is  to  build  up  patronage.  Salesman- 
ship is  as  necessary  to  success  in  it  as  is  good 
workmanship.  Somebody  must  go  out  and 
convince  customers  that  they  should  have 
their  shoes  re-soled,  or  otherwise  repaired. 
This  selling  work  may  be  carried  on  in  big 
cities,  small  cities,  in  towns,  or  out  in  the 
country. 

"In  the  business  district  of  one  large  city  some 
bootblacks  put  some  repair  machines  in  their 
back  shop.  One  of  them  went  among  the  offices 
of  the  neighborhood  asking  for  shoes  to  be 
repaired.  He  offered  to  give  tickets  good  for 
six  free  shines  with  every  pair  of  shoes  that  he 
re-soled.  By  this  means  a  repair  business  was 
built  up  among  occupants  of  the  offices  suffi- 
cient to  keep  four  men  employed.  Besides, 
the  shoe  shining  business  flourished. 

"In  the  small  cities  and  towns,  the  repair 
men  send  agents  in  autos,  or  on  motorcycles, 
along  the  highways,  to  call  at  door  after  door 
and  collect  shoes  to  be  repaired  and  returned. 
In  some  western  communities  the  steam  laun- 
dries have  started  shoe  departments,  and  their 
wagons  collect  shoes  to  be  shined  or  repaired, 
and  to  be  returned  with  the  regular  basket  of 
laundry. 

"The  rapid  increase  in  the  repair  business 
has  probably  cut  into  the  sale  of  new  shoes. 
But  it  has  opened  a  new  field  for  enterprising 
men  in  the  starting  of  repair  shops,  and  in  selling 
goods  to  repair  shops." 


EMPLOYMENT  CONDITIONS  295 

Earnings  in  the  Repair  Shop.  In  the  small 
shop,  employing  few  workers,  and  doing  mostly 
hand  repairing,  the  earnings  may  vary  from  two 
to  five  dollars  or  more  a  day.  In  the  large  shop, 
in  which  repair  work  is  done  mainly  by  machinery, 
the  operative  earns  about  the  same  as  he  would 
in  the  same  processes  in  the  shoe  factory.  Employ- 
ment in  repairing  is  fairly  steady  through  the  year 
in  most  communities,  but  it  is  somewhat  reduced 
in  the  large  town  or  city  during  the  summer  season. 

The  Shoe  Factory  Chemist.  There  are  numer- 
ous chemical  companies  which  produce  the  materials 
used  in  tanning  leathers  and  in  finishing  shoes.  In 
recent  years,  however,  some  large  shoe  factories 
have  drawn  chemists  from  such  establishments  or 
from  other  sources  to  work  steadily  in  the  factory. 
The  duties  of  such  chemists  are  twofold:  To  examine 
all  leathers  purchased  to  see  that  they  have  been 
properly  tanned  and  cared  for,  and  to  examine  all 
finishing  materials,  to  see  that  they  are  of  the  right 
quality.  A  few  factories  have  laboratories  in  which 
the  chemist  makes  finishing  materials  from  formulas 
which  can  be  purchased  or  from  his  own  or  the  fac- 
tory formula. 

The  salary  of  the  shoe  factory  chemist,  whose 
service  is  of  high  value  in  shoe  manufacture,  ranges 
from  $20  or  $25  a  week  upwards. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  TERMS 
USED  IN  SHOEMAKING 


(297)      *18 


CHAPTER  XIV 

AN  EXPLANATION   OF  THE  TERMS  USED  IN 
SHOEMAKING 

The  Need  of  Knowing  These  Terms.  For  an 
intelligent  reading  or  study  of  factory  departments 
and  processes  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  know 
the  meaning  of  the  chief  technical  terms  used  in 
connection  with  leather  and  shoe  manufacture. 
An  explanation  of  a  process  in  popular  language 
only  would  prevent  an  exact  and  clear  understand- 
ing of  its  nature.  It  is  well  to  describe  industry 
to  one  who  wishes  to  enter  it,  either  temporarily  or 
as  a  life  occupation,  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  it  in 
its  real  setting  and  to  use  "shop  language"  as  far 
as  may  be  necessary  to  a  right  presentation  of  it. 
One  should,  if  possible,  see  a  machine  in  operation 
and  hear  the  workman  who  operates  it  explain  the 
working  of  the  machine.  The  language  of  the  trade 
is  simple  but  expressive,  and  not  at  all  difficult  to 
understand.  Throughout  the  pages  of  this  book 
processes  and  machines  are  spoken  of  in  technical 
terms  and  explained  in  popular  language,  so  as  to 
give  the  reader  who  may  not  be  able  to  visit  the 
factory  an  accurate  and  helpful  picture  of  modern 
shoemaking.  Terms  relating  mainly  to  leather  are 

(299) 


300  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

given  in  Chapter  V  on  Leather.  Herewith,  in 
Chapter  XIV,  is  presented  an  explanation  of  the 
more  common  terms  used  in  shoemaking. 

Acid-tanned.  Tanned  by  a  mineral  acid,  instead 
of  by  a  vegetable  substance  such  as  the  bark  of 
certain  trees  and  plants. 

Adjustment.  The  fastening  by  which  the  shoe  is 
adjusted  to  the  foot,  such  as  button,  strap  and 
buckle,  webbing  or  lacing. 

Aloft.     (See  "Stitched  Aloft"). 

Anatomic.  Referring  to  the  conformity  of  the 
shoe  to  the  natural  shape  of  the  foot. 

Arch.  The  bony  framework  of  the  foot  between 
the  heel  and  the  toes.  The  "broken  arch"  is  a 
settling  of  this  part  of  the  foot  due  to  a  yielding 
of  the  muscles  and  ligaments.  An  "arch-support" 
is  a  mechanical  contrivance  placed  in  the  shoe 
beneath  the  arch  of  the  foot  to  keep  it  in  its  natural 
position.  The  term  arch  is  used  also  for  the  cor- 
responding portion  of  the  shoe  bottom. 

Assembling.  Putting  together  the  various  parts  of 
the  shoe  as  they  come  from  separate  departments 
of  the  factory.  It  includes  the  tacking  of  the 
inner  sole  to  the  last,  inserting  the  toe  box  and 
counter  of  the  shoe,  and  putting  the  upper  part 
of  the  shoe  on  the  last. 

Backstay.  A  strip  of  leather  covering  and  strength- 
ening the  back  seam  of  a  shoe  on  the  outside. 

Back  Strap.  The  strap  or  loop  by  which  the  shoe 
is  pulled  on  the  foot. 

Bal.  An  abbreviation  of  Balmoral,  the  original 
English  name  for  the  shoe.  A  front-laced  shoe  of 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       301 

medium  height,  as  distinguished  from  shoes  ad- 
justed by  other  fastenings,  and  also  from  other 
patterns  of  shoes,  such  as  Blucher  or  Oxford. 

Ball.  The  fleshy  part  of  the  foot  back  of  the  toes, 
or  the  corresponding  part  of  the  shoe  or  of  the 
last. 

Beading.  Folding  in  the  skived  edges  of  the  upper 
leather;  or  making  an  impression  by  a  wheel 
around  the  sole  of  the  shoe  above  the  heel.  Fre- 
quently called  "seat  wheeling."  Sometimes  re- 
ferring to  the  beads  placed  on  the  vamps  of 
women's  slippers. 

Beating  Out.  The  term  used  for  leveling  the  bot- 
tom of  the  shoe. 

Bellows  Tongue.  A  wide  folding  tongue  sewed  to 
the  sides  of  the  top  for  the  purpose  of  making  it 
water  tight,  as  in  the  case  of  heavy  shoes  for 
working  or  tramping. 

Belting.  That  part  of  bark  tanned  cowhide,  rubber, 
or  canvas  used  for  machinery  belts. 

Bench-Made.    Applying  to  shoes  made  by  hand  at 

the  cobbler's  bench. 
Bend.      The  main  or    best   portion    of  a  side  of 

leather. 
Blackball.    A   mixture   of   grease   and   lamp-black 

used  by  hand  shoe  workers  to  polish  the  edges  of 

soles  and  heels. 
Blacking  the  Edge.     Dyeing  the  edge  of  the  sole 

or  welt  after  the  shoe  has  passed  through  the 

making  room. 
Blind  Eyelet.    An  eyelet  inserted  on  the  inner  side 

of  the  eyelet  facing,  the  hole  on  the  outer  side 

being  left  raw-edged. 


302  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Blocking.  The  cutting  of  a  sole  into  rough  or 
approximate  shape,  suitable  for  rounding.  Also 
cutting  top  or  vamp  into  form  suitable  for  the  use 
of  the  pattern. 

Blucher.  The  name  of  a  high  shoe  or  half  boot 
originated  by  Field  Marshall  Blucher  of  the 
Prussian  Army  in  the  time  of  the  first  Napoleon. 
Its  distinguishing  feature  is  the  extension  of  the 
quarters  forward  to  lace  across  the  tongue.  The 
name  now  applies  to  any  shoe  having  this  ex- 
tension. 

Boot.  A  term  usually  and  properly  restricted  to 
high-cut  foot  wear  with  tongue  of  firm  leather, 
and  sometimes  laced,  as  in  hunting  boots.  Form- 
erly high  footwear  with  no  fastening.  Often  re- 
stricted to  women's  high-cut  shoes. 

Bottom  Filling.  The  filler  for  the  low  space  in  the 
bottom,  between  outer  and  inner  sole,  in  the  fore 
part  of  the  shoe,  as  ground  cork  or  tarred  felt. 

Bottom  Finishing.  The  final  polishing,  buffing,  and 
other  processes  applied  to  the  bottom  of  a  com- 
pleted shoe. 

Bottom  Scouring.  Sandpapering  the  parts  of  the 
sole  in  front  of  the  heel. 

Box.  A  reinforcement  placed  in  the  toe  of  a  shoe 
to  preserve  its  shape,  made  of  leather,  leather- 
board,  canvas  stiffened  with  glue  or  shellac,  or 
other  material.  Called  also  "box  toe." 

Brogan.    A  heavy  pegged  or  nailed  work  shoe  of 

medium  height. 
Broken  Arch.     (See  Arch). 
Brushing.     Finishing  the  edge,  heel,  or  bottom  with 

a  polishing  brush. 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       303 

Buckram.  Canvas  stiffened  with  glue  and  used  as  a 
toe  box  or  as  a  backing  for  shoe  fabrics. 

Buffing.  Scouring  off  the  outer  or  grain  side  of 
leather.  See  bottom  scouring. 

Button.  The  use  of  the  button  as  a  shoe  fastening 
is  of  quite  recent  date,  having  increased  very 
rapidly  since  about  1907.  At  the  present  time 
women's  shoes  have  about  one-half  of  the  but- 
toned type.  The  latest  tendency  is  to  seek  orna- 
mental effects  through  the  use  of  special  ma- 
terials for  shoe  buttons. 

Button  Fly.  The  strip  of  leather  in  the  front  of  the 
top  of  a  button  shoe  having  the  button  holes. 

Cabaretta.  A  tanned  sheepskin  of  superior  quality 
and  finish. 

Calfskin.  Skins  of  neat  cattle,  up  to  fifteen  pounds 
weight.  For  trade  convenience  such  are  called 
"calfskin,"  those  weighing  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
five  pounds,  "kips,"  and  all  above  twenty-five 
pounds  are  called  hides.  Calfskin  makes  a  strong 
pliable  leather  highly  susceptible  to  polish  and  to 
a  dull,  velvet  or  "Suede"  finish,  or  to  a  patent 
leather  finish.  It  has  long  been  in  use  for  all  kinds 
of  shoes. 

Calking  Machine.  An  appliance  to  shape  the  inner 
sole  of  a  shoe  in  conformity  with  the  bottom  of 
the  foot. 

Carton.  The  pasteboard  box  in  which  each  pair  of 
shoes  is  packed.  A  comparatively  late  develop- 
ment in  the  trade.  Formerly  pairs  of  shoes  were 
fastened  together  with  strings  at  the  heel;  after 
that  they  were  sometimes  wrapped  in  pairs  in 
ordinary  paper.  Standard  sizes  of  cartons  are 


304  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

now  generally  used,  for  convenience  in  packing  in 
cases  and  for  uniformity  in  size  when  the  cartons 
are  placed  upon  shelves  in  the  shoe  store. 

Case.  The  box  in  which  shoes  are  packed  for  ship- 
ment. Men's  shoes  are  usually  packed  twelve 
pairs  in  a  case;  women's,  twenty-four  to  thirty- 
six  pairs. 

Channel.  A  slanting  cut  around  the  edge  of  the 
sole  for  convenience  in  stitching  the  top  to  the 
bottom  of  the  shoe.  The  lip  of  the  channel  or 
the  raised  portion  is  cemented  down  after  the 
stitching  so  as  to  preserve  the  stitch  from  immedi- 
ate wear.  Channeling  means  preparing  the  chan- 
nel for  the  stitch. 

Channel  Screwed.  The  bottom  held  to  the  upper 
by  wire  screws  fastening  in  the  channel. 

Channel  Stitched.  The  soles  fastened  to  the  uppers 
by  stitches  which  are  concealed  in  the  channel. 

Channel  Turning.  Raising  the  lip  of  sole  leather, 
or  channel,  so  that  the  stitching  can  be  done  be- 
neath it. 

Chrome-tanned.  Tanned  by  the  use  of  bichromate 
of  potash  and  muriatic  acid. 

Clicking.  Cutting  the  uppers  of  shoes  by  a  ma- 
chine. 

Closing  On.  Stitching  the  lining  and  outside  to- 
gether at  the  top,  wrong  side  out. 

Collar.  A  narrow  strip  of  leather  stitched  around 
the  outside  of  the  shoe  at  the  top. 

Colonial.  A  woman's  low  shoe  with  wide  tongue 
and  ornamental  buckle. 

Combination  Last.  One  having  an  instep  of  differ- 
ent width  from  that  of  the  ball.  Also  a  last  that 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       305 

will  allow  both  low  and  high  shoes  to  be  made 
upon  it. 

Congress  Gaiter.  A  shoe  having  rubber  goring  for 
adjustment  at  the  ankles. 

Copper  Toe.  A  copper  outer  boxing  to  protect  the 
toe  in  children's  shoes. 

Counter.  The  stiffening  in  the  back  or  heel  part  of 
a  shoe  to  support  the  heel  and  prevent  the  shoe 
from  running  over,  usually  made  of  leather,  leather- 
board,  felt,  or  canvas  stiffened  with  shellac  or  paste. 

Cravenette.  A  proprietary  name  for  a  closely 
woven  cloth  used  in  shoe  uppers. 

Creasing  Vamp.  Making  hollow  grooves  or  wrinkles 
across  the  front  of  the  vamp. 

Crimping.  Shaping  any  part  of  the  upper  to  con- 
form to  the  last. 

Cushion  Sole.  An  elastic  or  padded  inner  sole, 
usually  of  felt. 

Custom-Made.  Made  by  hand  to  special  order  and 
measurement. 

Cut-off  Vamp.  One  cut  off  at  the  tip  and  stitched 
to  the  toe  cap,  not  extending  under  the  tip  be- 
yond the  tip  stitching. 

Dicing  or  Dinking.  Cutting  soles  or  other  parts 
of  the  shoe  with  machine  and  die. 

Dom  Pedro.  A  heavy  single-buckle  shoe  with 
bellows  tongue,  usually  of  a  cheap  grade. 

Dressing.  A  process  for  restoring  the  finish  of  the 
upper.  Also  used  for  the  materials  for  cleaning 
and  polishing  the  shoe. 

Edge  Setting.  Finishing  and  polishing  the  edge  of 
the  shoe. 


306  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Edge  Trimming.  Cutting  the  edge  of  the  shoe 
smoothly  to  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  last. 

Embossing.  Stamping  or  carving  figures  and  trade- 
marks on  leather. 

Eyelet.  A  small  ring  of  metal  set  in  the  lacing  hole. 
The  eyelet  hole  is  sometimes  worked  with  thread. 

Fabric.  A  general  term  for  the  cloths  used  in  shoe- 
making. 

Facing.  The  leather  used  around  the  top  of  the 
shoe  and  down  the  eyelet  row,  inside. 

Fair  Stitch.  The  stitching  sometimes  run  around 
the  edge  of  the  sole  to  give  the  McKay  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  welt. 

Filler.  A  light,  hollow,  wooden  form  used  to  keep 
a  shoe  in  shape.  Called  also  "form." 

Findings.  The  small  parts  or  accessories  of  a  shoe, 
practically  everything  except  leather  and  lining, 
such  as  laces,  polishes,  cement,  nails,  brushes, 
thread,  and  numerous  other  incidental  articles 
used  in  the  making  and  care  of  shoes. 

Finish.  Polishing,  buffing,  or  other  final  treatment 
of  the  soles  of  shoes. 

Fitting.  The  selection  and  adjustment  of  ready- 
made  shoes  to  the  foot  of  the  wearer.  In  the  old 
days  of  hand  work,  shoes  were  made  to  individual 
measurement.  Such  is  still  the  case  with  the- 
"custom  shoe"  where  the  added  cost  can  be 
afforded.  The  factory-made  shoe,  of  typical  form, 
throws  upon  the  salesman  in  the  retail  store  the 
problem  of  fitting.  Some  adjustment  can  be  pro- 
vided by  stretching  the  upper  or  by  moving  but- 
tons, but  it  is  chiefly  a  problem  or  right  selection 
from  standard  patterns. 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       307 

Fitting  Room.  The  department  of  the  factory  in 
which  the  various  parts  of  the  upper  of  the  shoe 
are  stitched  together,  before  going  to  the  lasting 
room. 

Form.  (See  heel.)  Used  also  for  the  bench  of  the 
hand  shoemaker. 

Foxing.  That  part  of  the  upper  extending  from 
the  sole  to  the  lacing  or  adjustment  in  front,  and 
to  about  the  height  of  the  counter  in  the  back, 
being  the  full  length  of  the  upper.  More  simply, 
the  lower  part  of  the  quarter. 

French  Size  Marking.  A  cipher  or  secret  method 
of  marking  concealing  from  the  customer  the  exact 
size  of  the  shoe.  Many  varieties  of  this  system 
are  in  use. 

Gaiter.  A  term  now  applied  mainly  to  a  separate 
ankle  covering. 

Gem  Insoles.  A  cloth-reinformed  leather  insole  for 
welt  shoes. 

Golf  Shoe.  A  low  shoe  with  rubber  sole  used  for 
out-door  sports. 

Goodyear  Welt.  The  method  of  attaching  the  sole 
to  the  upper  by  the  use  of  a  narrow  strip  of  leather 
called  the  welt. 

Gore.  A  rubber  elastic  used  on  both  sides  for  the 
adjustment  of  a  Congress  shoe. 

Grading.  The  sorting  of  soles  for  uniform  thick- 
ness in  the  edges  of  finished  shoes.  Also  selecting 
skins  for  shoes  of  different  prices. 

Half -Sole.  Half  of  a  complete  sole  used  under  the 
front  part  of  the  out  sole. 

Heel.  The  leather  or  other  material  attached  to 
the  back  part  of  the  sole,  or  "heel  seat,"  to  give 


308  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

a  desired  height  above  the  ground.  The  chief 
varieties  are  named  after  their  style  or  shape. 
Their  height  is  usually  expressed  in  eighths  of  an 
inch.  Heels  are  made  in  layers  or  lifts  of  leather, 
of  wood,  of  leatherboard,  and  of  substitutes  for 
leather.  The  breast  of  the  heel  is  its  front  face. 
The  French  heel  is  extremely  high  with  a  curved 
outline;  the  Cuban,  high  with  a  straight  outline; 
the  military,  like  the  Cuban  but  lower;  the  spring 
heel  is  very  low  and  formed  by  inserting  a  slip  of 
leather  between  the  out  sole  and  the  heel  seat,  so 
that  the  out  sole  forms  the  heel;  the  flange  heel 
is  made  flaring  toward  the  bottom.  In  women's 
fabric  shoes  heels  are  often  covered  with  the  same 
material  as  the  upper.  The  "pitch"  of  a  heel  is 
its  direction  or  inclination  under  the  foot.  Heels 
are  attached  to  the  heel  seat  by  nails  and  cement- 
ing. The  nails  inside  the  shoe  are  covered  by  a 
small  piece  of  felt  or  other  substance  called  the 
heel  pad. 

Heel  Scouring.  Sandpapering  the  outside  surface 
of  the  heel. 

Heel  Seat.  The  rounded  part  of  the  sole  on  which 
the  heel  is  fastened.  Heel  seat  nailing  consists 
in  nailing  this  part  of  the  sole;  heel  seat  trimming, 
smoothing  this  part. 

Heel  Shaving.  Shaping  the  heel  by  shaving  off  the 
surplus  leather. 

Hemlock  Tanned.  Preserved  by  the  use  of  hem- 
lock bark. 

Inseam  Trimming.  Cutting  off  surplus  leather 
from  the  seam  which  fastens  the  upper  to 
the  bottom  in  the  turn  shoe  and  in  the 
welt.- 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       309 

Insole.  The  inner  sole  of  a  sewed  shoe,  which  is 
first  placed  upon  the  last.  The  inner  soles  are 
attached  to  both  the  upper  and  the  out  sole. 

Inspecting.    Examining  shoes  for  imperfections. 

Ironing  Uppers.  Smoothing  the  upper  with  a  hot 
iron. 

Lace.  A  string  of  leather  or  fabric  used  in  adjusting 
and  holding  the  shoe  to  the  foot. 

Lace  Stay.  A  strip  of  leather  reinforcing  the  eye- 
let holes. 

Lap  Stone.  An  iron  plate  or  stone  upon  which  the 
cobbler  beats  sole  leather  or  seams  or  folded  edges 
with  a  flat  faced  hammer. 

Last.  The  wooden  or  metal  form  upon  which  the 
shoe  is  constructed,  and  which  gives  the  shoe  its 
distinctive  shape. 

Lasting.  Stretching  the  upper  tightly  over  and 
making  it  conform  to  the  last.  Assembling  and 
pulling  over  the  parts  of  the  upper  on  the  last. 

Leveling.  Shaping  the  sole  to  the  bottom  of  the 
last  by  the  use  of  heavy  rollers  or  moulds. 

Lift.  A  single  thickness  of  the  material  used  in  the 
heel. 

Lining.  The  inside  part  of  the  upper,  made  of 
fabric  or  of  thin,  light-weight  leather. 

Low-cut.  A  general  term  applying  to  such  low 
shoes  as  Oxford,  pump,  tie,  colonial,  slipper,  and 
sandal. 

McKay  Sewed.  A  mode  of  shoemaking  named 
after  the  inventor.  After  the  upper  is  lasted  upon 
the  inner  sole  the  last  is  removed  and  the  outer 
sole  is  attached  by  a  thread  passing  directly 
through  the  upper  and  inner  sole.  The  out  sole 


310  I'HE  SHOE  i 


is  generally  channeled  and  the  lining  is  put  over 

the  inner  seam,  on  the  inside  of  the  shoe.     This 

mode  has  lowered  the  cost  of  making  medium- 

priced  shoes.     It  is  a  less  satisfactory  mode  than 

the  welt  process. 
Measurement.    Taking  the  dimensions  of  the  foot 

for   custom   made   shoes.     The   chief   points   of 

measurement  are,  the  ball  of  the  foot,  the  waist, 

the  instep,  ankle,  and  total  length. 
Moulding.     Shaping   the   sole   to   conform   to   the 

bottom  of  the  last. 
Naumkeaging.     Smoothing  up  the  bottom  of  the 

shoe  with  fine  sandpaper  after  buffing  on  course 

sandpaper. 
Oak-Tanned.     Preserved  by   means   of   oak   bark. 

Regarded  as  the  best  tanning  of  sole  leather. 
Oxford.    A  low-cut  shoe  in  lace,  strap,  or  button, 

made  in   men's,    women's,   and   children's   sizes. 

This  style  is  said  to  have  been  first  worn  in  Oxford, 

England,  over  three  hundred  years  ago. 
Pasted  Counter.     Made  of  two  pieces  of  sole  leather 

pasted  together. 
Pattern.    Metal   or  cardboard  model  or  form  by 

which  any  part  of  the  shoe  upper  is  cut. 
Pegging.    Attaching  the  outer  sole  with  pegs. 
Perforating.     Making  decorative  holes  around  upper 

parts.     Also  the  term  for  the  work  done  on  the 

edges  of  the  upper  after  skiving  and  folding. 
Polish.     Ladies'    and   misses'   front-laced,   high-cut 

shoe,  originating  in  Poland. 
Pressing.      Applying    a    flat-press    to    heels    and 

soles. 
Pulling  Lasts.     Removing  lasts  from  shoes. 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKINC       311 

Pulling  Over.    Drawing  the  upper  over  the  last  and 

tacking  it  into  position. 
Pump.    A  shoe  cut  below  the  instep  and  having  no 

fastening. 
Quarter.    The  rear  part  of  the  upper  when  a  full 

vamp  is  not  used. 
Rand.    A  strip  of  sole  leather  made  thin  on  one 

edge  and  placed  around  between  the  heel  and 

the  sole,   to  fill   empty   space   and  balance  the 

heel. 
Relasting.    Putting  lasts  in  shoes  from  which  the 

original  lasts  have  been  drawn. 

Repairing.  Filling  cracks  in  patent  leather  on  the 
finished  shoe.  Any  cobbling  work. 

Rolling.  Passing  leather  between  rolls  to  make  it 
firm  and  durable.  Also,  polishing  shoe  bottoms 
on  a  roll  bearing  a  brush. 

Rough  Rounding.  Shaping  the  outsole  to  the  last, 
and  channeling  also  in  the  welt-channeled  shoe. 
One  of  the  hardest  of  processes. 

Royalties.  Sums  based  on  production  paid  by  shoe 
manufacturers  for  the  use  of  machines  when 
hired  of  the  machine  companies  or  for  protected 
processes. 

Rubber  Cement.  A  powerful,  quick-drying  solution 
of  rubber,  often  used  in  leather  shoemaking  and 
shoe  repairing. 

Rubber  Shoes.  Footwear  in  considerable  variety 
from  the  sandal  to  the  hip  length  boot.  The 
low  rubber  overshoe  is  the  most  common.  Rubber 
footwear  consists  of  fabric  coated  with  rubber. 
Rubber  heels  and  soles  are  used  more  and  more 
on  shoes  of  leather  or  fabric  tops. 


312  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Sample.  In  the  shoe  trade  a  single  shoe  to  show 
the  character  of  an  entire  lot.  As  a  rule  samples 
are  made  up  by  factories  twice  a  year,  in  the 
spring  and  fall,  and  carried  by  the  traveling  sales- 
men on  their  routes.  Shoes  are  then  made  in  the 
factory  from  the  orders  received  upon  each  sample. 

Sandal.    A  woman's  or  child's  strap  slipper. 

Screw  Fastened.  Having  the  bottom  attached  to  the 
upper  with  wire  screw  nails,  as  in  some  heavy  shoes. 

Shank.  A  strip  of  metal  or  other  material  used 
between  the  inner  and  outer  sole,  between  the 
heel  and  the  ball,  to  stiffen  the  sole  of  the  shoe. 
Also,  this  part  of  the  shoe. 

Shank  Burnishing.  Polishing  the  black  shank  part 
of  the  shoe  with  a  hot  iron.  Shanks  are  finished 
in  black  or  in  colors. 

Shanking  Out.  Thinning  and  smoothing  the  shank 
part  of  the  shoe. 

Size.  The  length  measure  of  the  shoe  on  standard 
widths.  The  length  is  expressed  by  numbers  or 
the  French  cipher  and  the  widths  by  letters. 
American  and  English  sizes  vary  by  one-third  of 
an  inch.  The  American  size  system  runs  from 
0  to  13  J,  and  then  starts  over  again  at  1.  The 
infants'  size  runs  from  0  to  5;  children's  from 
5  to  11;  misses',  from  11 J  to  13^  and  then  to  2  in 
the  second  series;  women's,  from  2J  to  8;  little 
men's,  from  8  to  13 J;  youths',  from  1  to  2;  boys', 
from  2£  to  5|,  and  men's  from  6  to  12.  Larger 
sizes  are  made  on  special  orders. 

Skiving.  Cutting  sole  leather  to  a  uniform  thick- 
ness. Shaving  upper  leather,  especially,  to  a  thin 
edge,  in  the  cutting  or  stitching  department. 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       313 

Slipper.  A  name  for  low  footwear,  other  than  rub- 
ber, without  special  means  of  fastening  to  the  foot. 

Slugging.     Driving  slugs,  or  short  nails,  in  heels. 

Sneaker.  A  rubber-soled  canvas  shoe  for  out-door 
wear. 

Sock  Lining.    The  lining  which  covers  the  McKay 

insole. 
Soft  Tips.     Having  no  box  toe  under  the  tip. 

Soles  and  Sole  Leather.  The  pieces  of  heavy 
leather,  mainly,  from  neat  animals  and  used  in 
the  soles  of  shoes. 

Sole  Laying.  The  preliminary  process  of  attaching 
the  out-sole  in  position  for  stitching,  nailing,  or 
pegging. 

Sorting.  The  process  of  arranging  out-soles  or  upper 
leather  by  grades. 

Split.  A  layer  of  a  hide  which  has  been  cut  into 
thicknesses. 

Spring.  The  deviation  from  a  straight  line  at  the 
toe  or  arch  of  a  shoe. 

Stamping.  Putting  size  and  width  on  the  inside  of 
the  shoe,  or  the  name  on  the  bottom,  or  marks 
on  the  carton. 

Stay.  A  piece  of  leather  used  to  strengthen  a  part 
or  seam. 

Stitch  Separating.  Marking  indentations  between 
stitches  to  make  the  stitching  conspicuous. 

Stitched  Aloft.  Sewed  without  channeling,  so  that 
the  stitches  show  on  the  bottom.  The  name 
comes  from  the  manner  of  the  holding  of  the 
shoe  in  the  process,  bottom  up. 

*19 


314  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Stock  Keeping.  Caring  for  stock  in  storage,  fol- 
lowing sales,  and  keeping  a  supply  on  hand. 
The  manufacturer  must  know  how  his  styles  are 
selling  and  how  large  his  supply  must  be  to  keep 
ahead  of  his  trade.  Accurate  and  proper  stock 
keeping  is  very  important  in  shoe  manufacture. 

Stripping.  Cutting  hides  into  strips  wide  enough  to 
make  soles  of  a  desired  size. 

Style.  The  shape,  model,  or  material  determined 
by  standards  in  use  or  in  fashion,  or  by  forms 
which  manufacturers  desire  to  put  upon  the 
market.  A  particular  pattern  or  design,  applying 
to  the  shoe  as  a  whole  or  to  any  part  which  may  be 
given  special  distinction. 

Tan.  From  the  Norman-French  word  for  oak 
bark.  A  yellowish  brown  color  given  by  the  bark 
used  in  tanning,  finished  without  applying  special 
colors. 

Tanning.  Converting  hides  and  skins  into  leather 
by  astringent  acids  or  mineral  substances. 

Tap.    An  outer  half  sole. 

Tempering.     Softening  leather  in  water. 

Tip.  The  toe  piece  stitched  to  the  outside  of  the 
vamp.  Often  of  different  leather  than  that  of  the 
rest  of  the  shoe,  as  "patent  tip." 

Tongue.  A  narrow  piece  of  leather  placed  beneath 
the  lacing  or  other  fastening  of  a  shoe. 

Top.    The  part  of  the  upper  above  the  vamp. 

Top  Facing.  The  leather  or  band  of  cloth  around 
the  inside  of  the  shoe  top. 

Top  Lift.    The  outer  piece  of  leather  in  the  heel. 

Top  Stitching.  Sewing  across  the  top  and  down 
the  side. 


THE  TERMS  USED  IN  SHOEMAKING       315 

Treeing.  Shaping  the  shoe,  smoothing  it  in  the 
treeing  room. 

Trimming  Cutting.  Cutting  stays,  facings,  and 
other  small  parts  of  the  shoe  upper. 

Turned  Shoe.  A  woman's  fine  shoe,  of  flexible 
sole,  with  upper  stitched  to  the  sole  wrong  side 
out,  the  shoe  being  then  turned  right  side  out. 
One  of  the  three  chief  methods  of  shoemaking 
at  the  present  time. 

Turnover.  The  gross  amount  of  sales  in  com- 
parison with  the  gross  amount  of  stock. 

Upper.  A  collective  term  for  the  parts  above  the 
sole  and  heel  of  a  shoe. 

Vamp.  The  front  or  lower  part  of  the  upper.  A 
"cut-off"  vamp  extends  only  to  the  tip.  A 
"whole  vamp"  extends  to  heel  without  a  seam. 
The  vamp  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  upper 
and  should  be  made  of  the  best  leather. 

Vamping.     Sewing  the  vamps  to  the  top. 

Viscolizing.  A  patent  method  of  making  sole 
leather  waterproof  by  treating  it  with  oil  emul- 
sions. 

Welt.  A  narrow  strip  of  leather  sewed  to  the  upper 
and  insole,  having  the  edge  of  the  welt  extending 
outward  so  that  the  outsole  can  be  attached  by 
sewing  through  welt  and  outsole  around  the  out- 
side. This  is  the  most  modern  and  best  method 
of  shoemaking.  "Goodyear  Welt"  is  a  welt 
sewed  by  the  Goodyear  welting  machine. 

The  three  chief  kinds  of  sewed  shoes,  from 
methods  used  in  making,  are  the  welt,  the  McKay, 
and  the  turned  shoe. 

Welt  Beating.    Flattening  out  the  welt,  after  sewing. 


316  THE  SHOE  INDUSTRY 

Welting.    The  material   used  for  the   welt.     Also 

sewing  the  welt  to  the  shoe. 
Wheeling.    Running    a    corrugated    wheel    around 

the  edge  or  bottom  of  a  shoe,  to  give  finish  or  to 

imitate  stitching. 
Width.    More  properly  the  girth  of  the  ball,  waist, 

and  instep  of  the  foot  or  last.     Widths  vary  in 

quarter  inches  of  these  measurements  from  "double 

narrow"   to   "double   wide,"   through  the  series 

of  sizes. 


SHOE  AND  LEATHER  BIBLIOGRAPHY       317 


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WAGE-EARNING  WOMEN  IN  STORES  AND  FACTORIES.  VOL.  V, 
REPORT  ON  WOMEN  AND  CHILD  WAGE-EARNERS  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES.  Senate  Document  No.  645,  Government  Printing 
Office,  Washington,  1910. 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  A  GOOD  SALESMAN.  Boot  and  Shoe  Re- 
corder Company,  Boston. 

WORKMEN'S  COMPENSATION  LAWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND 
FOREIGN  COUNTRIES.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Labor,  Workmen's  Insurance  and  Compensation 
Series:  No.  5,  Washington,  1914. 


SHOE  AND  LEATHER  JOURNALS 

AMERICAN  SHOEMAKING,  weekly.    Boston. 

BOOT  AND  SHOE  RECORDER,  weekly.     Boston. 

COAST  SHOE  REPORTER,  monthly.     San  Francisco. 

JOURNAL    OF    AMERICAN    LEATHER    CHEMISTS'    ASSOCIATION. 

Easton,  Pa. 

HIDE  AND  LEATHER,  weekly.     Chicago. 
THE  LEATHER  MANUFACTURER,  monthly.    Boston. 
MODERN  SHOEMAKING,  weekly.    Boston. 
NEW  ENGLAND  SHOE  AND  LEATHER  INDUSTRY,  monthly.   Boston 
SHOE  AND  LEATHER  FACTS,  monthly.     Philadelphia. 
SHOE  AND  LEATHER  REPORTER,  weekly.    Boston. 
SHOE  RETAILER,  weekly.     Boston. 
SHOE  REPAIRER  AND  DEALER,  monthly.     Boston 
THE  SHOEMAN,  semi-monthly.     Boston. 
SHOE  TOPICS,  weekly.     Boston. 
SUPERINTENDENT  AND  FOREMAN,  weekly.    Boston. 
WEEKLY  BULLETIN  OF  SHOE  NEWS.    Boston. 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


Acid-tanned,  300 

Adjustment,  300 

Anatomic,  300 

Antinoe,  city  of,  26 

Apprentice,  in  last  century,  28 

Arch,  300 

Assembling,    300;     department, 

153;  positions,  154 
Astringent  acids,  89,  99 
Automatic  machine,  177,  275 

Backstay,  300 

Back  strap,  300 

Bal,  300 

Ball,  301 

Barring  machine,  177 

Beading,  301 

Beard,  Thomas,  27 

Beating  out,  301 

Bellows  tongue,  301 

Belting,  301 

Bench-made,  301 

Bend,  301 

"Binding,"  34,  58 

Blackball,  301 

Blacking  the  edge,  301 

Blake,  Lyman  R.,  58,  124 

Blind  nailing,  221 

Blind  eyelet,  301 

Blocking,  302 

Blucher,  164,  302 

Boot,  302 

Boots  and  shoes,  value  of  prod- 
ucts for  leading  states,  1909 
and  1899,  47 

Boston  Continuation  School, 
269-271 

Boston  School  Committee,  269, 
270 

Bottom  filling,  302 

Bottom  finishing,  302 

Bottom  scouring,  302 

Bottom  stock  fitting,  188 


Box,  302 

Box  calf,  97 

Box  factory,  113 

Box  toe  department,  113 

Breed,  Ebenezer,  and  the  shoe 

tariff,  36,  39,  90 
Brockton,  45,  46 
Brogan,  302 
Broken  arch,  302 
Brushing,  302 
Buckram,  303 
Buckskin,  98 
Buffing,  303 
Business   departments   of 

shoe   manufacture,    109;    the 

usual  officers,  109;   chart  of, 

111 
"Business    Employments,"    the 

volume  upon,  109 
Business  organization,  43 
Button,  303 
Button  fly,  303 
Buttonhole    department,     173; 

positions,  172 

Cabaretta,  303 

Calfskin,  97,  303;  special  terms, 
97,  98 

Calking  machine,  303 

Canvas  reinforcement,  191 

Carton,  303 

Case,  304 

Census,  first  United  States,  35; 
of  1909,  44 

Census  statistics:  Boots  and 
shoes,  value  for  leading  states, 
47;  table  I,  general  statistics, 
48;  table  II,  boot  and  shoe  cut 
stock,  49;  table  III,  findings, 
50;  table  IV,  exports  of  boots 
and  shoes,  51 ;  leather,  value  for 


leading  states,  103;    table  V, 
imports  of  hides  and  skins,  104, 


(321) 


322 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


105 ;  table  VI,  number  of  boots, 
shoes,  and  slippers  made  by 
each  method  of  manufacture, 
132;  table  VII,  average  wages 
per  hour,  weekly  earning,  and 
hours  per  week,  by  years, 
cutting  department,  156,  157; 
table  VIII,  average  wages 
per  hour,  weekly  earnings, 
and  hours  per  week,  by  states, 
cutting  department,  158,  159; 
table  IX,  wages,  weekly  earn- 
ings, and  hours,  by  years, 
fitting  department,  178-181; 
table  X,  wages,  weekly  earn- 
ings, and  hours,  by  states, 
fitting  department,  182,  183; 
table  XI,  wages,  weekly  earn- 
ings, and  hours,  by  years,  sole 
leather  department,  197;  table 

XII,  wages,  weekly  earnings, 
and    hours,    by    states,    sole 
leather  department,  198;  table 

XIII,  wages,  weekly  earnings, 
and  hours,  by  years,  lasting 
department,   230-232;     table 

XIV,  wages,  weekly  earnings, 
and  hours,  by  states,  lasting 
department,  234,  235;    table 

XV,  wages,  weekly  earnings, 
and  hours,  by  years,  bottom- 
ing     department,      236-239; 
table    XVI,    wages,    weekly 
earnings,  and  hours,  by  states, 
bottoming  department,   240- 
243;      table    XVII,     wages, 
weekly  earnings,   and  hours, 
by    years,    finishing    depart- 
ment,    254;      table    XVIII, 
wages,  weekly  earnings,   and 
hours,    by    states,     finishing 
department,    and    other   em- 
ployees   in    all    departments, 
256,  257;    table  XIX,  hours, 
wages,  weekly  earnings,  and 
employees,    in    the   principal 
occupations  in  1914,  286,  287; 
variations  in  number  of  em- 
ployees,  payrolls,    and   earn- 
ings, 288;  table  XX,  sex  and 
age   distribution   by   leading 
industries,  1909,  290,  291 


Central  administrative  offices, 
116 

Chamois,  97 

Channel,  304 

Channeling,  190 

Channel  laying,  210 

Channel  screwed,  304 

Channel  stitched,  304 

Channel  turning,  304 

Chemist,  295 

Chrome-tanned,  90,  100,  304 

Cities,  leading,  44,  45 

Clicking,  304;  machine,  148; 
illustration,  149 

Closing  on,  304 

Closing  and  staying  department, 
169;  positions,  170 

Cobbler,  27,  34,  292 

Collar,  304 

Colonial,  304 

Colonial  times,  32 

Coltskin,  99 

Combination  last,  304 

Congress  gaiter,  305 

Copper  toe,  305 

Cordova,  26 

Cordwainers'  Company,  Lon- 
don, 26 

Counter,  138,  305;  department, 
193 

Counting,  marking,  and  skiving 
department,  152 

Cravenette,  305 

Creasing  vamp,  305 

Crimping,  305 

Cripple  girls,  169 

Cross  section,  of  a  Goodyear 
welt  shoe,  125;  of  a  McKay 
sewed,  126;  of  a  standard 
screwed,  127;  of  a  pegged,  128 

Cushion  sole,  305 

Custom-made,  305 

Cutter,  36,  145-148,  191,  195 

Cutting  room,  145 

Cut-off  vamp,  305 

Cut-sole  industry,  101,  102 

Day  sheet,   138,   141;    typical, 

140 

Dagyr,  John  Adam,  28 
Designer,  pattern,   79,  80,  83; 

assistant,  83 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


323 


Destouy,  Auguste,  59,  124 
Detail  in  shoe  manufacture,  135; 
number  of  processes,  135,  136 
Dickerson,  Philemon,  90 
Dicing,  305 
Dicing  out  straps,  153 
Dinking  machine,  144 
Dom  Pedro,  305 
Dressing,  305 
Dry  hides,  99 

Edge  setting,  305 

Edge  setting  machine,  210 

Edge  trimming,  306 

Efficiency  engineer,  274 

Efficiency  methods,  274 

Embossing,  250,  306 

Employment  conditions  and  sup- 
plementary material,  261-295 

Employment  department,  109; 
manager,  109 

Employees,  six  division  of,  261; 
processes  given  to  male,  262; 
deivisions  among  departments, 
262;  records,  265;  average 
earnings  of,  285;  chart  of 
variations  in  number,  288 

Enamel  leather,  96 

European  war,  92 

Executive  officers,  109,  110 

Eyelet,  306 

Fabrics,  92 

Facing,  306 

Factory  departments  of  shoe 
manufacture,  112;  chart  of, 
114;  additional,  247,  248 

Factory  hours,  42 

Factory  management,  chart  of, 
115;  offices,  110,  116 

Factory  manager,  80 

Factory  service  and  office  ser- 
vice, 112 

Fair  stitch,  306 

Filler,  306 

Findings,  306 

Finish^  306 

Finishing  department,  112 

Finishing,  treeing,  packing,  and 
shipping,  247-257 

Fitting,  306;  department,  113; 
room,  307 


Foreman,    145,   154,    189,   272, 

273;  assistant,  273 
Forewomen,  166,  168,  173,  174; 

273 

Form,  25,  307 
Foxing,  307;    department,  170; 

positions,  171 
French  size  marking,  307 

Gaiter,  307 

"Gangs,"  40 

Gem  insoles,  307 

General  manager,  109 

General  offices,  110 

Golf  shoe,  307 

Goodyear,  Charles,  59 

Goodyear    welt    machine,    59; 
channeling  machine,    190; 
stitching     machine,    illustra- 
tion, 219 

Goodyear  welt  shoe,   124,   125; 
welt,  307 

Gore,  307 

Grading,  307;  machine,  82 

Green  hides,  99 

Gun  metal,  98 

Hand  cutter,  145-148 
Hand  processes,  275 
Half  sole,  307 

Heel,    307;     department,    113, 
194;  processes,  194;  positions 
in  department,  195 
Heel  breasting  machine,  221 
Heeling  department,   221;    po- 
sitions, 222;   machine,  227 
Heel  seat,  308;  nailing,  209,  217 
Heel   scouring,    308;     machine, 

221;  shaving,  308 
Heel  trimming,  221 
Heels  fastened  by  pegs,  56 
Hemlock    tanned,    89,    99-101, 

308 

Hides  and  skins,  tannery  divi- 
sion of,  93 

Indenture  paper,  28 
Industrial  education,  quotation 

from  a  report,  267 
Ingalls,  Francis,  90 
Inseam  trimming,  308 
Insole,  187,  309 


324 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


Inspecting,  251,  309 
Inspector,  143,  166,  168,  173 
Instruction  of  operators,  64 
Ironing,  250,  309 

Journeyman,  34 

Joseph  L.,  61 


Kertland,  Philip,  27 
Kid,  96;  varieties,  96,  97 

Labor,  distinction  between  capi- 
tal and,  39;  division  of  in  the 
factory,  40;  securing  skilled, 
265 

Labor  statistics,  U.  S.  Bureau  of, 
154,  284 

Lace,  309;  shoes,  129;  stay,  309 

Lapstone,  57,  309 

Last,  309 

Last,  36,  71,  309;  shaping  of,  71; 
material,  72;  lathe,  73;  model, 
74;  devices  for  reducing,  75; 
Arnold  hinged,  75;  storage, 
75;  worker,  76;  standardiza- 
tion, 82 

Lasting,  309;  department,  202; 
positions,  205;  machine,  illus- 
tration, 207 

Last-making,  71-76;  hand,  72; 
modern,  73;  machine,  or 
lathe,  73,  74 

Lasters,  hand,  60 

Leading  industries,  289-292 

Leasing  system,  63,  67 

Leather,  its  nature,  89;  tanning, 
89;  American  manufacturing, 
90;  increasing  shortage  of, 
91,  92;  substitutes,  92,  101; 
hideite,  93;  a  side  of,  94,  95; 
divisions  of  in  shoe  factories, 
94;  varieties  of  upper,  94; 
sole,  99;  oak,  hemlock,  union, 
99-101;  tanned,  curried,  and 
finished,  value  for  leading 
states,  102 

Leatherboard,  92 

Leather  sorter,  142 

Leveling,  210,  309 

Libraries,  277 

Lift,  309 


Lining,  309;     department,    164; 

positions,  166 
Lining  and  cloth-cutting  section, 

144;  positions,  145;  sorter,  143 
Linings,  135,  153,  164,  166,  172, 

218 

Low-cut,  309 
Lynn,  first  home  of  the  industry, 

44,46 

Machine,  upper-stitching,  56; 
sole-sewing,  56;  McKay,  41, 
57,  58;  welting,  56;  pegging, 
57;  rolling,  57;  Howe  sewing, 
58;  Goodyear  welt,  59;  edge- 
trimming  and  heel-trimming, 
59;  lasting,  60;  operating,  63 

Machinery,  introduction,  43,  60; 
invention  of  shoe,  55;  devel- 
opment, 56;  care  of,  64; 
standardization,  67;  in  tan- 
ning, 91 

McKay  bottoming  department, 
217;  processes,  217;  positions, 
218 

McKay,  Gordon,  58,  59,  63, 
124 

McKay  insole  department,  188; 
positions,  189 

McKay  sewed,  309;  illustration, 
126 

Making  department,  112,  113, 
201-243;  divisions,  201;  work 
in,  229 

Massachusetts  State  Board  of 
Health,  280 

Mathies,  Robert,  58 

Matzeliger,  Jan  Ernest,  60 

Measurement,  310 

Measuring  upper  leather,  141 

Mechanics,  64 

Medical  attendance,  277,  279 

Methods  in  shoe  manufacture, 
123-132;  per  cent,  of  each  in 
total  production,  129,  130 

Middle  Ages,  25 

Moccasin  of  the  American  In- 
dian, 27 

Model  grader,  83 

Modern  shoe  factory,  113-119 

Monotony  of  shoemaking,  275 

Moulding,  310 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


325 


National  Boot  and  Shoe  Manu- 

facturers'    Association,     267, 

271 
National  Society  for  the  Promo- 

tion of  Industrial  Education, 

269,  271 

Naumkeag  buffing  machine,  213 
Naumkeaging,  310 
New  England  Shoe  and  Leather 

Association,  269 
New  England  shoe  and  leather 

production,  45,  46 
Nichols,  John  Brooks,  58 
Nicking,  153 
North  Shore  district,  45 
Novelties,  91 

Oak-tanned,  89,  99-101 

Office  manager,  109 

Ooze,  98 

Operations,  machine,  55:   hand, 

55 
Outer    sole    department,     192; 

positions,  192 
Oxford,  164,  310 

Packing,  112;  department,  251; 

positions,  252 
Pasted  counter,  310 
Patent  leather,  96,  248,  249 
Patent  office,  United  States,  55 
Patents  on  shoe  machinery,  55 
Pattern,  79;  designer,  79;  sample, 

80;   model,  80;  number  to  a 

shoe,  81;   material,  81;   mak- 

ing, 82;    standardization,  82; 

storage,  83;  price,  83. 
Pattern-maker,  80,  81,  83 
Pattern-making,     79;      depart- 

ment, 80;  machine,  83;  posi- 

tions, 83 
Peg,     wooden,     56;      machine- 

made,  57 


Pegging,  310 
Pennsylvani 


Pennsylvania,  32,  33 
Perforating,  167,  310 
Piece  and  time  payment,  283 
Polish  shoe,  164,  310 
Porter,  William,  and  Sons,  58 
Power  grader,  83 
Power  machine,  177 
President,  109 


Pressing,  310 

Printing  department,  113 

Processes,  number  of  in  making 

an   ordinary   shoe,    55;    best 

paying,  283 
Promotion,  265 
Pulling  lasts,  310 
Pulling  over,  311 
Pulling  over  machine,  61,  202; 

illustration,  203 
Pump,  166,  311 
Putnam,  General,  35 

Quality  man,  191,  273 
Quantity  man,  191,  273 
Quarter,  172,  311 

Rand,  311 

Randing,  190 

Rebellion,  War  of  the,  91 

Receipt  of  an  order,  136 

Reinforced  insoles,  190 

Relasting,  311 

Relief  fund,  279 

Repair  shop  earnings,  295 

Repairing,  311 

Repairing  industry,  292 

Revolution,  the,  35 

Rickerman,  Isaac,  27 

"Roadmen,"  64 

Rolling,  311 

Romans,  the,  25 

Rose,  William,  90 

Rough  rounding,  206,  311;  ma- 
chine, illustration,  215 

Rounding  machine,  187,  188 

Royalties,  311 

Royalty  stamps,  facsimiles  of 
early,  65 

Rubber,  93;  cement,  311;  shoes, 
311 

Russia  calfskin,  98 

Sales  manager,  80 

Salesman,  traveling,  79    " 

Sample,  312 

Sandal,  25,  312;  ancient  Egyp- 
tian makers,  25,  26 

Sanitary  conditions,  280-283 

Schools  and  courses  for  shoe- 
making,  266-271 

Screw  fastened,  312 


326 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


Seasons,  263,  289 

Sex  and  age  distribution  of  wage- 
earners,  289 

Shank,  312;  development,  62; 
burnishing,  312 

Shanking  out,  312 

Sheepskin,  99 

Shipping,  112;  department,  252; 
positions,  253 

Shoe  factories,  first,  39 

Shoe  factory,  entering,  264 

Shoe  foreman,  272,  273;  assist- 
ant, 273 

Shoe  and  Leather  Association, 
New  England,  45 

Shoe  industry,  magnitude  of  the, 
today,  44;  capital  invested, 
1909,  44;  number  of  employ- 
ees, 1909  and  now,  44 

Shoe  laws,  ancient,  33 

Shoe  manufacture,  department 
of,  109;  power  in,  61;  highly 
specialized,  263;  report  upon 
industrial  education  in,  267 

Shoe  repairing  industry,  292-295 

Shoe  superintendent,  109,  166, 
168,  271;  assistant,  273 

Shoe  tag,  136,  138;  typical,  139 

Shoe  tariff,  36 

Shoemaker,  25,  43;  itinerant,  33 

Shoemakers,  first  American,  27; 
New  England,  35;  Dutch,  35; 
attitude  of  early  towards  the 
shoe  factory,  42 

Shoemaking,  American,  28;  era 
of  machine,  58 

Shoemaking  a  trade,  264;  monot- 
ony of,  275;  offsets  to  monot- 
ony, 275;  efforts  to  lessen 
monotony,  276 

Shoe  shop  of  a  century  ago,  35; 
old  time  beside  a  modern  fac- 
tory, 37 

Shoe  shops,  first,  34 

Shoes,  ancient  and  mediaeval,  25, 
26;  English-made,  36;  value 
of  in  Colonial  times,  32 

Size,  312 

Skin  showing  how  patterns  are 
placed  in  cutting,  147 

Skiving,  152,  312;  positions  in, 
153 


Slashing,  190 

Slipper,  313 

Slugging,  221,  313 

Sneaker,  313 

Social  clubs,  277 

Social  service,  109,  277-280; 
quotations  from  a  government 
study,  277 

Sock  lining,  313 

Suede  leather,  96 

Soft  tips,  313 

Sole  laying,  206,  313;  leveling, 
210;  sewing,  209 

Sole  leather  department,  112, 
116,  187-198;  employees,  196 

Sole  leveling  machine,  210;  il- 
lustration, 223 

Soles,  187 

Sorter,  142,  143 

Sorting,  310 

Sorting  department,  positions, 
143 

Spanish  War,  91 

Specialists,  43 

Speed,  275 

Split,  93,  313 

Spring,  313 

Stamping,  313;  machine,  153 

Stages  in  Goodyear  welt  manu- 
facture, 130;  illustration,  131 

Standard  screw,  pegged  and 
nailed  departments,  226 

Statics  (see  Census) 

States,  leading,  44,  45,  47 

Stay,  313 

Stitch  separating,  313 

Stitched  aloft,  313 

Stitching  department,  112,  113, 
116,  163-183;  processes,  163; 
number  of  parts,  164;  divi- 
sions, 164;  chart,  165 

Stitching  machine,  operating,  176 

Stock  keeping,  314;  fitting,  42 

Stripping,  314 

Style,  314 

Subsidiary  factories,  102 

System,  factory,  39;  quotation 
on  contract,  41 ;  organization, 
43,  63,  67 

Tan,  314 

Tanners,  American,  91 


ALPHABETICAL  INDEX 


327 


Tanning,    89-91,    99-101,    173, 

314 

Tap,  314 
Teacher,  173 
Teams,  40 
Tempering,  314 
Terms  used  in  shoemaking,  299- 

316 

Teutonic  tribes,  25 
Thebes,  25 
Time  and  pay  statistics  in  the 

cutting  department,  154 
Tip,  314;  department,  164,  166; 

positions,  168;    repairing  de- 
partment, 248 
Toe  box  department,  193 
Toe  boxes,  187 
Toe    closing    department,    164; 

175;  positions,  176 
Toe  and  heel  wiping,  202 
Tongue,  314 
Top,  314;  facing,  314;  lift,  314; 

stitching,  314;    stitcher,    172, 

173 
Top  stitching  department,  172; 

positions,  173 
Training  classes,  277 
Treasurer,  109 
Treeing,  112,  315;   department, 

249;  positions,  251 
Trimming  cutting,  315 
Trimmings,  135,  153,  164 
Trowbridge,  William  F.,  61 
Turned  shoe,  129,  315;   depart- 


ment, 222;  lasting,  222;  posi- 
tions, 225 
Turnover,  315 

United  Shoe  Machinery  Com- 
pany, 26 

Upper,  315 

Upholstering,  91 

Upper  leather  department,  112, 
116,  135-159;  chart  of,  137 

Upper  leather  room,  141 

Upper  trimming  machine,  205 

Vamp,  175,  315 

Vampers,  173 

Vamping,  164;  department,  175; 

positions,  175 
Viscolizing,  315 
Vice-president,  109 

Wages  and  variation  in  employ- 
ment, 284 

Welfare  manager,  109 

Welt,  315;  beating,  206,  315; 
finishing,  210 

Welt  bottoming  department, 
205;  positions,  213 

Welt  insole  department,  189; 
positions,  191 

Welting,  316 

Wetting,  190 

Wheeling,  316 

Width,  316 

Willow  calf,  98 

Wooldredge,  John,  58 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


REC'D  LD 

APR  1  0  1963 

1983 

c 

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Ov  Uo  IWO 

RtC  D  LEJ 

M)mDiSC,ll»03W 

JUN6    '64-2HM 

•«•«»>   MAR     4  1980 

NOV251983 

i 

JUL  3|p6 

^C!6^^         ; 

*     6g^l}l^_     •< 

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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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