It was 1908 when Marquis M. Converse opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company. Who knew that his shoes would become an American Icon? It all started with a man named Marquis M. Converse in Malden, Massachusetts who made the Converse Rubber Shoe Company. The company began as a shoe manufacturer that made rubber soled shoes for men, women, and children. Converse were made out of :brocade, corduroy, denim, flannel, hemp, lame, leather, mylar, metalized fabrics, plastic, nubuck, suede, velour, velvet, vinyl, and even wool.
Shockingly by 1910 the company was creating more than 4,000 shoes daily, but it was not until 1912 when the company started to produce athletic shoes for tennis (shoesonline. com). Basketball was changed totally by the introduction of the world’s first performance basketball shoes, the Converse All Star, in 1917. One year later, a basketball player from the Akron Firestones, named Charles H. Taylor, bought his first pair of All Star shoes, and while wearing them he introduced basketball as a sport to American’s all over the country.
Charles Chuck Taylor joined Converse in 1921 as America’s first player endorser; Chuck’s signature was added two years later in the All Star patch. Converse shoes kept getting popular and “rocketed through the 1930’s”as basketball became of interest more and more to the nation, shoe sales (conversestore. net). Mitchell2 As Converse became known as basketball shoes, the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star became the basketball shoes for professionals and high school teams in all parts of the country.
By 1930 Chuck changed the basketball world again, this time he invented the basket ball, a stitch less leather ball that could bounce (conversestore. net). In December of 1941 America entered the World War II, bringing Converse into yet another stage. That year Converse changed its production and started to manufacture boots, rubber protective suits, and ponchos for pilots and troops. The Converse Company also designed the A6 Flying Boot worn by the U. S. Army Air Corps during the war.
All soldiers wore Chuck Taylor All Star shoes, and even after the war these shoes still remain the usual government-issue athletic shoes for military training. For its war efforts Converse received a number of honors from the Army, Navy, and U. S. Treasury (conversestore. net). Hollywood also helped Converse shoes. When actors and other celebrities started to wear them, it launched Converse shoes into a whole new profile, they were now starting to become an American icon. Some famous people that wear converse today are Selena Gomez, Hayley Williams, Kellan Lutz, Robert Pattinson, and Avril Lavigne (coolspotters. om).
Converse shoes became the number one footwear among teenagers, who wore them as a symbol of youth rebellion in the 50’s. As Converse continued to be popular in the 70’s and 80’s, they remained a symbol of rebellion. The footwear industry was going into a new period, one that involved technology and improvement. They attempted to compete with new competitor, Converse invested in a biochemist research lab, even with this it couldn’t keep up with the constant release of the competitors’ new technology (answers. com).
Unfortunately in the late 80’s Converse had to file for bankruptcy. In June 2003 a group of investors led by Marsden S. Cason, a former CEO of the North Face, brought Converse back. Mitchell 3 Then Nike intervened and bought the brand for $305 million, and ever since then Converse is owned by Nike (nikebiz. com). In present days Converse are still a big hit. Over 800 million Converse shoes are sold in a year! There are many different brands of converse like: Converse Jack Purcell, Chuck Taylor All Star, and Converse Marquis Collection.
There are also many different styles of Converse such as: high-tops, low-cuts, knee highs, X-High-tops, ankle boots, double layered. They also come in millions of colors but I’ll only name a few: black, orange, blue, green, purple, brown, red, yellow, white, pink, plaid, argyle, big stars, stripes and a lot of other prints(ehow. com). In conclusion Converse shoes have been very popular for 102 years and still are. Personally Ciara and I really like Converse shoes. I have a few pairs of converse and they are my favorite shoes.
The colors that I have are pink, white, purple, red, and black. They are really comfortable and have good arch support. My favorite color of converse is black because they won’t get dirty as easily as the lighter colors. My favorite print is zebra print because I really like zebras and it makes the shoes stand out because they are different. Ciara and I went on Converse. Com and made a few pairs of our own Converse. We made Converse shoes with Blackmon Road Middle School colors; we also made a few pairs with our favorite colors.
The best thing about the website is that after you make the shoes you can put the sizes in and however many you want and order them so that most likely nobody will have the exact same type of Converse that you have. Another cool thing about Converse is that they also make clothes. Mainly t-shirts, hats, socks, pajamas, and scarves. They even make purses, jewelry and book bags in all different colors.
