Rubber shoe

“ Rubber shoes made of new gum entirely would be too elastic, and for that reason would draw the feet, besides being too costly for the ordinary trade. The construction of a rubber shoe, by the way, is well adapted for the use of different compounds for the different parts. ”

“ As the cutting of the uppers and the stitching operations of a turn shoe are the same as the Goodyear and McKay, and have been explained, we will take up the forming of the sole, which is entirely different from either of the other two methods.
A turn shoe is put together wrong side out, and it is necessary, during the course of making, to turn it by rolling the sole up like a roll of carpet. It is evident, then, that nothing but good quality, pliable leather can be used satisfactorily, and great care is taken to include nothing but the best. ”

“ Counters and toe boxes (stiffening which is placed between the heel and toe cap and the vamp of shoe) are prepared in the same room with the heels. After they are made, they are sent to the making or bottoming room, where the shoe upper is awaiting them. As the counter is an important feature in the life of a shoe, much depends upon the quality of leather that goes into it.
The sole is next fed to a “splitting machine,” which reduces it to an absolutely even thickness. ”

“ The brush now smooths the surface of the sole, filling in all small holes with wax and leaving the sole absolutely perfect. Finally, the shoe is placed against a rapidly revolving brush which finishes the uppers with a luster that would make any ordinary boot-black green with envy. Another operation that fully completes the process is the hardening of the edges with hot steel, which ends in producing an edge that is as hard as iron. When it is polished with a black dye, it looks exactly like a new sole. ”

“ The number of attacks of cold, rheumatism, and death-dealing diseases from wet feet, that have been averted by the use of rubber shoes, can never be estimated, but perhaps it is safe to say that the rubber shoe has done more to conserve the health of the human family than any other single article of apparel.
In the manufacture of shoes the finest quality of rubber is received in wooden boxes 4 × 2 × 11⁄2 feet, containing about 350 pounds in lumps of 1 to 75 pounds. These lumps are cut to suitable size, and are then ground and washed in the machine shown in Fig. ”

“ See that all nails are clinched. With a level bottom, smooth joints and edges, the shoe can be made to look like a new shoe and yet feel like an old one.
On account of the heel being more directly under the body and the first part to strike the ground, it generally wears out first. For this reason in repairing a heel great care must be taken to see that good [170] leather and solid work are put into it. Pull off the worn top piece and see that what is left is hammered down solidly. Next split a piece of solid, easy-cutting, scrap sole leather, so that two pieces can be made out of one. ”

“ The shoe manufacturer, after cutting his soles and taps, is obliged to skive them to get the particular iron he needs. This leaves what is known as a “flesh sole shape,” also a “tap shape.” These skivings are pasted together by another class of trade and again used for inner soling and taps in the cheaper grades of shoes. Smaller skivings, or waste, after sorting out the sole and tap shapes, are sold to the leather board trade. This eventually comes back to the shoe trade in the shape of leather board and is cut into heel lifts. ”

“ The thread grows weaker and weaker as it is used. When the thread is well waxed, it is cemented to the shoe.
After the shoe is sewed, the shoemaker pares off inequalities and levels the bottoms, by filling up the depressed part in the center with pieces of tarred felt. The shoes are now ready for the outsoles. The fibers of the leather to be used for the soles are thoroughly condensed by hammering on the lapstone. Then they are fastened through the insole with steel tacks, their sides are pared, and a narrow channel is cut round their edges. ”

“ A narrow strip of leather that is sewed to the upper of a shoe with an insole leaving the edge of the welt extending outward, so that the outsole can be attached by sewing through both welt and outsole, around the outside of the shoe. ”

“ Hot irons are often used on black shanks and bottoms to give added hardness and luster to the finish.
The turned or turn shoe is a woman’s fine shoe that is made wrong side out, then turned right side out. The sole is fastened to the last, and the upper is twisted over, the wrong side out. Then the two are sewed together, the thread catching through a channel or shoulder cut in the edge of the sole. The seam does not come through to the bottom of the sole, nor to any part inside where it would chafe the foot. ”

“ The shoemaker provides for this, first, by allowing sufficient length of sole to extend beyond the termination of the toe, and second, by the fit of the upper and the preparation of the sole. In this way, if the toe of the shoe strikes against a hard substance, the big toe of the foot will remain untouched.
Seventy-five per cent of the people have more or less trouble with their feet. Some of these troubles are caused by the manufacturer putting on the market shoes whose [82] lines look handsome and attractive to the eye, but are lacking in any other good features. ”

“ The sole leather, insoles, counters, and heels, in the stock fitting department are “got out” by being cut into shape by a machine die.
The heel is now trimmed of all rough and surplus portions of leathers to the exact size of top lift. A blower attached to the machine removes all scraps, etc.
The breast of the heel, which faces the forepart of the shoe, is trimmed evenly across and with the desired slant by means of a peculiar-shaped knife which extends over the sole at shank. The edges of the heel are now scoured by revolving rolls with molded sandpaper to make perfectly smooth. ”

“ We have practically now a roughly formed shoe ready for the finishing room.
Here the heel slugs are ground down, heel and sole buffed by sandpaper rolls on a scouring machine, wet down, stained, or blacked, as case may be, finished on bristle brushes, placed to dry, polished by a polishing machine, bottom stamped with [139] the trademark, and passed to an operator whose duty it is to see that no tacks are left inside the shoes. Generally girls are hired to do this, as their hands are smaller and it is very important that no tacks are left, which might cause a great deal of trouble. ”

“ The ones called the upper calenders form sheets of rubber stock for the upper part of the shoe. The soling calenders form the stock for the sole or bottom part of the shoe; other calender machines are used to coat a layer of gum on one side of the fabrics used for lining and various strips, fillers, toe, and heel pieces. The gum sheets are sent to the cutting room.
Generally, linings for nine pairs of shoes are cut at once. The linings are cut both by hand and by machine. Men who cut with dies, by hand, stand at the bench and use iron mallets, like those used in cutting heels. ”

“ There are other uppers that are treed, [142] such as wax calf, for instance, and split uppers, which are used in heavy shoes. The main idea of treeing a shoe is to give it a smooth and finished appearance and a good “feel.” In the regular treeing operation they use liquid preparations, often called composition, and these are worked into the upper, filling it to some extent. French chalk is used a great deal in some uppers, and oil or some form of grease or gum is also used, all of which make the upper as it was when first put on the cutting board of the shoe factory. ”

“ The difference between a McKay and a turn shoe may be told by the fact that the [158] stitching on the inside of the sole is much closer to the edge in a turn. Another thing, in a turn shoe, the seam connecting the upper and the outsole can be seen.
Nothing is likely to excel the turn shoe for lightness and flexibility, since the method of making, whereby the sole is stitched directly to the upper, interposes no thick or cumbersome material. Sole leather of good quality is used. ”

“ Much of the style of a shoe depends upon the wooden last over which the upper is shaped before being attached to the sole. To find a substitute for the human hand in fitting the shoe to the last and pulling the leather over its delicate lines and curves seemed for a long time impossible. ”

“ All work done in this room is intended to give leather its original luster, which has been lost to a certain extent in going through the different rooms and in being handled so much.
There are still other uppers that may not be treed or ironed but merely cleaned and polished to give luster. Some of these may be dressed. To dress a shoe means to put on a liquid dressing. In some cases two coats of dressing are put on and in other [143] cases one coat. A shoe can have a dull dressing or a bright dressing, according to how the buyer prefers to have his shoes look. ”

“ Adjoining these are usually the shank and heel finisher,—capable of smoothing and highly polishing a shank or heel in about a dozen seconds,—the bottom finisher, that grinds and smooths down the new sole, and a machine used for rubbing off dirt before the shoe is finished, consisting of a heavy horsehair brush. Another useful part of the equipment is an edge setter, which is also identical with the one used in factories. The shoe stitching machines and the parts used in finishing are all operated on one long shaft, rapidly revolved by the aid of a motor. ”

“ The wax thread or “end,” as it is called, should never be made longer than is necessary to sew a shoe. Experience shows that if a portion of an end left after sewing one shoe is used on the second shoe, it is never as strong as a new end. ”

“ A man’s heavy lace shoe, with gusset, blucher cut.
Creole. A heavy congress work shoe. This shoe, the creedmore, and brogans are usually made of oil grains, kip, or split leather, sometimes pegged, sometimes “stitched down.”
[188]
Crimping. Shaping any part of the upper so that it will conform to the last better.
Cushion Sole. An elastic inner sole.
Cut-off Vamp. One cut off at tip for economy when tip is to be covered by a cap.
Dieing. Cutting soles to fit the last, outsoles, insoles, heel lifts, counters, or half soles, with a machine and a die. ”

“ Cross Section of McKay Sewed Shoe.
Cross Section of Goodyear Welt Shoe.
Oxford. A low-cut shoe no higher than [201] the instep lace, button, or goring, made in men’s, women’s, and children’s sizes.
Packer Hides. Hides taken off in the large slaughterhouses. They are rated slightly higher in price, because great care and skill are used in taking them off.
Packing. Placing a pair of shoes in a carton.
Pacs. Coverings for the feet made of good quality calfskin, similar in form and appearance to the Indian moccasin. They do not have sole leather bottoms. If properly made, they are waterproof. ”

“ A great improvement has taken place in shoeing horses within the last few years, by interposing a thick piece of leather, and, in some cases, of India rubber, between the iron shoe and the hoof of the horse. ”

“ We examine carefully to see that no stub of nail is left in. The heels will be found long and hard. Our object being frog-pressure, to get the vivifying action of this tactile organ upon the ground, we pare down the whole wall; we soon come to signs of a corn—perhaps a drop of blood starts; but as we do not intend to put the weight upon the heels, we are not alarmed. Having cut all we can from the heels and still finding that the frog, when the shoe is laid on, can not touch the ground, we knock down the last two calks and draw the heel of the shoe thin ”

“ When the under-surface of a horse's foot resembles in form the outside of a saucer, fitting a shoe becomes a work of art. Very often the wall is brittle and broken away and it is most difficult to find sufficient bearing-surface on the foot for a shoe. Many of these feet may be safely shod with a narrow shoe that rests only on the wall and the intermediate horn between the wall and sole. ”

“ In the common system of shoeing, to avoid slipping in winter upon the ice, and in the cities upon the wet, slimy surface of pavement, or to assist draft, it is customary to weld a calk upon the toe of a shoe, and to turn up the heels to correspond. ”

“ But, where the sole has been mutilated by unskillful shoeing, the concave and plane surfaces have to be reversed. Whatever form is adopted, the shoe must fit the foot, its outline corresponding exactly to its ground-surface. The shoe must be of the same thickness throughout; where calks are required, they should be of equal height, at heel and toe. The number of nails to each shoe, for a saddle or light draught horse, need not be more than five or six in the fore and seven in the hind, but more widely distributed than they usually are. The hold of the nails should be short. ”

“ From such bars the shoes can be forged with an ordinary hammer: the iron is cut off in lengths proportioned to the size of the shoe; one side is made at a heat, but without stamping the holes; the second side is formed at the second heat, the turning of the shoe to its proper shape being effected by principally striking its upper border around the toe on the beak of the anvil, so as to give it the natural inclination of the foot. A shoe thus turned is narrower on its upper or foot surface than its lower or ground one. ”