Part 58

The young man of this period, who essayed to learn the shoemaking trade, was ordinarily apprenticed for a term of seven years under the most rigorous terms, as shown in some of the indentures of that period which are still in existence. He was instructed in every part of the trade and, upon completion of his term of service, it was the custom for the newly fledged shoemaker to start what was known as “whipping the cat”--which meant journeying from town to town, living with a family while making a year’s supply of shoes for each member thereof, and then leaving to fill other engagements previously made.

It was soon found that the master workman could largely increase his income by employing other men to do certain portions of the work, while he directed their efforts, and this gradually lead to a division of the labor and was the beginning of a factory system--which has been in process of development from that time.

In the year 1795 it is recorded that there were in the city of Lynn, Mass., over two hundred master workmen, employing over six hundred journeymen, and that they manufactured shoes at the rate of about one pair per day per man.

Factory buildings, as the words would be known to-day, were practically unknown at that time. The small buildings, about ten feet square, were in the back yards of many homes and in these little shops were employed from three to eight men.

Strange as it may seem, prior to the year 1845 there had been little change in the tools employed in making shoes. The workman of that period, seated at his low bench, used practically the same implements that were employed by his prototype, the ancient sandal-maker of Egypt. The lap stone, the hammer, the crude needle and the knife being practically the only tools used. Not that there had been no effort to perfect machinery for this purpose; Napoleon I, in his endeavor to secure better shoes for his soldiers, had offered great rewards for the perfecting of shoe machinery that would accomplish this purpose, but although great effort had been made there had been no successful machinery produced.

In this year 1845 the first machine to be widely adopted by the industry was perfected. It was a simple form of rolling machine, which took the place of the lap stone and hammer used by the shoemakers for toughening the leather, and it is said that a man could, in half an hour, obtain the same results from this machine that would require a day’s labor on the part of the hand workman employing the old method of pounding.

This was followed in 1848 by the very important invention by Elias Howe of the sewing machine--which was not adapted for use in connection with sewing leather until several years later. It started, however, an era of great activity among inventors and in 1857 there was perfected a machine for driving pegs, which came into successful operation.

The First Machine for Making Shoes.

This was shortly followed by a very important invention by Lyman E. Blake, of Abington, Mass., of a machine for sewing the soles of shoes and this afterwards became famous as the “McKay Sewing Machine.” This invention of Blake’s was purchased by Gordon McKay, who spent large sums of money in perfecting it, and the first machine was established in Lynn in 1861. The results obtained in the early stages of the machines were of an indifferent nature and it was only after large expenditures and the hiring of a number of different inventors to work upon it that a successful machine was produced.

[Illustration: BOOTS OF THE CAVALIERS AND POSTILLIONS

FRENCH POSTILLION BOOT OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: THE CAVALIER BOOT OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: MILITARY JACK BOOT OF CROMWELL’S TIME]

[Illustration: MILITARY JACK BOOT OF SIXTEENTH CENTURY.]

~HOW SHOE MACHINERY WAS DEVELOPED~

While the quality of work was pronounced by manufacturers to be a success, few had any faith in the possibility of manufacturing shoes by machinery and McKay met with constant rebuffs in his endeavor to introduce his machine. It is recorded that in his desperation he finally offered to sell all the patent rights in machines which he owned to a syndicate of Lynn manufacturers for the sum of $250,000.00--the amount he had expended--but the offer was refused.

In his dilemma McKay at last offered to shoe manufacturers the use of his machines on a basis, which afterwards became famous and an inherent part of the shoe industry known as “royalty,” whereby McKay placed his machines with manufacturers and participated to a small extent in the amount of money saved. Owing to the fact that shoemakers were leaving rapidly for the front and that there was a great scarcity of footwear, the manufacturers gladly accepted this proposition and the machines were very rapidly introduced.

The success of his early machines accomplished, McKay set about the perfecting of others that would do different parts of the work and there was accordingly great activity on the part of inventors in their endeavor to perfect machines for the wide variety of uses made necessary in the preparation of leather for shoemaking. There were soon machines on the market for a wide variety of purposes--including the lasting of the shoe, cutting the leather and for many other processes necessary in making a complete shoe.

Contemporary with the early success of the McKay machines, a French inventor, August Destoney, conceived the idea of making a machine which would sew turned shoes--then a popular type of footwear for women. After several years of endeavor he finally secured the interest of John Hanan, a famous shoemaker of that time in New York City, and through him the interest of Charles Goodyear--nephew of Goodyear of India-rubber fame.

No sooner had the machine become perfected for the sewing of turned shoes, however, than he set to work to make changes which would fit it to sew welt shoes. (The welt shoe has always been considered the highest type of shoemaking, as, by a very ingenious process, a shoe is made which is perfectly smooth inside; all the other types having a seam of thread or tacks inside which make them of considerable disadvantage. He was able to accomplish this a few years later, although the machines were not in extended use until about 1893, when auxiliary machines for performing important parts of the work were perfected; and from that time headway was made in the manufacture of this high grade type of footwear.

The development of the industry--which has been very rapid with the introduction of machinery--suffered materially in the latter part of the last century through the bitter rivalry of machinery manufacturers, a common process being the enjoining of manufacturers from the use of machines on which it was claimed the patents were infringed and this created a state of great uncertainty in the minds of many of those manufacturing shoes.

This condition finally found its solution in the formation of one large corporation, known in the shoe industry as the “United Shoe Machinery Company,” which purchased the patents for a sufficient number of machines to form a complete system for the “bottoming”--or fastening the soles and heels of shoes--and finishing them.

These machines have been the subject of constant improvement and others have been perfected to take care of operations which, prior to their introduction, were purely hand operations. Each machine has been standardized and so adapted to meet the requirements of those used in connection with it that they collectively form the most remarkable and efficient system of machines used at the present time.

Mention is made of this company owing to the important position it has taken in the organization and advancement of the industry, the American-made shoe being the one commodity of world-wide consumption whose supremacy is not contested.

[Illustration: MY LADY’S SLIPPERS OF EARLY TIMES

EMBROIDERED RIDING BOOT WORN BY NOBLES DURING LAST DAYS OF POLISH INDEPENDENCE]

[Illustration: EMBROIDERED RIDING BOOT FROM PERSIA OF ABOUT 1850]

[Illustration: FRENCH CALF BOOT MADE IN NEW YORK CITY, 1835]

[Illustration: LADY’S SHOE--PERIOD OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION]

[Illustration: LADY’S SHOE--PERIOD OF LOUIS XVI.

Has wooden heel.]

[Illustration: LADY’S ADELAID OR SIDE LACED SHOE--PERIOD 1830 TO 1870]

[Illustration:

CHANNEL LIP

CROSS-SECTION OF INSOLE

WOODEN LAST—DETERMINES SIZE AND SHAPE OF SHOE

AN INSOLE

AN INSOLE TACKED TO BOTTOM OF LAST

THE BEGINNING OF A SHOE]

How Shoes Are Made by Machinery

At the present time the types of shoes ordinarily made are but five: the “peg” shoe, which is the cheapest type of shoe made; the “standard screw,” which is used in the soles of the heaviest types of boots; the “McKay sewed,” which is made after the fashion established by Gordon McKay; the “turn” shoe, a light type of shoe which was invented centuries ago and which is still worn at this time to a limited extent; and the “Goodyear welt,” which has been universally adopted as the highest type of footwear.

For this reason, this type of shoe has been selected to show the methods employed in making shoes.

THE GOODYEAR WELT SHOE.--A Goodyear Welt shoe in its evolution from the embryonic state in which it is “mere leather and thread” to the completed product, passes through one hundred and six different pairs of hands and is obliged to conform to the requirements of fifty-eight different machines, each performing with unyielding accuracy the various operations for which they were designed.

It might seem that in all this multiplicity of operations confusion would occur, and that the many details and specifications regarding material and design of any given lot of shoes in process of manufacture would become hopelessly entangled with those of similar lots undergoing the same operations. But such is not the case; for, when an order is received in any modern and well-organized factory, the factory management promptly take the precaution to see that all the details regarding the samples to which the finished product is to conform are set down in the order book. Each lot is given an order number and this number, together with the details affecting the preparation of the shoe upper, are written on tags--one for each two dozen shoes--which are sent to the foreman of the cutting room. Others containing details regarding the sole leather are sent to the sole leather room, while a third lot is made out for the guidance of the foreman of the making or bottoming room, when the different parts which have received attention and been prepared according to specifications in the cutting and sole leather rooms are ready to be assembled for the making or bottoming process. If the tags which were sent to the cutting room were followed, it would be found that on their receipt the foreman of this department figured out the amount and kind of leather required, the kind of linings, stays, etc., and that the leather, together with the tags which gave directions regarding the size, etc., was sent to one of the operators of the Ideal Clicking Machine.

~SHOEMAKING MACHINERY IS ALL BUT HUMAN~

This machine has been pronounced one of the most important innovations that have been made in the shoe manufacturing industry during recent years, as it performs an operation which has heretofore successfully withstood every attempt at mechanical aid. Prior to its introduction, the cutting of upper leather was accomplished by the use of patterns made with metal edges, which were laid upon the leather by cutter, who then ran a small sharp knife along the edges of the pattern, cutting the leather to conform to it. This was a slow and laborious process, and if great care was not taken, there was a tendency to cut away from the pattern; and in many cases, through some slip of the knife, the leather was cut beyond the required limits.

This machine has a cutting board very similar to those which were used by the hand workman and over it is a beam which can be swung either to the right or to the left, as desired, and over any portion of the board. Any kind of skin to be cut is placed on the board, and the operator places a die of unusual design on it. Grasping the handle, which is a part of the swinging beam, he swings the beam over the die, and on downward pressure of the handle a clutch is engaged which brings the beam downward, pressing the die through the leather. As soon as this is accomplished, the beam automatically returns to its full height and remains there until the handle is again pressed.

The dies used are but three-quarters of an inch in height and are so light that they do not mar the most delicate leather when placed upon it. They enable the operator to see clearly the entire surface of the leather he is cutting out, and it is obvious that the pieces cut by the use of any given die must be identically the same.

After the different parts required by the tag have been cut out by the operator of the Clicking Machine, some of the edges which show in the finished shoe must be skived or thinned down to a beveled edge. This work is performed by the Amazeen Skiving Machine--a wonderful little machine in which the edge to be skived is fed to a sharp revolving disk that cuts it down to the desired bevel. The machine does the work in a very efficient manner, conforming to all the curves and angles. This skiving is done in order that the edges may be folded, to give the particular edge on which it is performed a more finished appearance. The skived edges are then given a little coating of cement and afterwards folded on a machine which turns back the edge and incidentally pounds it down, so that it presents a very smooth and finished appearance.

Aside from the work of skiving toe caps and folding them, there is generally a series of ornamental perforations cut along the edge of the cap. This is done very often by the Power Tip Press, by means of which the piece to be perforated is placed under a series of dies which cuts the perforations in the leather according to a predetermined design, doing the work all at one time. The number of designs used for this purpose are many and varied, combinations of different sized perforations being worked out in innumerable designs.

On one of the top linings of each shoe there has been stamped the order number, together with the size of the shoe for which the linings were intended. After all the linings have been prepared in accordance with the instructions on the tag, they, in connection with the various parts of the shoe, receive attention from the Stitchers, where all the different parts of the upper are united. The work is performed on a range of wonderful machines, which perform all the different operations with great rapidity and accuracy.

At the completion of these operations the shoe is ready to receive the eyelets, which are placed with remarkable speed and accuracy by the Duplex Eyeletting Machine. This machine eyelets both sides of the shoe at one time with bewildering rapidity. The eyelets are securely placed and accurately spaced; and as both sides of the upper are eyeletted at one time, the eyelets are placed directly opposite each other, which greatly helps the fitting of the shoe, as thereby the wrinkling of the shoe upper is avoided.

With the completion of this operation, the preparation of the shoe upper is finished, and the different lots with their tags are sent to the bottoming room to await the coming of the different sole leather portions of the shoe. These have been undergoing preparation in the sole leather room, where on receipt of tag the foreman has given directions for the preparation of outsoles, insoles, counters, toe boxes and heels, to conform with the requirements of the order.

The soles are roughly died out from sides of sole leather on large Dieing-out Machines, which press heavy dies down through the leather; but to make them conform exactly to the required shape, they are generally rounded out on a machine known as the “Planet Rounding Machine,” in which the roughly died-out piece of leather is held between clamps, one of which is the exact pattern of the sole. On starting the machine, a little knife darts around this pattern, cutting the sole exactly to conform with it.

The outsole is now passed to a heavy Rolling Machine, where it is subjected to tons of pressure between heavy rolls. This takes the place of the hammering which the old-time shoemaker gave his leather and brings the fibres very closely together, greatly increasing its wear.

This sole is next fed to a machine called the “Summit Splitting Machine--Model M,” which reduces it to an exactly even thickness. The insole--which is made of very much lighter leather--is prepared in much the same manner, and in this way it will be noticed that both the insole and outsole are reduced to an absolutely uniform thickness.

The insole also receives further preparation; it is channeled on the Goodyear Channeling Machine. This machine cuts a little slit along the edge of the insole, extending about one-half inch towards its center. It also cuts a small channel along the surface.

The lip which has been formed by the Goodyear Channeling Machine is now turned up on the Goodyear Lip Turning Machine, so that it extends out at a right angle from the insole, forming a lip or shoulder against which the welt is sewed. The cut which has been made on the surface inside this lip serves as a guide for the operator of the Welt Sewing Machine, when the shoe reaches that stage.

The heels to be used on these shoes have also been formed from different lifts of leather which are cemented together. The heel is then placed under great pressure, giving it exact form and greatly increasing its wear.

~THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE SHOE COME TOGETHER~

The counters are also prepared in this room, as well as the toe boxes or stiffening, which is placed between the toe cap and the vamp of the shoe. When these are all completed, they are sent to the making or bottoming room, where the completed shoe upper is awaiting them. Here a wonderfully ingenious little machine called the “Ensign Lacing Machine,” passes strong twine through the eyelets and in a twinkling ties it automatically. This is done so that all parts of the shoe will be held in their normal position while the shoe is being made. The knot tied by this machine is perfect and is performed with mechanical exactness. On high-grade shoes this work was formerly performed by hand and it will be readily recognized how difficult it was to obtain uniformity. The spread of the upper at the throat can be regulated perfectly when this machine is used. The different parts of the shoe now commence to come together. The workman places the toe box, or stiffening, in the proper location as well as the counter at the heel, and draws the upper over the last. To the bottom of this last has already been tacked by means of the U. S. M. Co. Insole Tacking Machine--which drives tacks automatically--the insole, which, it will be noticed, conforms exactly to the shape of the bottom of the last. This last, made of wood, is of the utmost importance, for upon the last depends the shape of the shoe.

[Illustration: EACH SHOE MACHINE DOES SOMETHING DIFFERENT

ASSEMBLING MACHINE

Operator locates back seam of upper on last. Machine drives two tacks which hold it in place.]

The shoe as completed up to this point with the parts mentioned fastened together as shown, is now ready for assembling. The workman, after placing the last inside the shoe upper, puts it on the spindle of the Rex Assembling Machine, where he takes care that the seam at the heel is properly located. He presses a foot lever and a small tack is driven part way in, to hold the upper in place. He then hands it over to the operator of the Rex Pulling-Over Machine.

[Illustration: PULLING-OVER MACHINE

Draws shoe upper smoothly down to last. Operator adjusts it so that each seam occupies correct position on last. Machine automatically drives back to hold it in place.]

This machine is a very important one; for as the parts of the shoe upper have been cut to exactly conform to the shape of the last, it is necessary that they should be correctly placed on the last to secure the desired results. The pincers of this machine grasp the leather at different points on each side of the toe; and the operator, standing in a position from which he can see when the upper is exactly centered, presses a foot lever, the pincers close and draw the leather securely against the wood of the last. At this point the operation of the machine halts. By moving different levers, the workman is able to adjust the shoe upper accurately, so that each part of it lies in the exact position it was intended when the shoe was designed. When this important operation has been completed, the operator again presses a foot lever, the pincers move toward each other, drawing the leather securely around the last, and at the same time there are driven automatically two tacks on each side and one at the toe, which hold the upper securely in position. These tacks are driven but part way in, so that they may be afterward removed.

[Illustration: THE LASTING MACHINE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT

HAND METHOD LASTING MACHINE

Last sides of shoe.]

[Illustration: LASTING MACHINE

Last toe and heel of shoe.]

The shoe is now ready for lasting. This is one of the most difficult and important parts of the shoemaking process, for upon the success of this operation depends in a great measure the beauty and comfort of the shoe. The Consolidated Hand Method Welt Lasting Machine, which is used for this purpose, takes its name from the almost human way in which it performs this part of the work. It is wonderful to observe how evenly and tightly it draws the leather around the last. At each pull of the pincers a small tack driven automatically part way in holds the edge of the upper exactly in place, so that in the finished shoe every part of the upper has been stretched in all directions equally. The toe and heel of the shoe are considered particularly difficult portions to last properly. This important part of the work is now being very generally performed on the U. S. M. Co. Lasting Machine--No. 5, a machine of what is known as the “bed type.” It is provided with a series of wipers for toe and heel, which draw the leather simultaneously from all directions. There can be no wrinkles at the toe or heel of shoe on which it is properly used and the quality of work produced by it has been very generally recognized as a distinct advance in this important part of shoemaking. After the leather has been brought smoothly around the toe it is held there by a little tape fastened on each side of the toe and which is held securely in place by the surplus leather crimpled in at this point. The surplus leather crimpled in at the heel is forced smoothly down against the insole and held there by tacks driven by a very ingenious hand tool in which there is a constantly renewed supply of tacks.

[Illustration: A MACHINE THAT FORMS AND DRIVES TACKS

UPPER STAPLING MACHINE

Forms small staples from wire.