From this story Chuck Taylor, All-Star: The true story behind the most famous sports shoes in history.
A brief history of Americans' obsession with sports shoes Why basketball is the perfect sport of virtual reality This is the first year that basketball entered the Olympic Games, and it is also the first gold medal of the American men's basketball team in seven consecutive Olympic Games. But it also marks the debut of the iconic "Olympic White" Chuck Taylor shoes, and its design still exists today.
The history of these shoes is almost as long as that of basketball itself. To some extent, they are all mature. 189 1 year, James naismith, a YMCA physical education educator, invented an indoor game to keep his students healthy in the cold winter in Massachusetts with a football and two peach baskets. 17, the marquis converse established converse rubber shoes company in Massachusetts, producing rubber shoes, which is quite different from today's famous canvas shoes.
The company produces a large number of these protective boots for the wet season in spring, winter and autumn, but in the dry summer, the sales volume inevitably drops. For two years, converse fired his employees at the beginning of the recession and rehired him when the autumn rainy season came. Since then, the entrepreneur has tried to make his most skilled workers work all year round. He began to make a kind of non-slip canvas shoes.
Brand converse founded converse rubber exhibition company to produce rubber shoes. (converse) All-Star, all-star in the early 1920s (converse), 1928 (converse) leather Chuck Taylor All-Star, 1934 (converse) Chuck Taylor All-Star, 1957 (converse) Chuck Taylor All-Star Oxford,1. However, these well-dressed furtives were soon associated with sports, especially the rapidly spreading basketball craze. 1922, converse rubber company hired an attractive athlete, Charles "Chuck" Taylor, as the salesman and coach of converse all-star team of shoe club.
Abraham Amede, the author of Chuck Taylor, said, "It's all about promotion." . "This team is not in the league, but it will cross the midwestern town and challenge the local popular players for a game."
According to Hamilton's statistics, the all-star team plays about 30 games every year. In addition to these games, Taylor also held some clinics to teach people relatively new sports. Sporting goods stores send representatives to the clinic to sell converse all-star shoes to those who claim to be the best basketball shoes. Morrissey said:
"What converse does is to teach the United States to play basketball." . But beyond that, these clinics "let converse consolidate its relationship with basketball itself and become a leading basketball shoe."
According to Amede, the clinic usually includes a basketball game and an auxiliary performance starring Chuck and Harold Levitt the Rabbit. "Chuck hit his winner, and Rabbit Levitt never missed a free throw," he said. Then, the two will distribute pocket-sized game guides.
Taylor teaches Americans to play basketball and sells converse brand on the road all the year round. This is Taylor in the 1950s. He gave one of his clinics to a team and local fans. (Provided by Abe Aamidor) Taylor was a player and coach of converse All's in 1927, preparing for tars team. (provided by Abe Hamid) Chuck Taylor (left) is at Wright Field Army Air Base, where he is training the country's top military team. Dwight edman stands in the middle, and professional basketball player Ed Sadofsky stands on the right. (provided by Diana Eidelman Renzi) Taylor was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969 for his contribution to the sport. (provided by Abe Aamidor) Taylor traveled all over the country, running clinics and selling shoes. Shoe sales are booming, but the company is not doing well. In the middle of 19 10, petite rubber sheets boldly produced rubber shoes, which are still a classic of converse. Therefore, the marquis converse tried to get close to the source of the petition: rubber tires.
At that time, tires were changing with each passing day, and converse couldn't keep up. Morici said that the Great Depression would only increase the company's troubles. He said: "He invested so much money in this tire industry, so when the tire industry closed down, it was a bit of a drag on other departments of the company." . 1929, the marquis converse lost his company.
Business has changed hands many times. Morici said that Hodgman's term of office was short, but shortly after the merger, the company's president died in an accident. Businessmen Joseph, Harry and Dewey Si Tong bought the struggling company at 1932.
"The opposite name has lost its luster," Amado said, adding that the company was in trouble.
"The only reason," the advertisement of 1954 (converse), "In the basketball world, all-stars come first!" 1954 ad (converse) "Now two great converse' Chuck' Taylor All-Stars", 1957 ad (converse) "Now basketball is richer than ever", 197 1 ad (converse) "Converse All-Stars".
"He is neither a great player nor plays for some great teams he said," Hamid said. But he does have a moderate basketball ability and influence on the court. Morici said that although many or even not all basketball coaches know that "this is a group of people who talk nonsense", they accepted this behavior and moved on.
Taylor signed a contract with converse on 1933 to add his own name, and this change took effect the following year. All-star became Chuck Taylor's all-star.
As Taylor became more and more famous as a basketball superstar, he continued to work hard on the road of selling shoes. This is his personal style as a salesman, which makes everything different, Amido said. In large university competitions, Taylor often attends in person to support the team and take care of the shoes. If there is something wrong with sewing, fitting or damage, Taylor will repair it on the spot.
"It's like buying a basketball with lebron james's signature on it," Yamido said. When you want it to expand to the right pressure, lebron james will help you do it. "
Similar to today, what people wear is largely attributed to marketing. "Chuck is not the only pair of sneakers with rubber soles," Amede said. Other footwear manufacturers at that time, such as Spalding and BF goodrich, had similar choices. "But they (Chuck) are the most expensive elite," he added.
The tread pattern used in Chuck Taylor's All-Star Game is a patented design. Converse's ultimate goal is to make shoes with the tightest soles. The tread pattern was fixed in the mid-1930s, and the patented design is still used in today's chucks.
The first Olympic team was established in 1936, and needed to form a team to infiltrate. This company is a shoe factory. Converse launched the "Olympic White All-Star" for the first time, which is quite different from the traditional black hat.
The American men's basketball team won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games, showing off their Olympic white Chuck Taylor All S.