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Converse Trainers

Converse Trainers & Shoes

It all started in 1908, when Marquis M. Converse opened the Converse Rubber shoe Company in Malden , Massachusetts. The company begun as a rubber shoe manufacturer, which offered winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women, and children. By 1910 the Converse Company was producing 4,000 shoes daily, but it wasn't until 1912, that the company first started producing athletic shoes for tennis. In 1917, basketball was revolutionized by the introduction of the world's first performance basketball shoes, the Converse All Star Shoe. A year later, Charles H. Taylor, a basketball player from the Akron Firestones, acquired his first pair of All Star shoes, and while wearing his Converse trainers, he introduced basketball as a sport to Americans across the country.

Charles Chuck Taylor officially joined Converse shoes in 1921 as America 's first player endorser; Chuck's signature was added two years later in the All Star patch. Converse shoes kept growing, and steamed ahead through the 30's as the nation's interest in basketball increased.

As Converse trainers became a synonym of basketball, the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star became the basketball shoes for professionals and high school teams throughout the country. By the mid 30s Chuck transformed the basketball world once again, this time he invented the modern basket ball, a stitch less leather ball provided with a genuine bounce.

In 1936 basketball had its Olympic debut, and was finally played as an Official Olympic sport for the first time; the U.S team defeated Canada wearing Converse All Star shoes. In December of 1941 America entered the World War II, taking Converse trainers into a new phase. That year Converse shoes changed its production, and started to manufacture boots, rubber protective suits, and ponchos for pilots and troops.

Converse company designed the A6 Flying Boot worn by the U.S. Army Air Corps. During the war all soldiers worn Chuck Taylor All Star shoes, and even after it these shoes remain the usual government-issue athletic shoes for military training. For its war efforts Converse trainers received a number of honours from the Army, Navy, and U.S. Treasury.

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 starting to become an American icon. Converse shoes became the number one footwear among the teenagers, who wore them as a symbol of youth rebellion in the 50´s.

They were usually worn with jeans by the boys and with skirts and ankle socks by the girls. This fashion was finally legitimate by the movie legend, James Dean, who was photographed wearing jeans and white Chucks. Throughout the 60´s and 70´s Converse trainers launched a variety of products for basketball, football, track and many other sports.

Converse shoes continued to be popular on the 70´s and 80´s as they remain a symbol of rebellion. But it was in the late 80´s that Converse trainers, although its popularity started to go under. The footwear industry was entering in a new period, one that involved technology and improvement. In an attempt to compete with the birth of new competitors, Converse shoes invested in a biomechanics research lab, despite this it couldn't keep up with the constant release of the competitor's new technologies. It was a series of unfortunate events and bad decisions which lead Converse trainers to file for bankruptcy in 2001. In June, 2003 Converse accepted Nike's offer to buy out the company for the amount of $305 million, and ever since then Converse shoes is owned by Nike.

In present days many Converse classics have been re-released, but for some people Chuck Taylor's All Star shoes haven't been the same since the footwear giant Nike.

Despite what sales indicate, Converse shoes still are a part of the American history, and always will be.

Chuck Taylor

Charles Hollis Taylor was born in Brown County , in 1901. Ever since he was a child, Chuck wanted to be a basketball player. Taylor started to wear Converse All Star shoes in 1918, as a high school basketball player.

In 1921 Charles went to the Converse offices in search of a job, which he obtained. Chucks addition to Converse shoes would be an important event to the company's future; within a year of his hiring, Charles suggestions, like fabricating the shoe differently for greater flexibility and support, were integrated into the shoes. Clearly Taylor 's ideas were great, but he was also an excellent representative for Converse trainers and impossible not to like him according to Joe Dean, who worked as a sales executive for Converse.

In 1969, Charles Taylor died from a heart attack in Port Charlotte , Florida . But the effort made by Chuck for Converse shoes and Basketball remains worthy of admiration until today.

1908
Marquis M. Converse opens the Converse Rubber Shoe Company for business.

1910
Converse produces 4,000 shoes daily.

1915
Converse canvas tennis shoe business climbs, doubling by 1918.

1917
Converse All Star Trainers are introduced, the first performance basketball sneaker in the Converse era.

1918
Charles H. “Chuck” Taylor, an All American high school player who would later suit up with the original Celtics, Buffalo Germans and Akron Firestones, puts on his first pair of All Star shoes

1921
Chuck Taylor joins Converse, he hires on as a salesman and endorser.

1923
Converse adds Chuck Taylor's signature to the All Star Patch.Converse customizes shoes for the first all African American basketball team, the New York Renaissance.

1930
The nation's interest for basketball increases, Converse becomes a synonym of basketball.

1933
The Stone Family aquires the Converse company.

1935
Jack Purcell, the world famous badminton champion, designs a durable performance court shoe. Chuck invents the modern basket ball, a stitch less leather ball designed to improve the sport by a more true bounce.

1936
Basketball is played for the first time as an official Olympic sport.

1942
Converse changes its sports production and start manufacturing the A6 Flying Boot, which is used by the entire U.S Army Air group.

1949
The Basketball Association of America and the National League join to become the NBA.

1962
Converse develops a low cut version of its All Star, called “ Oxford ”.

1966
Converse starts adding color choices to the basic black and white "Chuck Taylor" All Star basketball shoe.

1968
Chuck earns a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

1971
Ths Stone family sells the Converse Company to the Eltra Corporation.

1974
Converse introduces the “One Star”, a low-cut performance shoe for basketball.

1976
Julius Erving endorses Converse.

1981
Converse develops the industry's first biomechanics labs.

1984
Converse is the Official Sponsor of the 1984 Olympics Games.

1985
Converse investments paid off, when the biomechanics lab presented the first high tech cushioning systems. The later years Converse starts to sink.

1986
Converse released "The Weapon" basketball shoe. Also manufactured in many color schemes to match the team colors of basketball teams, it has been available in both high-top and low cut varieties.

1996
Produces 5.2 million pairs of sneakers in the United States.

1997
Announces that over 550 million pairs of "Chuck Taylor" All Star sneakers produced; believed an industry record. Produces 7.5 million pairs of sneakers in the United States.

2001
Sales dropped and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy. The factory in U.S.A closes, and therefore manufacturing in the United States is no longer possible. April - Changes ownership from public to private hands; $117 million paid to the bankruptcy court towards their debt. July - First "Chuck Taylor" All Star sneakers made in Indonesia arrive in the USA.

2003
Nike makes an offer to buy Converse for the amount of $305 million, and it success, transforming Nike into Converse's owner.

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