History of Footwear

       There are evidences which show that the history of the shoe starts in 10,000 BC, that is, at the end of the Paleolithic period (paintings of this time in caves in Spain and in the south of France make reference to the footwear). Among the utensils of rock of the men of the caverns there are several that were used to scrape the skins, which indicates that the art of tanning is very old. In the Egyptian hypogeus (underground chambers used to multiple funerals), whose age is between 6 and 7 thousand years, paintings were discovered representing the various stages of the preparation of the leather and the footwear. In cold countries the moccasin is the protector of the feet and in hotter countries the sandal is still the most used. The Egyptian’s sandals were made of straw, papyrus or of palm fiber.

it was common to walk bare-footed and to carry the sandals using them just when necessary.

       It’s known that only the noblemen of that time owned sandals. Even a Pharaoh as Tutancamon paved footwear as sandals and simple leather shoes (despite the ornaments of gold).

click on the photo to know a little more about it.

        In Mesopotamia it was common raw leather shoes tied to the feet by straps of the same material. The boots were symbol of high social status.
        The Greek introduced new fashion as different models for right and left feet.
       In Rome the footwear indicated the social class. The consuls wore white shoes, the senators wore brown shoes moored by four leather tapes tied with two knots and the traditional footwear of the legions was the short boot that uncovered the toes.

Jewish leather sandal from 72 AD, click on the photo to enlarge it.
click on the photo to enlarge it.

        In the middle age, men as well as women wore leather shoes whose form was similar to the ballet slipper. Men also wore high and short boots tied in the front and in the side. The most current material was the cow skin, but the upper quality boots were made of goat skin.

        The standardization of the numeration is of English origin. The king Edward (1272-1307) was the first to uniform the measures. The first reference known of the manufacture of footwear in England is of 1642 when Thomas Pendleton provided 4,000 pairs of shoes and 600 pairs of boots to the army. The military campaigns of this time initiated a substantial demand for boots and shoes. In the middle of the 19th century the machines that helped in the confection of the footwear began to appear, but only with the sewing machine the shoe started to be more accessible. From the fourth decade of the 20th century on, big changes in the footwear industries began to happen as the change of the leather by the rubber and synthetic materials. Mainly in the female and infantile footwear. Probably the Pandleton’s employees made the shoes from the beginning to the end, but in the modern industry the process is divided into many and distinct stages as:

• modeling: creation, elaboration and accompaniment of the models in the manufacture process;
• warehouse: act of receiving, storage, classification and control of the leather and other materials;
• cut: operation of cut of the different parts that compose the "cabedal" (upper part of the footwear). In the cut special blades and/or knives are used to pressure the metallic molds in the leather surface and/or other materials;
• chamfer: leather preparation to receive the sewing;
• sewing: junction of the parts that compose the "cabedal"(upper part of the footwear). In many companies this sector is subdivided into preparation, chamfer and sewing;
• pre-manufactured: manufacture of soles, shoe heels and slippers. Many companies don’t have this sector because there are specialized factories that produce these materials;
• distribution: it controls the volume of production, revises the quality of the materials and distributes them to the sections of assembling and final touch (finishing);
• assembling: set of operations that join the upper part of the footwear with the sole;
• finishing: final operations linked to the presentation of the footwear as brushing, painting and cleaning;
• assembling and finishing: in many companies these two sectors are organized in assembling line, that is, work rates replaced in line and the elaborating product incorporates the partial operations of each worker until the end of the line, where the product results finished;
• expedition: packing, boxing and sending to the destination market.

       In the page shoe Museums some rare pictures can be found and other aspects of history.

       Soon the footwear history in the new world. The Brazilian footwear history will include a description about the use of footwear in Rio de Janeiro in 1816 and a description of a footwear factory and a tannery in 1918.