Along with apple pie, Converse and its shoes are as much a part of America as Coca-Cola. On the face of it, its hard to see why Converse misses the Big Players Chapter, but you need to remember that is is a global tale. This is not to say that Converse is not a vitally important company in sneaker history.
It was in this year that the New Hamsphire-born Marquis Mills Converse founded the Converse Rubber Shoe Company. Mr Converse was quick to latch onto the potential of the rapidly growing rubber shoe industry after having worked at the local Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe store.
Wthin two years of establishment, Converse had 350 employees producing tough, rubber-sole,wholesale cheap lacoste, protective footwear under brand names including 'Tuff-e-nuff rubbers'. It was at about this time that the company made the fatal mistake of diversifying into other rubber markets, when it branched into making rubber tryes.
Converse was not the founding father of the sneaker/trainer industry, even though it was involved in its infancy. The Converse company was launched at a time when baskeetball was, alghough a minority interest, growing in popularity at an astonishing rate.
Basketball players were beginning to ultize rubber-soled leisure or deck shoes, and so Converse diversified away form its main interest in industrial shoes and began to produce shoes for this relatively new sport.
It was in 1917 that a vital decision was taken when Converse ssued a icut shoe designed specifially for basketball. This shoe was intended to mantain productivity in the plant when sales of industrial shoes traditionally fell in the summer. The result was the legendary Converse All Star basketball shoe, which is still sold in a familiar form today.