A MANUAL OF SHOEMAKING

An Old-Fashioned Shoemaker. Frontispiece.

A MANUAL
OF
SHOEMAKING
AND
LEATHER AND RUBBER
PRODUCTS

BY
WILLIAM H. DOOLEY
PRINCIPAL OF THE LOWELL INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

ILLUSTRATED

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1912

Copyright, 1912,
By Little, Brown, and Company.

All rights reserved.

Published, September, 1912.

PREFACE

The author was asked in 1908 by the Lynn Commission on Industrial Education to make an investigation of European shoe schools and to assist the Commission in preparing a course of study for the proposed shoe school in the city of Lynn. A close investigation showed that there were several textbooks on shoemaking published in Europe, but that no general textbook on shoemaking had been issued in this country adapted to meet the needs of industrial, trade, and commercial schools or those who have just entered the rubber, shoe, and leather trades. This book is written to meet this need. Others may find it of interest.

The author is under obligations to the following persons and firms for information and assistance in preparing the book, and for permission to reproduce photographs and information from their publications: Mr. J. H. Finn, Mr. Frank L. West, Head of Shoemaking Department, Tuskegee, Ala., Mr. Louis Fleming, Mr. F. Garrison, President of Shoe and Leather Gazette, Mr. Arthur L. Evans, The Shoeman, Mr. Charles F. Cahill, United Shoe Machinery Company, Hood Rubber Company, Bliss Shoe Company, American Hide and Leather Company, Regal Shoe Company, the publishers of Hide and Leather, American Shoemaking, Shoe Repairing, Boot and Shoe Recorder, The Weekly Bulletin, and the New York Leather Belting Company.

In addition, the author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness to the great body of foreign literature on the different subjects from which information has been obtained.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Preface[v]
CHAPTER
I.Fundamental Shoe Terms[1]
II.Hides and their Treatment[4]
III.Processes of Tanning[21]
IV.The Anatomy of the Foot[77]
V.How Shoe Styles are Made[93]
VI.Departments of a Shoe Factory[103]
VII.McKay and Turned Shoes[144]
VIII.Old-fashioned Shoemaking and Repairing[162]
IX.Leather and Shoemaking Terms[177]
X.Leather Products Manufacture[218]
XI.Rubber Shoe Manufacture and Terms[228]
XII.History of Footwear[250]
Index[281]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

An Old-fashioned Shoemaker[Frontispiece]
Facing Page
Names of the Different Parts of Foot Wear[2]
Green-salted Calfskin[12]
Tanning Process[24]
Tanning Process, showing Rotating Drums[28]
Sole Leather Offal[34]
Bones and Joints of the Human Foot[78]
The Different Parts of the Foot and Ankle[78]
A Last in Three Stages of Manufacture[98]
A Modern Shoe Factory[104]
A Skin Divided before Cutting[112]
Cutting Leather[116]
Goodyear Stitching[116]
Stock Fitting Room[120]
Lasting[124]
Welting[124]
Rough Rounding[128]
Edge Trimming[128]
Leveling[132]
Heeling[132]
Sole Scouring[136]
Heel Shaping[136]
Ironing[140]
Packing[140]
Cross Sections of Welt Shoe and McKay Sewed Shoe[144]
Stitching[148]
Tacking[148]
Cross Section of Standard Screwed Shoe[160]
Side of Leather divided as to Quality[168]
Cross Section of McKay Sewed Shoe[200]
Cross Section of Goodyear Welt Shoe[200]
Crude Rubber[228]
Washing and Drying[232]
Calender Room[234]
Cutting Room[236]
Putting together the Parts of a Rubber Shoe[240]
Heel-making Department[242]
Parts of a Rubber Boot[248]
Insole for Hand-sewed Shoe[264]
Hand-sewed Shoe[264]
Stitching Room of a German Shoe Factory[276]