Substitutes for Leather
In olden times our fathers and mothers used handmade shoes, and wore them till they had passed their period of usefulness. At that time the consumption did not equal the production of leather. Knowledge of conditions in the great western countries to-day will show that many of the big cattle-raising sections, once famed for their cattle, have been taken up by homesteaders and are now producing grain instead of cattle. But since the appearance of the machine-made shoe, different styles of shoes are placed on the market at different seasons, to correspond to the change of style of clothing, and shoes are often discarded before they are worn out. We have not been able thus far to utilize cast-off leather as the shoddy mill uses wool and silk, etc. The result is that the consumption of leather is above the production, therefore substitutes must be used.
In shoe materials there is at present an astonishing diversity and variety. Every known leather is used from kid to cowhide, and textile fabrics have developed rapidly, especially in the making of women’s and children’s shoes. The satins, velvets, serges, and other fabrics that are used in the manufacture of shoes must be firm and well woven, and are usually supplied with a backing of firm, canvas-like fabric, to give strength.
As to wearing quality the old saying, “There is nothing like leather,” still holds good; but people do not buy shoes for their wearing qualities alone in these days. Style and intrinsic beauty are considered, and have a cash value just as in any other article of apparel.
Each fabric is made of two sets of threadlike yarn woven at right angles to each other. They are called the warp and filling (weft). The warp is composed of yarn running the longest way of the fabric, and filling runs the short way of the fabric. Since the warp is the body of the cloth, it is its strongest part and all fabric in shoes should be placed warpwise across the foot of the wearer, so as to be able to resist the great strain.
Various attempts have been made for legislation to prohibit the treating of leather by chemicals or the use of substances to increase its weight. Complaints have been made by a number of shoe manufacturers that the excessive use of glucose (a form of sugar) in sole leather has resulted in injuring the leather and fabrics composing the uppers of shoes.
Representatives of large leather firms claim that the methods of tanning sole leather have radically changed during the last few years, and that the small quantity of glucose and epsom salts that is used to-day in finishing sole leather is absolutely necessary to its value, and is in no sense an adulterant or weighting material. Shoe manufacturers, on the other hand, claim that in some cases larger amounts of glucose, salt, etc., have been added to the soft leather from the belly of the animal, in order to give it the desired stiffness. On account of the high price of leather, various attempts have been made to find a substitute for it. Most of these substitutes consist of strong cloth treated with some drying oil like linseed, the oil having previously been mixed with other solid substances.
A prize of five thousand francs has been awarded to a Belgian inventor, Louis Gevaert, for his unusually superior artificial leather. The process consists in the more or less intimate impregnation of stout cloth with tannic albuminoid substances. Shoes made of this are said to possess not only the resistance and elasticity of natural leather, but its durability of wear. Moreover, they are much cheaper, costing, including manufacture, only four francs (about eighty cents) and being sold at about six francs per pair.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE ANATOMY OF THE FOOT
Very few people, even among those engaged in the shoe industry, know much of the anatomy of the foot. Yet it is evident that they ought to know something about it in order to furnish the foot with a proper covering.
The first thing that strikes a person on looking at the human foot is its large proportion of bone. On pressing its top surface and that of its inner side, the amount of flesh will be found to be very small, indeed. The same is true of the inner and outer ankle. The extreme back of the ankle has scarcely any flesh covering. The most fleshy portions of the foot are its outer side, the base of the heel and the ball of the big toe.
The reason for this disposition of flesh is to protect or cover those parts of the foot that support the body by coming in contact with the ground. They act as pads and lessen the concussion. The abundance of flesh on the outer side of the foot is to protect or act as a shield against danger. The inside of the foot is not exposed as much as the outside.
The foot is divided into three parts, the toes, the waist and instep, and the heel and ankle. The largest bone of the foot is the heel bone (called calcaneum). It is the bone that projects backward from the principal joint and forms the main portion of the heel. When a person is flat-footed, this bone is thrust farther backward than nature intended to have it. The connection between it and the tarsal bones is lost.
The Bones and Joints of the Human Foot.
The Different Parts of the Foot and Ankle. See [page 86].
The top bone of the foot is the astragalus, and it forms the main joint upon which the process of walking depends. This bone has a smooth, circular, upper surface that connects it with the main bone of the lower leg. It is absolutely necessary that this bone should be in perfect harmony (relation) with the others in order to insure comfort and health. If the arches of the foot are forced out of position, up or down or sidewise, this joint is not permitted to do its work normally.
Rheumatism is a frequent evil of an injured joint. Hence the necessity of absolutely normal action, unhampered by ill-fitting shoes.
The principal arch of the instep is called the cuneiform or tarsal bone. Persons are troubled with defective insteps to quite an extent. Misshapen joints at this point due to shoes that do not fit and consequently disarrange and throw out of position the delicate, natural structure, work great havoc with the comfort of the foot. Nine joints cluster at this point.
The bones of the toes are called the metatarsal bones and phalanges. There can be no doubt that nature intended mankind to walk in his bare feet, and in that event the phalanges of the foot would occupy a much more important part than is now the case as a result of modern civilization. There are nineteen bones in the foot, and the disturbance of one or more of these will serve to upset the entire foot by throwing out of relationship the general unit of work devolving upon the whole number of joints and bones. Each joint has its accompaniment of muscles, and each lack of alignment of bones and joints provokes discord and lack of harmony in the muscular action.
Muscles are attached to bones, and by their contraction or extension the bones are moved. Very few movements are effected by means of a single muscle. The muscles of the foot in nearly all cases are in combination, and are so complex in their action that the best surgeons find it difficult to describe them satisfactorily.
The chief characteristics of the foot are its spring and elasticity. While the foot has wonderful powers of resistance and adaptability, it is the shoemaker’s duty not to strain the same, but to provide for each action.
The most sensitive part or the one part that is most susceptible of injury is the big toe. This is due to the fact that the tendency of the foot in walking is to travel toward the toe of the boot, and in a word to press into rather than shun danger. The shoemaker provides for this, first, by allowing sufficient length of sole to extend beyond the termination of the toe, and second, by the fit of the upper and the preparation of the sole. In this way, if the toe of the shoe strikes against a hard substance, the big toe of the foot will remain untouched.
Seventy-five per cent of the people have more or less trouble with their feet. Some of these troubles are caused by the manufacturer putting on the market shoes whose lines look handsome and attractive to the eye, but are lacking in any other good features. Shoes that fit properly should have plenty of room from the large toe joint to the end of the toes, and also should have plenty of tread, especially at this point.
A mere glance at our bare foot will show conclusively that pointed-toe boots are false in the theory of design. The toes of a foot when off duty touch each other gently. When they are called on to assist us in walking or in supporting our body, they spread out—although not to any great extent. This, then, being the action, no sensible maker of boots and shoes would attempt to restrain them. Box or puff-toe shoes allow the greatest freedom.
The pointed-toe shoes, which join the vamp to the upper immediately over the big toe joint, exceedingly high heels, and thick waist shoes are not for the best interests of the foot.
The evils of ill-fitting shoes are corns, bunions, and calluses.
Corns are mainly due to pressure and friction. When the layers of skin become hardened, they form a corn, which is merely a growth of dead skin that has become hard in the center. This hardened spot acts like a foreign body to the inflamed parts.
A hard corn is formed more by friction than pressure. It is produced by the constant rubbing of a tight or small shoe against the projecting parts of some prominent bony part, as the last joints on the third, fourth, and little toe. When this action continues, it produces inflammation. Rest—as relieving the feet of the friction—decreases this inflammation, leaving a layer of hardened flesh. Renewed action reproduces the same effects, leaving behind a second layer of hardened flesh. This continued action and reaction brings on a callus, rising above the surface of the skin. This increases from its base. An ordinary hard corn may be removed by scraping up the callous skin around its border, and prying out carefully with a knife. Soft corns are chiefly the result of pressure or friction. These corns are soft and spongy elevations on the parts of the skin subjected to pressure. Soft corns are mostly found on the inner side of the smaller toes. Those on the surface of joints by mechanical action will become hard.
The blood corn is excessively painful. It is the result of an ordinary corn forcibly displacing the blood vessels surrounding it, and causing them to rest upon its surface.
The bunion is an inflammatory swelling generally to be found on the big toe joint. The chief cause of bunions is known to be the wearing of boots or shoes of insufficient length. The foot, meeting with resistance in front and behind, is robbed of its natural actions, the result being that the big toe is forced upward, and subjected to continuous friction and pressure. The wearing of narrow-toe boots that prevent the outward expansion of the toe is another cause.
The comparisons of quantities are often called ratios. The ratios of the different parts of the foot to the height are different in the infant from that of the adult period. Between these two periods the ratios are constantly changing.
There are two series of shoe sizes on the market; the smallest size of shoe for infants (size No. 1) is, or was originally, four inches long; each added full size indicates an increase in length of one third of an inch (sizes 1 to 5). Children’s sizes run in two series, 5 to 8, and 8 to 11; then they branch out into youths’ and misses’; both running 11½, 12, 12½, 13, 13½ and back again to 1, 1½, 2, etc., in a series of sizes that run up into men’s and women’s. Boys’ shoes run from 2½ to 5½; men’s from 6 to 11 in regular runs. Larger sizes usually are made upon special orders. Some few manufacturers go to 12. Women’s sizes run from 2½ to 9. Some manufacturers do not go above size 8. The rate of sizes is sometimes varied from by manufacturers of special lines of shoes. A man’s No. 8 shoe would be nearly eleven inches long. These measurements originated in England and are not now absolute.
A system of French sizes is used which consists of a cipher system of markings to indicate the sizes as well as widths so that the real size may not be known to the customer.
All feet are not alike in structure and shape. In infancy the foot is broad at the toes, which press forward in the direction of their length. The heel is small in comparison to the width of the toes, and also short in length, due to the undeveloped bones. But during growth, the thickness above the heel bones disappears, and the heel itself becomes thicker and assumes the beauty of perfection at maturity. This development is due to the growth of bones which must be well exercised and properly cared for during this period. The various parts of the feet and legs do not mature at the same rate—those at the upper part of the body increase at a greater rate than the lower parts. Thighs develop first, next the upper part of the legs, and lastly the feet.
The adult foot, when properly formed, is straight from heel to toe on the inner side, and is wider across the joints than one inch or so farther back. The manner of walking has a considerable bearing on the character and development of the foot.
There are many sorts of feet, which are due to a number of causes, such as habits, climate, occupation, locality, etc. As a general rule we may divide the feet into four classes: Bony feet—those with very little flesh upon them; hard feet—those that have plenty of flesh, but which are almost as hard as a stone; fat feet—plump, with plenty of flesh, but having little shape; spongy feet—those that seem to have no bones in them, usually found in the female sex.
The characteristics of a foot are common with the body to which it is connected. Some people have a strong, bony frame, with strong, firm muscles, prominent bones and muscles, and a flesh that is hard. The feet of this type of person are usually long, bony, and arched, with a well-developed big toe joint. The heel measurements are large in proportion. A soft foot is prevalent among the Scotch. The feet of a person who is delicately shaped, with a small frame and thin, small, tapering muscles, are usually thin and finely formed, giving evidence of quickness. This kind of a foot in a man has a tendency to develop a flat foot.
A person with a form inclined to plumpness, full of exercise and activity, and a good circulation, has a well-developed foot. The heel is round and fairly prominent, although there are no special bony prominences. On the other hand a person with a body of general roundness, but with tissues and muscles flabby, and a languid blood circulation, has feet that are short, soft, and flabby.
We will allow that these four different kinds of feet all measure a 4 size and D in width. One would naturally think that the same size shoe would fit them all, but this is not so. This size shoe will only fit one and that is the bony foot. The hard feet require a C½ width; the fat feet require a C width, and the sponge feet require a B width.
The same last may, and often will possess a slight variation in some manner or other. The fitter of feet must know the stock, each pair, and be on intimate terms with the peculiarities of each last and the inside lines of each pair of shoes before attempting to try them upon the feet of the customer.
Different makes of footwear are apt to be manufactured over a slightly varying system of measurements. One line of shoes made over a small measure may be longer or shorter or narrower or wider than some other line. The heel measurements require careful study for each line introduced. The peculiarities of each line must be tested by tape and measure, and the foot fitter must have a strong knowledge along these lines.
We should measure the foot by the stick if necessary, and make a note of the size and width that will be likely to prove a fit. The height of the arch must be considered, and the shape of arch curve, the shape of the instep, and the general contour of the foot. A normal foot will show about a half-inch arch. The average foot will carry from an inch to an inch and a quarter heel, without putting a strain on any of the joints of the foot. Some feet vary from this by a wide margin. A foot is a trifle longer in walking than in repose. Allowance should be made, in using the measuring stick, over what the foot actually draws on the stick. In men’s shoes the allowance, should be from two to two and one half sizes.
When a one-legged man buys a shoe, the dealer sends to the factory a shoe to match the one left remaining. In these days of the use of machinery in every process of their manufacture, shoes are made with the utmost exactness and precision, and it is easily possible to mate that remaining shoe with the greatest nicety in size, style, material, and finish.
Few people have feet exactly alike; commonly the left foot is larger than the right, so that one shoe may fit a little more snugly than the other. Commonly, however, people buy shoes in regularly matched pairs, the difference in their feet, if it is noticeable to them at all, not being enough to make any other course desirable.
But there are people who buy shoes of different sizes or widths, in which case the dealer breaks two pairs for them, giving them, to fit their feet, one shoe from each. In such cases the dealer matches up the two remaining shoes, one from each of two pairs just as he would where he had broken one pair to sell one shoe to a one-legged man.
But a man does not have to be one-legged nor to have feet of uneven sizes or shapes to make him ask the dealer to break a pair of shoes for him. A man with two perfectly good feet came into the store where he was accustomed to buy and wanted one shoe. While traveling in a sleeping car, his shoes had been mixed up with others and he had received back one of his own and one of some other man’s; a fact which he had not discovered until he was too far away from train and station to set things right. So he came in to buy one shoe to match his own.
CHAPTER FIVE
HOW SHOE STYLES ARE MADE
If you examine the shoes worn by people in a large city, you will notice different styles. Shoe styles that were called grotesque a few seasons ago are comparatively usual to-day, for the new designs in women’s footwear, which manufacturers are now making, are the most varied that ever have been put on the market. Pink and green and blue are among the new colors in materials for footwear.
Some of the styles for the coming seasons are more lavish than have hitherto been seen in the women’s shoe trade of America. Coronation purple velvet boots look like an extravagant color for footwear, but they are now selling. Samples of pink, green, and blue shoes, both boots and pumps, are being made up, and they will soon be offered to buyers.
The style of the shoe is dominated by fashion. All styles are related, that is, every part of our dress is influenced by the prevailing fashion, ideas of color, fabric, or garment outline. To illustrate: when short skirts are stylish, women wear mannish shoes to harmonize with them; on the other hand, with long skirts they must have a shoe that is neat and small, hence, the short vamp. When women wear white in the summer, cool canvas shoes spring into favor; when gray and blue dress materials are to be used, a variety of tan shoes are worn to harmonize, etc.
After the style has been decided upon, it is necessary to work out an exact reproduction. An expert model maker, called a last maker, produces a last, a wooden model of the shoe. In order to do this, it is necessary to lay out certain plans or specifications for the details of the manufacturer of the shoe.
There are certain parts of all feet that have fixed measurements. To illustrate: the length of the shank, that part of the sole of the foot between the heel and ball, in every person’s foot is always the same. The part of the foot back of the ball or large toe joint conforms to certain fixed measurements. These definite measurements form a basis by which the last maker originates new styles by shortening, lengthening, widening, or narrowing the space in front of the toes, but always retaining the true and fixed measurements of the back part of the last.
When the last maker desires to produce a new style, he takes an old last and tacking pieces of leather on some parts of it (front of the toes), he builds it up and cuts off other parts. This patched-up last is taken to a special machine (lathe), where a number of duplicates are turned from a block of wood.
The “pattern maker” is the man in the factory who makes patterns, consisting of heavy pieces of cardboard bound with brass, in the shapes of the various pieces of leather required to make up the upper part of the shoe.
The pattern maker has found by experience that the top part of the shoe also conforms to certain fixed measurements, and by working in sympathy with the last maker he need only to change the front part of the vamp to bring out the latter’s ideas. With these measurements as a foundation, he puts forth from time to time different style uppers, as buttons, lace, blucher, fixings, scrolls, straps, ties, pumps, etc. This is the way new style tops originate.
After the manufacturer has approved of sample patterns, the pattern maker receives an order for a certain quantity of patterns to be made over a certain last which is submitted to him. Working on the fixed top measurements and the last submitted as a basis, the pattern maker draws plans for a model pattern. The standard size of a model pattern is size 7 in men’s shoes and size 4 in women’s. He is also given an order for a certain number of widths; for instance, B, C, D, and E, and he draws out on paper a complete set for each width in the size 7. These four sets of model patterns are reproduced and cut out in sheet iron by hand. But from these sheets any number of iron models, and any size regular cardboard pattern can be reproduced by a machine.
Wood to be made into lasts comes to the shoe manufacturers in a rough, unchiseled form. The lasts are made of maple wood; hollow forms used by traveling salesmen and window trimmers are made of bass wood.
The making of the model of the last is the most exacting operation in the factory. It is produced by a machine most important. The principle of this machine has been brought about by the pantograph; that is, it will turn from a rough block of wood an exact copy of the model last; or it will enlarge or reduce a duplicate of any other size or width, so, from a single model last, such as the manufacturer has decided on, any number of lasts can be made, and of any size or width. The machine itself consists of two lathes. On one is placed the model and on the other the block of wood. The model is held against a wheel by a spring. By adjusting this wheel, any desired width last can be obtained, and by adjusting a bar in front of the machine any length last can be produced from the block of wood.
Rough Unchiseled Block of Maple.
A Last after leaving Turning Lathe.
A Finished Last.
The lathe, when in motion, revolves both the last and the model, the model being pressed against the wheel, which is really a guide for the revolving knife that digs into the block of wood, and regulates the depth that the knife is allowed to cut. In this manner the model is reproduced from the block which is also regulated as to size and width by the wheel and by the bar. This machine is so accurate that a tack driven into the model to locate the center of the last is reproduced by a sort of a wooden pimple in the block of wood when finished. The model sole pattern is now tried on the half-finished last to insure accuracy.
Notice in the figures of lasts that the turning lathe has left stubs of wood on the toes and heels. These must be finished to a “templet.” The templet is a measure or guide used to indicate the shape any piece of work is to assume when finished. From the heel and toe of the model, a piece of iron is shaped on an exact arc of that model, and is used on the heeler machine as a guide to form an exact copy of the heels and toes of the model. This machine works very rapidly, and by the aid of an irregular shaped, revolving knife it quickly transforms the toes and heels to the desired shape. The bottoms are again tried out on a sole pattern and the last number, the size and the width are stamped on.
We now have the last as a solid piece of maple wood and turned to the desired shape, size and width. Were it possible to insert and extract the last in this form from the half-finished shoe, no other steps would be necessary in last manufacture, but inasmuch as the leather is stretched very tightly over this last a little later, it necessitates the introduction of some method that will facilitate a quick removal of the last from the shoe. This is accomplished by cutting it in two parts and making a hinged heel. The fact that the slightest measurement changes the size of the shoe, necessitates great care in the introduction of the hinge as a part of the last, and in order to insure accuracy and uniformity in all the lasts, they are marked with templets and gigs. The hinge must be placed inside of the last.
The finished last is so constructed that it can be readily inserted or withdrawn from the shoe, and the strong hinge provides the last, when inserted, with the same rigid qualities as though it were one piece. The center of the last is indicated, as before stated, by a reproduction in the side of the last of the tack that was placed in the model. This is the mark that locates the position of all the holes, and it is done by a “gig” in the following manner:—
A gig is a piece of steel having cylinders that guide the bit of the boring machine in an exact perpendicular line. This gig, being placed on the last in the position marked by the turning machine, forms the accurate location of the bolt holes that hold the hinge.
After the hinge is placed in the last, it goes to the ironers to have the bottom put on it, if it is a McKay last, and a heel plate if it is a welt. The bottom is again tried and the plate filled up to the same. The last is then ready to go to the scouring room. In this room the last goes through three operations, first of which is ruffing. This consists of scouring with a coarse grade of quartz. This operation must be carried on so that the sole lines and insteps are not brought into contact with the quartz.
The second operation, medium grinding, is done with a fine grade of quartz, and in this operation, also, the worker keeps away from the toe. The third operation is done with a much finer-grade quartz, the operator going over the entire last. The last is now ready for polishing, and after that, for a heavy coat of shellac. It is polished and waxed on a leather wheel. Then it goes into the shipping room ready for shipment to the manufacturer.
CHAPTER SIX
DEPARTMENTS OF A SHOE FACTORY—GOODYEAR WELT SHOES
The principal methods of manufacturing shoes are the following:—
Goodyear welt; McKay; turned; standard screw; pegged; nailed.
The simplest and the clearest way of showing how the various kinds of shoes are made is to explain the manufacture of a Goodyear welt and afterwards bring out the points in which this method of shoemaking differs from the others.
Shoes are manufactured in up-to-date factories, employing hundreds of operatives. The modern shoe factory of to-day is divided into six general departments: the sole leather department, upper leather department, stitching department, making department, finishing department, and the treeing, packing, and shipping departments.
In some sections of the country, several of these departments are often designated by other names. The stitching department is often called the fitting department; the making department, the bottoming department; and the sole leather department, the stock-fitting department. The departments are popularly termed rooms for brevity.
A shoe factory is designed so as to have a width of about fifty feet for each room, while the length is according to the number of shoes to be produced. A width of about fifty feet gives plenty of daylight and ample room in the center of each department, which is very essential in shoemaking.
A Modern Shoe Factory.
Shoe factories are usually about two hundred feet long, while many are nearly four hundred feet. A few exceed four hundred feet, running as long as eight hundred feet. Some are built in the shape of hollow squares, while others have wings added, which give almost as much floor space as the original building.
The average factory has usually four floors. The first floor, or basement, is occupied by the sole leather department. The next floor above includes the treeing, finishing, packing, and shipping departments, and also the office. The third floor is devoted entirely to the making or bottoming department. The top floor is divided so that the cutting and stitching departments have each half a floor.
There are several exceedingly large factories in this country that find it advantageous to divide the factory into more departments, as, for example, the cutting room is divided so that the linings and trimmings are cut in a separate department. The skiving may also be done in a separate room. The making room will be divided so that the lasting is set off as a separate department on account of the many workmen and machines employed. In the same way there will be a division of work so that the packing and shipping will be set apart from the treeing. Then, again, in the sole leather room, the making of heels as well as the fitting of the bottom stock may become independent departments.
The system of making women’s shoes is practically the same as that of men’s except that in a great many factories the method of preparing the bottom stock is somewhat different. Most manufacturers of women’s shoes do not cut sole leather, but buy outsoles, insoles, counters, and heels, all cut or prepared. These soles are in blocked form and large enough so that they can be cut or rounded by the manufacturers to fit their lasts. The counters, when bought, are all ready to put in the uppers, while the heels are ready to put on the shoes. Whenever a manufacturer of women’s shoes cuts his sole leather, he has the same system as that in the men’s factories.
In women’s factories where sole leather is not cut, they do not have a complete sole leather department. Instead, they have what is called a stock-fitting department. There are independent cut sole houses, etc., in the trade, which supply the soles to manufacturers. The same system of buying supplies also applies to many other parts of the shoe, as in the top lift, half sole, welt, rand, etc. In the upper leather department, manufacturers of both men’s and women’s shoes often buy trimmings and other parts of the upper all prepared.
A large proportion of the men’s shoe manufacturers are now buying heels all built, while fully nine tenths buy counters all molded. The soles and other parts that are needed for a shoe are put up in different qualities and grades, and a manufacturer can buy any grade of sole he wants, so that it is considered an advantage to buy some parts, instead of cutting them. In a side of sole leather there are twenty-five or more different qualities and grades of soles, and very few manufacturers, especially in the women’s trade, can use all of these. The greater variety of shoes a manufacturer turns out, the more advantageous it is for him to cut his own sole leather, and prepare all parts in his own factory.
In this country the number of factories in the shoe trade appears to be growing less and the average factory larger each year. It is estimated that there are at present something like fifteen hundred factories in all. These range from the smallest product up to the largest. The average factory may be said to produce about twelve hundred pairs of shoes per day. Many turn out five thousand pairs daily, while a few manufacturers turn out ten thousand or more pairs. Several manufacturers and firms have half a dozen or more factories and have a total output of between twenty thousand and thirty thousand pairs of shoes a day. There is no such thing as a trust or monopoly of any kind in this trade, and there never has been up to the present time.
In all factories and all classes of work, the “case” has always been of such a number of pairs that it can be divided by twelve in every instance. A case can be twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, sixty, or seventy-two pairs, and in children’s work it is often sixty and seventy-two pairs. All cases of these numbers are regular cases, whereas any other number would be out of the ordinary. Of course, a case of shoes may contain any number of pairs, but the numbers given above have always been used in regular work.
Cases of shoes may differ, but every pair of shoes in any one case must be made exactly alike. All shoes are made in cases, except in the matter of custom work or single-pair orders or samples. In making men’s heavy shoes, or working shoes, the regular case was formerly sixty pairs or thirty-six pairs, but the tendency has been of late to have a standard case of twenty-four pairs. In the men’s fine trade the regular case is twenty-four pairs, while in the women’s it is thirty-six pairs. Long boots for men have always been made in twelve-pair cases.
Goods are sold by the samples, sent out with the traveling salesman. As fast as he receives an order, he sends it to the main office. Here the orders are subdivided and sent to the factories making the goods. For example, an order for seventy-five dozen men’s shoes of a certain style received by the main office from the traveling salesman would be sent to the factory in the form of a typewritten order, covering the general description and sizes written out in the proper form, for each case is made according to the specifications on the tags that are made out in the office. These tags specify the sole, heel, upper, kind and quality, how stitched, the last to be used, how bottomed finished, treed, and packed. Everything is marked plainly on the tags so that a buyer can have any shoe made just as he wants it.
This order would be sent from the factory office to the cutting room, where a clerk would make out twenty-five long tickets.
Twenty-five are made because the shoes go through the factory in lots of twenty-four pairs, each lot being called a job and when finished making a case of shoes. The long ticket is made in duplicate form, and is perforated so it may be tied to a lot of shoes. Both parts of the tickets are made out to contain the various operations with the specifications as to detail. The lower part is sent to the stock or sole leather room, while the top part remains with the uppers which are cut in the cutting room. While each part of the ticket is sent by a different route through the factory, they finally meet in the form of finished shoes.
In addition to the long ticket already described, two other tickets are made out, the top ticket and the trimming ticket. The top ticket is sent to the leather bins of the factory, where the sorter knows by experience exactly the amount of leather required to cut the order, being careful to see that it is all of uniform quality and free from blemishes. He rolls the leather in a bundle, attaches the ticket and sends it to the cutter.
In the cutting room there are three classes of cutters; cutter of trimmings, who cuts lace stays, top facings, back stays, tongues, etc.; outside cutter, who cuts quarters, vamps, tops, tips, etc.; and the lining cutter, who cuts cloth linings.
A Nine and One-Half Foot Skin divided to best advantage before Cutting.
Skins of leather are received in the shoe factory in different shapes. Some are perfect, others have blemishes or imperfect spots. The skins that are to be used for upper stock are carefully graded by two or three men, as to quality of leather and weight. This is necessary in order to be sure that a lot of shoes made for a certain dealer will be uniform. On account of the leather coming in different shapes, some skins perfect, others having imperfect spots, the cutter must place his patterns in such a way that certain parts of the shoe will use up all the perfect parts, and others, less important, will be composed of the weaker parts of the skin. This explains why you sometimes find the inside top part of a shoe made of flanky leather, while the vamp is made of a better grade.
There is a pattern for each and every size shoe, and each piece of leather is cut out separately on a block of wood. Nothing is wasted. In order to make each cutter as efficient as possible, the cutters are divided, so as to have a different cutter for each grade of leather. In this way they become better judges of leather.
The lining cutters use patterns and knives on drilling. The facing is cut out with a knife and pattern. The side stays and the tongue are cut out by dies.
After the leather has been cut into the desired shape, uppers, vamps, toe pieces, back stays, lace stays, etc., cutting at times ten pieces, and for some styles of shoes as many as fourteen pieces, the cutters take care to keep the parts for the same shoe together, matching and marking them so that eventually all will meet again in the shoe.
Machines are used now on almost every operation, and annually several new machines make their appearance. The cutting of uppers up to four or five years ago was performed by an operator cutting the leather by running the knife along the side of the pattern. Now they are using a cutting machine and dies to cut uppers in nearly all factories. This cutting machine is called the “clicking machine,” and it is considered quite a labor saver in a department where it was the universal opinion that machines never could be used.
It is impossible to give a list of all the operations performed and have it complete. But a good general idea of the system can be given and the name and meaning of the main operations in the several departments. It should be kept in mind that the methods in rooms differ, and that hardly any two factories put a shoe through in exactly the same manner. The general system and plan is the same everywhere and the machines are the same in all factories, but the details and minor operations are so numerous that there is plenty of scope for them to vary.
The function of the clicking machine is to cut the upper leather into the desired shapes required. It consists of an iron frame, with a cutting board on the top of it. Above this is a large beam which can be swung to the right or left of any portion of the board. The skin to be cut, which may be of any kind, is placed on the board and a die of the design or shape of the leather desired is placed on it. The handle of the swinging beam is taken by the operator and moved over the die; then by pressure of the handle the beam is brought downward, pressing the die through the leather. As soon as this is done, the beam automatically returns to its full height.
These dies are made in different designs and sizes to meet the different sizes and designs in the upper of the shoe. One die for each design and size. They mark the vamps for the location of the toe cap and blucher foxings as well as the size by means of nicks in the edge of the piece cut. The dies are about three-quarters of an inch in height and so light that they do not mar the most delicate leather.
Cutting the Leather by Means of Pattern and Knife. [Page 118.]
Goodyear Stitching.
A machine that sews around the edge of the welt and joins it to the sole exactly at the heel. [Page 119.]
After the outside cutter has cut the skin into pieces to make up the shoe, these are tied up in separate bundles, that is, the twenty-four of tips in one bundle, twenty-four pairs of vamps in another. These are turned over to girls who stencil the sizes on the edge and match them, that is, see that each upper is exactly like the mate.
After the different parts have been cut by the operator of the clicking machine or by hand, the edges of the upper leather, which shows in the finished shoe, must be thinned down (skived) by a “skiving machine” to a beveled edge. This is done in order that the edges of the leather that are to show in the completed shoe may be folded to give a more finished appearance. The machines are operated by girls; each one an expert on one particular piece.
The order number and size of shoe are stamped on the top lining of each shoe. After all linings have been prepared, according to the data given on the instruction card attached to parts of the shoe, the parts are sent to the stitching department, where the stitchers on a multitude of machines stitch all the different parts together very rapidly and accurately.
The toe caps are then given a series of ornamental perforations along the edge. This is done by either “power tip press,” or a “perforating machine.” The first consists of a series of dies placed in a machine by which the leather is perforated according to the designs desired. Each series of dies represents a different design.
The perforating machine resembles a sewing machine, but instead of a series of dies, the one in this machine is made of single or combination dies which make one or more holes on each downward movement. The machine feeds automatically and does the work very accurately. The cutting tool is kept from becoming dull by pressing against a band of paper. Ornamentation on other parts of the shoes, such as the edges of vamps, etc., is made by this machine.
Before going to the stitching room, every bundle is examined by sorters. The sorters are divided and subdivided; that is, one man always sorts tips, another vamps, etc. They examine each piece for imperfection, and if any is found, the piece is thrown out and a new one put in. The last operation is the assembling of pieces. Here each job of twenty-four pairs is brought together and securely tied and numbered.
This stitching department is one in which female labor is generally employed, although in late years more men are being used to operate machines, especially on vamping or other heavy parts. In some parts of the country it is called the fitting room. The work of the department consists of stitching the different parts of the upper together, so that it is ready to put on the last. The terms used mean in most cases stitching the part named to the rest of the upper. There are very many operations in the department, several of which are named below, together with their meaning.
The bundles of pieces which have come from the cutting room are placed on the table, where they are subdivided into three parts, the linings, the tops, the vamps and the tips.
The linings for the tops of the shoes are pasted together (with the back strap and top bands), care being taken to join them at the marks made for that purpose. After being dried, they go into the hands of the machine operators, where they are joined together by a stitching machine, and the edges, etc., trimmed. The sewing machines used are very similar to an ordinary home sewing machine, with the exception that they are much larger and stronger.
Stock Fitting Room.
Where all bottom stock is prepared after being cut. See [page 120].
The lining is finished. The next step is to join the lining to the piece of leather making up the outside of the same shape, called the top. The top receives the eyelets by a machine placed in proper position. The top and lining can be put together by sewing them face to face. The top is inspected and all threads clipped off.
After the shoe uppers have been properly stitched together, the eyelets are placed on by a “duplex eyeletting machine,” which eyelets both sides of the shoe at one time. The top of the eyelets are solid black knobs, so as not to wear brassy, while the bottom (which clinches inside the shoe) called the barrel, is of nickel. This finishes the shoe upper.
The vamp, tongues, and tip are then put together. The edges of the vamps, quarters, tips, etc., are covered with a cement made of rubber and naphtha, which is kept in small bowls on the benches in front of employees. Several grades of cements are used. The cemented parts are allowed to dry, and the edges are then turned over by “pressing machines,” which gives a finished appearance. The shoe is put together by stitching the vamp to the quarters. This work is done by both men and women, and is work which demands much care.
In stitching men’s uppers, the system varies in various factories as much as it does on women’s. Here are some of the operations, which will give an idea how men’s uppers go through.
Extension or toe piece sewed to vamp.
Leather box stitched on.
Tip stitched to vamp.
Vamp seamed up back.
Top folded around edge.
Top seamed up.
Eyelet row stitched up and down.
Lining seamed up.
Side facing put on lining.
Top facing put on lining.
Lining and outside pasted together.
Under trimming.
Eyeletting.
Hooking.
Vamping.
The upper is complete when it leaves the stitching room and is all ready to be put on the last. While the upper is being prepared, the soles, insoles, counters, and heels are made in other departments.
When the foreman of this department has received the tags with the data necessary for the preparation of outsoles, insoles, counters, toe boxes, and heels, they are sent to the stock room, where these parts are kept.
The soles are roughly cut out by means of dies, pressing down through the leather, in “dieing out machines.” Before the soles are cut, the leather is dipped in water and sufficiently dampened. After they are cut out, they are made to conform to the exact shape by rounding them in a machine called the “rounding machine.” The roughly died out piece of leather is held between clamps, one of which is the exact pattern of the sole. The machine works a little knife that darts around this pattern, cutting the sole exactly to conform. The outsole is now passed to a heavy rolling machine, where it is pressed by tons of pressure between heavy rolls. This takes the place of the hammering which the old-time shoemaker gave his leather to bring the fibers very closely together, so as to increase its wear.
Counters and toe boxes (stiffening which is placed between the heel and toe cap and the vamp of shoe) are prepared in the same room with the heels. After they are made, they are sent to the making or bottoming room, where the shoe upper is awaiting them. As the counter is an important feature in the life of a shoe, much depends upon the quality of leather that goes into it.
The sole is next fed to a “splitting machine,” which reduces it to an absolutely even thickness. The insole is made of lighter leather than the outsole, but has the same thickness and is cut out in the same way one at a time. The sizes are stamped on them and they are sorted.
Lasting. [Page 127.]
Welting.
If you examine a Goodyear welt shoe, you will notice no stitches in sight, the seam being fastened to an under portion of the insole. The durability of the shoe relies, to a great extent, on the quality and strength of the insole.
The smooth-appearing insole of a welt shoe must be either pasted in or fastened underneath in some manner. This fastening is accomplished by passing the insole through a very small machine called a Goodyear channeler, which makes two incisions at one operation. It cuts a little slit along the edge of the insole, extending about one-half inch toward its center.
The upper part of insole made by the slit on the edge is turned up on a lip turning machine so that it extends out at right angles from the insole. In other words, the channel is opened up and laid back, forming a ridge around the outer edge of the sole. This forms a lip or shoulder, against which the welt is sewed. In this way the thread used in sewing cannot be seen in the finished shoe. The cut made on the surface serves as guide for the operator of the welt sewing machine when the shoe reaches him.
The inner and outer soles as well as the uppers are now brought into the lasting or gang room. The first part of lasting is called “assembling,” which means that many parts are brought together, such as upper, counter, insole, box toe, and last. The counter is placed in the upper, between lining and vamp, while the box toe is shellacked and put in the toe of the upper (provided it has not been stitched in the stitching room). The operator first tacks the inner sole on to a wooden last.
There are very many different styles of lasts, and in cutting uppers a different pattern must be used for each style. Then the upper is placed in position on the last, and it is ready to be pulled and stretched to the wood and take its required shape. This is accomplished by placing the shoes on the “pulling over machine,” where the shoe uppers are correctly placed on the last by the pincers of a machine holding the leather at different points securely against the wood of the last. By the movements of levers the shoe uppers are adjusted correctly. Then the pincers draw the leather securely around the last and at the same time two tacks on each side and at the toe are driven in part way, to hold the uppers securely.
It is now placed on the “hand method lasting machine,” where the leather is drawn tightly around the last. Before this operation, it is dipped in water to preserve its shape when formed and that it may be more easily formed by the machine. At each pull of the pincers a small tack, driven automatically part way in, holds the edge of the upper exactly in place, so that every part of the upper has been stretched in all directions equally. A special machine by means of a series of “wipers” is used to last the toe and heel. After the leather has been brought smoothly around the toe, it is held there by a little tape fastened on each side of the toe, which is held securely in place by the surplus leather, crimpled in at this point. The surplus leather crimpled in at the heel is forced smoothly down against the insole and held there by tacks driven by an ingenious hand tool. In all these lasting operations the tacks are only driven in part way, so they may afterwards be withdrawn and leave the inside perfectly smooth, except at the heel of the shoe, where they are driven into the iron heel of the last and clinched.
Rough Rounding. See [page 131].
Edge Trimming. See [page 130].
After these operations, the surplus leather at the toe and sides of the shoe is removed by the “upper trimming machine,” which cuts it away by means of a little knife and leaves it very smooth and even. A small hammer operating in connection with the knife pounds the leather on the same parts. A pounding machine hammers the leather and counter around the heel so that the stiff position conforms exactly to the last.
After the “lasted” shoe has been trimmed and pounded down to the shape of the last, it is turned over to the tack setter, who pulls out all the tacks except a few, called draft tacks. The insole is then wet to make it pliable, and is turned over to a very experienced operator, called the “inseamer,” who is to sew the welt on.
The shoe is now ready to receive a narrow strip of prepared leather, that is sewed after it is wet to make it pliable, along the edge of the shoe, beginning where the heel is placed and ending at the same spot on the opposite edge. This is called the welt, and is sewed from the inside lip of the insole, so that the curved needle passes through the lip, the upper, and the welt, uniting all three securely and allowing the welt to protrude beyond the edge of the shoe. The thread is very stout linen, and is passed through a pan of hot wax before being looped into chain stitch that holds the shoe together.
The nature of the stitch is a chain—two rows of threads on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. When the welt is finally sewed on, and the shoe put down on the bench, it looks like an ordinary shoe resting on a wide flange of leather. This flange is the welt, and to it the heavy outer sole is to be sewed fast. Should a single stitch break in this operation, it is passed to a cobbler, who repairs it by hand.
Before the outer sole is put on, the edges of the uppers must be trimmed along the seam that holds the welt. A slip of steel called steel shank is laid along the insole where the hollow of the foot is, and a piece of leather board laid over this to give the necessary stiffness and prevent the shoe from doubling up. As the welt has left a hollow space along the ball of the foot, it is necessary to fill this up, either with a piece of leather, tanned felt, or other filler. Felt is not waterproof, and leather squeaks, hence a mixture of ground cork and rubber cement is used. This is heated and spread on the sole, and run over a hot roller until the bottom of the shoe is perfectly smooth and even. The shoes are placed on a rack and are ready for the outsole.
Sole fastening is performed by a number of operations, in which a score or more of separate machines are used. The sole layers smear a rubber cement over this welt with a “cementing machine,” after the outsole has been soaked in water to make it pliable, and then place it on the shoe and tack a single nail in the heel. The “sole laying machine,” through great pressure, cements the sole on and fits it to every curve of the last. Then the sole is trimmed by a “rough rounding machine,” which trims the soles to the shape of the last. This machine also channels the outer sole at the same time, which is necessary for the next operation. The “channel opening machine” now turns up the lips of the channel and the sole is ready to be stitched to the welt.
The outsole is now sewed by a waxed thread to the welt, by an “outsole lock stitch machine,” which is similar to a welt sewing machine. The stitch is finer and extends from the slit (channel) to the upper side of the welt, where it shows after the shoe has been finished.
It unites the sole and welt with a tightly drawn lock stitch of remarkable strength. It sews through an inch of leather as easily as a woman would sew through a piece of cloth. The stitches are made through the welt and outer sole, the seam running in the channel of the outsole.
Leveling. See [page 135].
Heeling. See [page 136].
The inside of the slit in which this stitch has just been made is now coated with cement by means of a brush. The channel lip is forced back to its original position after the cement has dried, by a rapidly revolving wheel of a “channel laying machine.” In this way the stitches are hidden.
Welt shoes are stitched on in three different ways: “channeled,” which, when finished, leaves an invisible stitch on the bottom of the sole; “regular stitched aloft,” showing the stitches on both sides; and “fudge stitched,” in which the seam is sunk down in a groove, being almost invisible from the welt side.
Every stitch must be of such a nature that it is independent of the one next to it, so that should one stitch break, the others will not work loose. This is accomplished by running the threads through a pan of hot wax just before entering the leather, which causes the waxed thread to solidify, becoming, as it were, a part of the leather.
Notice should be taken of the difference between the way the outsole is stitched and the inner sole is stitched to the upper. In place of three threads in the chain stitch “that holds the welt to the upper and insole” there are but two here—an upper and a lower one. The upper thread extends only part way down, where it loops, twists, and locks into the lower thread. This is the reason why you can wear a welt sole clear through without its pulling loose.
Shoes that are stitched aloft go through the same operations as the channel-stitched shoes, with the exception that the rounding machine contrivance of cutting is eliminated.
Shoes that are to be fudge stitched are sent through the same machine as the regular stitched aloft, but an additional little knife point on the arm of the Goodyear stitcher digs a channel in the welt so that the stitches on that side are sunk into the leather.
The outsole is nailed at the heel after the stitching on the “loose nailing machine,” which drives the nails through the outsole and insole and clinches against the steel plate of the last. The machine drives separate nails fed from the hopper of any desired size or length, at the rate of three hundred and fifty per minute.
The edge of the outsole around the heel is now trimmed to conform exactly to the shape of the heel on the “heel seat pounding machine.”
The stitches of the regular stitched shoes are separated by a series of indentations, giving the shoe that corrugated effect which adds so much to the appearance of the shoe. In the fudge-stitched work the stitches are entirely covered up by the indentations.
Then a leveling machine, called the “automatic sole leveling machine,” with a pressure of about two and a half tons to each of the concave rollers, comes into play. The rolls move automatically back and forth and from side to side, doing the work that the shoemaker used to do on his lap with a hammer and stone, but doing it better and more quickly. It practically levels off the bottom of the soles.
An automatic guage regulates exactly the distance from the edge of the last, and by the use of this machine the operator is enabled to make a sole conform to that of all others of a similar design and size.
Heels are formed by cementing different lifts of leather. A machine called a “heel cutter” shapes out the lifts. The heel is then placed under pressure, giving it exact form and greatly increasing its wear.
Sole Scouring. See [page 138].
Heel Shaping. See [page 138].
In speaking of the ends and sides of a heel, the part that rests on the ground is spoken of as the top, and the first piece is called the top lift. The part that is fastened to the shoe is spoken of as the bottom, while the side nearest the toes is called the breast. The wedge is a flat, heel-shaped piece or lift of leather that is skived to a thin edge at the breast. Being thicker at the back, it tips the heel forward. Wedges are made from thin strips of waste leather, or from sheets of leather board, and are cut out with a hollow die. The gouges are cut in the sole leather room from scraps, and are a regular heel lift, having a horseshoe-shaped piece of leather with an opening at the breast.
The sole leather, insoles, counters, and heels, in the stock fitting department are “got out” by being cut into shape by a machine die.
The heel is now trimmed of all rough and surplus portions of leathers to the exact size of top lift. A blower attached to the machine removes all scraps, etc.
The breast of the heel, which faces the forepart of the shoe, is trimmed evenly across and with the desired slant by means of a peculiar-shaped knife which extends over the sole at shank. The edges of the heel are now scoured by revolving rolls with molded sandpaper to make perfectly smooth. Blowers attached to the machine remove all dust.
There are several types of machines for fastening the heel to the shoe, all very rapid in operation. One of the latest is that which feeds the nails, and which is operated by a man and boy, who together turn off a great quantity of work.
The nails are left protruding slightly above the heel so as to retain the top lift, which is now placed in position by the same operator on the same machine. It is pressed down over the heads of the nails securing it in position. The small brass or steel nails which protect and ornament the heel are now driven in by the “universal slugging machine.” This machine cuts the slugs from a coil of wire and drives them in with great rapidity.
We have practically now a roughly formed shoe ready for the finishing room.
Here the heel slugs are ground down, heel and sole buffed by sandpaper rolls on a scouring machine, wet down, stained, or blacked, as case may be, finished on bristle brushes, placed to dry, polished by a polishing machine, bottom stamped with the trademark, and passed to an operator whose duty it is to see that no tacks are left inside the shoes. Generally girls are hired to do this, as their hands are smaller and it is very important that no tacks are left, which might cause a great deal of trouble. If any are found, they are cut out with nippers or otherwise removed.
A lining is also generally put inside the shoe, covering the whole of the insole in a McKay shoe, and the heel only in a Goodyear shoe. Shoes must also be inspected here before they are packed, to see if they are perfect in every way and that each shoe is a perfect mate in the pair.
The shoes are now sent to the last department, called treeing, dressing, and packing department.
This department has to do with the finishing of the uppers. The bottoms and edges are all finished when shoes get to this department, and nothing remains but to finish the uppers and pack the shoes in single-pair cartons and then in wooden boxes or cases.
The different uppers are all finished by a different process, some being ironed with a hot iron, which is done to take out the wrinkles and smooth the uppers. Ironing was first introduced on kid shoes, but in recent years the hot iron has been put on nearly all kinds of stock. A shoe must be on a form or tree when ironed, the form or tree being the same shape as the last. The whole idea in ironing is the same as that followed by the tailor, who uses a hot iron to press and smooth out clothes. The operations in detail are as follows:—
Ironing.
Packing.
Each shoe is treed, after having been drawn over a foot form similar to that on which the shoe was lasted, and any stain or dirt which may have been carelessly put on in former operations is cleaned off; the shoe is sponged with a gum prepared for either black or tan goods, rubbed down dull, and then rubbed to a polish. In many patent leather shoes the treeing is to clean off the surface, as we said before, and then to iron it with a hot iron, which takes out all stains, and leaves the leather shiny and black.
The shoes finally go to hand operators, who rag the edges and heels, leaving them ready to be laced and put into the boxes. After lacing, the shoes are passed to inspectors, whose duty it is to see that they are perfect, to throw out all which are not, make a record of them, and pass the perfect shoes to the packers, who see that the sizes are right, that each pair is mated, and placed in paper cartons, ready to be packed in wooden cases for shipment. The packing of cartons into wooden cases is done by men who nail on the lid when each case is full, mark where goods are to be sent, make a record of same and load the cases into freight cars.
There are other uppers that are treed, such as wax calf, for instance, and split uppers, which are used in heavy shoes. The main idea of treeing a shoe is to give it a smooth and finished appearance and a good “feel.” In the regular treeing operation they use liquid preparations, often called composition, and these are worked into the upper, filling it to some extent. French chalk is used a great deal in some uppers, and oil or some form of grease or gum is also used, all of which make the upper as it was when first put on the cutting board of the shoe factory. All work done in this room is intended to give leather its original luster, which has been lost to a certain extent in going through the different rooms and in being handled so much.
There are still other uppers that may not be treed or ironed but merely cleaned and polished to give luster. Some of these may be dressed. To dress a shoe means to put on a liquid dressing. In some cases two coats of dressing are put on and in other cases one coat. A shoe can have a dull dressing or a bright dressing, according to how the buyer prefers to have his shoes look.
CHAPTER SEVEN
McKAY AND TURNED SHOES
The McKay process is used very extensively in the manufacture of cheap shoes. Its introduction was a great improvement over the nailing and pegging of the soles to the uppers. It allows the two to be stitched together by means of a straight needle running through the entire thickness of upper, sole, and insole.
In following the McKay process through the factory, we find it very similar to the Goodyear welt process, which has been explained, the main difference being in the methods of fastening the sole to the uppers.
Cross Sections of Welt Shoe and McKay Sewed Shoe.
The lasts and patterns are obtained in the same manner as described in the previous chapter. The order is made out in the factory office, and the ticket is given to the sorter, who selects the required number of skins, which he rolls in a bundle and turns over to the cutter. The cutters form the various pieces of leather and linings, which are tied up in bundles and sent to the stitching room. Here they pass through the various sewing machines, finally coming out in the form of a complete upper ready to be attached to the bottoms.
The soles, insoles, counters, and heels for McKay shoes are all formed in the same room, as described in the Goodyear process.
There is a difference in making ready the outsoles and insoles. It will be recalled that the outsole for the Goodyear welt shoe was simply a block of leather cut to fit the shoe and was not channeled. The outsole for the McKay shoe is run through a channeling machine, which cuts a slit around the edge of the sole, folds the leather back, and digs a little trench along the inside of the slit. It will also be remembered that the insole of the Goodyear welt shoe was channeled with two slits, one of which was turned back to form the breast for sewing on the welt strip. The insole of a McKay shoe is not channeled in any way, but is left plain, like the outsole of the Goodyear welt. The uppers, the soles, insoles, counters, and heels all having been made ready, the pieces are taken to the lasting room.
The first process is called “assembling.” The operator takes up one of the uppers, inserts the last, sticks in a counter between the lining and the outside, puts in a “box” (a stout piece of canvas to give stability to the toe) at the toe, beneath the tip, puts in the insole, and then may pull the shoe tight on the last or give it to the operator on the pulling over machine to have it done. The pulling over machine is now used in nearly all factories, having displaced hand pulling the same as the lasting machines have displaced hand lasting. The assembling, pulling, and lasting on the machine are all parts of the regular operation of lasting. The hand laster had to do all three parts in former times, but now there are machines to do nearly everything, and at the present time the operation of lasting is divided into assembling, pulling over, and lasting on the machine. But even these machines do not do it all, as there is surplus upper to be cut away, toes to be pounded down, and filling to be put in the bottom, all of which are done on a McKay shoe before the sole can be laid. There are machines to do these parts, too.
A trimmer (this is done by hand) now takes the shoe, trims off all the surplus leather, tacks in the shank (a little piece of steel to give rigidity to the shank of the sole), fills all up smoothly and then passes it to the sole layer, who puts on the outer sole and tacks it in place.
The last is now pulled out of the shoe and it is ready for the McKay sewing machine.
This machine sews right through the inner and outer sole, and at the same time catches the edges of the upper leather and the lining in between the two and draws them all snugly and firmly together. The stitches are made right along in the channel of the outer sole, which is deep enough to admit the row of stitches without raising a ridge on the outside of the sole, after the channel is closed up and leveled. The channel is next filled with cement and passed on to the leveler, which turns down the loosened flap of leather, presses it all out smooth, and covers the seam up so completely that no trace of the sewing is to be seen. This little folded-over flap of leather serves the double purpose of hiding the stitches in the sole, and at the same time protecting them from wear against the ground.
Stitching.
Tacking.
The shoe is then ready to be heeled, and from here to the shipping door the McKay generally goes through the same process as a welt. After heeling, the McKay shoes are relasted or have followers put in to keep them in shape while going through. The sock lining may be put in here, too, before relasting, or it may not be put in till the shoes get to another room. The McKay lasting last must be pulled from the shoe to have the bottoms and heels put on and this also applies to a pegged or nailed shoe. But in the case of a welt shoe or a turn shoe, both stay on the original last until the bottoms and heels have been fastened on. The turn shoe being lasted inside out, must come off the last to be turned right side out, and it goes right on the last as soon as it can be turned. The different methods of fastening the bottoms constitute the main difference between Goodyear and turn shoes on the one hand, and McKay, pegged, and nailed on the other. The bottom stock must be prepared differently in order to fit the methods. Thus it is seen that only two departments are affected, namely, the sole leather and the making departments. In the cutting, stitching, finishing, treeing, and packing, all operations are practically the same on every shoe, no matter how it is bottomed. The patterns, however, by which shoes are cut may be different.
In the finishing room all of the finishing of the bottoms and heel edges is done. The heels are sandpapered or scoured, and are then blacked and polished under hot-iron pressure. Considerable wax is used on the edge and is melted by the hot iron. Heel edges may also be finished on a wheel or roll. There are several different ways, but the object of each method is to give a hard, black, and highly polished surface to the edge.
In finishing the bottom the top lift is scoured or buffed, and all of the sole and the breast of the heel also. Each is a different process, a different operator attending to each part. The object of scouring or buffing with sandpaper is to get a smooth foundation for the finish, which is put on next, and which may be all the same color in all parts of the bottom or may have one color in the shank and another in the forepart. The stains and blackings are used on bottoms, and these are brought to a high, hard gloss by means of rolls and brushes. Hot irons are often used on black shanks and bottoms to give added hardness and luster to the finish.
The turned or turn shoe is a woman’s fine shoe that is made wrong side out, then turned right side out. The sole is fastened to the last, and the upper is twisted over, the wrong side out. Then the two are sewed together, the thread catching through a channel or shoulder cut in the edge of the sole. The seam does not come through to the bottom of the sole, nor to any part inside where it would chafe the foot.
The preparation of the upper for a turn shoe is identical with that of a welt or McKay, with the exception that the back is cut a little longer and a little larger, in order to last it over the sole. The important difference in the make-up of a turn shoe as compared with that of a McKay or welt is that it has no insole, the upper being sewed directly to a portion of the sole itself.
As the cutting of the uppers and the stitching operations of a turn shoe are the same as the Goodyear and McKay, and have been explained, we will take up the forming of the sole, which is entirely different from either of the other two methods.
A turn shoe is put together wrong side out, and it is necessary, during the course of making, to turn it by rolling the sole up like a roll of carpet. It is evident, then, that nothing but good quality, pliable leather can be used satisfactorily, and great care is taken to include nothing but the best.
The soles are cut out on the beam machines, also previously described. They are then channeled on the side that is next to the foot. This channeling is similar to that done on the welt insole. Two incisions are made, the inside one being the same as in the welt insoles. The outside one, however, is different, as the flange is cut off square instead of being rolled up. This leaves a channel which begins at the edge and surface of the sole and extends in semicircular form to the abrupt wall of the cut in the sole, which forms the breast against which the upper is to be sewed.
After the soles are channeled, they are soaked until they become soft enough to roll up easily. They are then placed on racks and kept in a damp room until needed.
A turn shoe is hand lasted wrong side out. First the uppers are turned with the lining outside, then the last is inserted and also the toe boxing.
The sole is set straight on the last and is tacked firmly to it. The operator, by aid of hand pullers, draws the upper over the sole and tacks it securely from a point where the breast of the heel will rest to where the large toe will extend, and then along the same distance on the other side. The toe part is next lasted by machinery, a wire being fastened at one side and run around the edge holding the pulled-up parts of the upper which has been stretched tightly over the last.
The shoe is next passed over to the Goodyear inseamer operator, who sews the upper to the sole, the needle passing down through the inside channel, through the sole leather, out through the square-cut channel and then through the upper, uniting the upper to the sole with the chain stitch. In fact, the bottom of a turn shoe at this time looks exactly like the bottom of a welt, with the exception that the turn shoe is still turned wrong side out. The nature of the stitch is the same—a waxed, threaded chain, with two rows of thread on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. The shoe is sewed only from the back of the shank to the toe, the heel part still being loose.
The seam is now trimmed with an inseam trimmer, a machine with a revolving, jagged-edged knife that saws off the surplus portions of the upper, leaving it smooth and even with the sole. The tacks are all pulled out with a sort of a nail puller, which works rapidly and automatically.
The lasts are then taken out and the shoe is turned right side out. This turning process is not a difficult one, but it is perhaps the most interesting operation that the layman will see in the entire factory. The operation is accomplished by means of a rigid iron bar set slantwise in a table. The upper is turned right side out by hand and the sole is rolled right side out by means of pressure on this bar.
After this turning process, which twists and rolls the shoe out of shape, it has no semblance of its final form. The back part of the sole and upper are still loose, the upper being fastened from the shank to the toe.
The turn shoe must be “second” lasted, and the inserting of the last is no easy matter. A contrivance called a push jack assists the operator greatly. He uses a flat, narrow rod to smooth out the lining, and after squeezing, pushing, and smoothing, the last is finally made to fit in the shoe. The counter is placed in at this time, the shank piece is set in place, and the shoe and last are placed on a jack for nailing. The back part upper is now stretched tightly over the heel part of the last by means of lasting pullers, and is tacked down, the nails going through the shank piece and clinching against the anvil heel seat of the last. This operation completes the lasting, the shoe now having a form exactly like the last over which it is made.
Workmen now level the bottoms and form the shank by a hand method, preparatory to the machine leveling process. The shoe is still wet and is left to dry on the last twenty-four hours. Then it is run through the machine called the “leveler,” which, with its enormous pressure, forms the sole to that of the last. The shoes are now left four days on the lasts, to dry thoroughly, so that they may retain their shape permanently.
The putting on of the heel, and the various finishing processes are practically the same as that of the welt, with the exception that a turn sole must have a sock lining.
Some factories use a grain leather sock lining, which is pasted in, covering up the channels of the sole which hold the stitches and forming a smooth surface for the foot to rest upon.
The difference between a McKay and a turn shoe may be told by the fact that the stitching on the inside of the sole is much closer to the edge in a turn. Another thing, in a turn shoe, the seam connecting the upper and the outsole can be seen.
Nothing is likely to excel the turn shoe for lightness and flexibility, since the method of making, whereby the sole is stitched directly to the upper, interposes no thick or cumbersome material. Sole leather of good quality is used. In fact, the sole would have to be not only strong, but thin and light, or the shoe could not be turned in the process of manufacture without straining it and getting it out of shape.