The perfection of the lasting machine has been followed recently by the introduction of a machine which performs in a satisfactory way the difficult process known as “pulling over,” which consists of accurately centering the shoe upper on the last and securing it temporarily in position for the work of lasting. The new machine, which is known as the “hand-method pulling over machine,” is provided with pincers, which close automatically, gripping the shoe upper at sides and toe. It is fitted with adjustments by which the operator is enabled to quickly center the shoe upper on the last, and, on pressure of a foot lever, the machine automatically draws the upper closely to the last and secures it in position by tacks, which are also driven by the machine. The introduction of this machine marked a radical change in the one important shoemaking process that had up to this time successfully withstood all attempts at mechanical improvement.
At about the time that lasting was first introduced, came the machines which were used for finishing heel and fore part. These machines were fitted with a tool, which was heated by gas and which practically duplicated the hand workman in rubbing the edges with a hot tool for the purpose of finishing them. From these early machines have been evolved the “edge-setting machines” which are in use at present.
Thus, one after another, every operation has yielded to invention, until very recently the only remaining process was subdued when a machine for cutting uppers was devised. There are machines for shaping, compressing, and nailing heels; for attaching soles to uppers in heavy shoes by wooden pegs or copper screws and wires; for rounding, buffing, and polishing the soles; for trimming and setting the edges of the sole; for performing innumerable operations, some seemingly trivial, but all essential to perfection in comfort, durability or style; so that in shoe factories to-day a greater variety of intricate and expensive machines is used than in factories of any other kind.
At the present time the genius of the American inventor has provided for every detail of shoemaking, even the smallest processes being performed by mechanical devices of some kind. This has naturally made the shoemaker of to-day a specialist, who very seldom knows anything of shoemaking apart from the particular process in the performance of shoemaking of which he is an adept, and from which he earns a livelihood. The American shoe of to-day is the standard production of the world. It is in demand wherever shoes are worn.
In the year 1874 there had been perfected not only the machines which Colonel McKay and Mr. Goodyear had been instrumental in building, but other inventors had introduced similar machines for doing similar work. This brought about the most acute business competition, and finally resulted in many cases where one machine manufacturer alleged that the other machine infringed his rights of patent, and in many other cases the fiercest kind of litigation was established. This had a most disastrous effect upon shoe manufacturers, for in many cases the manufacturer was made to bear the brunt of the blows which contending shoe machinery manufacturers aimed at each other.
Machines in use in factories were stopped by means of injunctions; damage suits were entered, and litigation was very general. During the year 1899, there was ushered in one of the most important events that ever transpired in the history of shoemaking. The most important of the concerns which had been making war upon each other were purchased by one large company and brought under one harmonious management.
The United Shoe Machinery Company owes its origin to a call for a change in conditions menacing the industry of making shoes which could not be ignored. It was created by combining into one the three companies existing in 1899: the Goodyear Sewing Machine Company, the Consolidated & McKay Lasting Machine Company, and the McKay Shoe Machinery Company, each of which respectively made and leased machines adapted to a particular class of operations. The principal machines which each made did not interfere with the principal machines of any other. They were dependent links in an industrial chain. The Goodyear Sewing Machine Company chiefly made machines for sewing the sole to the upper in welt shoes and various auxiliary machines which helped to complete the shoe; The Consolidated & McKay Lasting Machine Company made machines for lasting a shoe; The McKay Shoe Machinery Company made various machines for attaching soles and heels by metallic fastenings, and furnished material for that purpose. A single manufacturer, in order to make Goodyear welt shoes, would be compelled to patronize all the companies, going to each of them for that part of his equipment which it exclusively supplied. Each company had its agents in factories looking after its machines.
The gathering of these three companies into a single organization wrought an instant change. It resulted immediately in greater economy of administration; in relieving the manufacturer of the vexation of sometimes seeing his factory crippled while orders were piling up; in freeing him from the annoyance and expense of dealing with several different concerns in order to get his most important machines and keep them in repair.
The attention which had been paid to royalty machines and which had been such an important factor in building up the industry in America, was magnified by the management of the new company. Large forces of men and expert machinists, as well as expert shoemakers, were maintained in the different districts where shoes were made, and every effort exerted to promote the growth of the industry.
While the royalty system proved to be of great advantage to small shoe manufacturers, the largest manufacturers objected to paying royalty on machines and desired to purchase them outright. Being unable to do so, they placed experts at work to invent similar machines. This has resulted in the United Shoe Machinery Company claiming that these machines are infringements and causing considerable litigation.