A Manual of Shoemaking and Leather and Rubber Products

by William H. Dooley

The sheets of rubber, after being dried, are taken to the “compound” room, where they are sprinkled with whiting, to prevent sticking, and weighed. Next they are taken into the calender room to a “mixer,” by means of which the rubber is combined with other substances, which include sulphur, litharge, whiting, lampblack, tar, resin, lime, palm oil, and linseed oil.

There are different calendering machines. The ones called the upper calenders form sheets of rubber stock for the upper part of the shoe. The soling calenders form the stock for the sole or bottom part of the shoe; other calender machines are used to coat a layer of gum on one side of the fabrics used for lining and various strips, fillers, toe, and heel pieces. The gum sheets are sent to the cutting room.

Generally, linings for nine pairs of shoes are cut at once. The linings are cut both by hand and by machine. Men who cut with dies, by hand, stand at the bench and use iron mallets, like those used in cutting heels. Inner soles, heel pieces, and linings are all cut by means of dies in the same manner.

The edges of the several parts are spread with cement, and then the parts are taken to the making room and distributed. In the making department the boots and shoes are put together. Women make the light overshoes; men make the heavy ones. Rubbers are made by women, but men put on the outer soles.

Linings are first applied smoothly to a wooden last and cemented together, the cement side out. The rubber parts are then stuck on and rolled firmly with a small hand roller. Young women become very skilled in this work, taking up the several parts in rapid succession, placing them accurately upon the last, and rolling and pounding them firmly together.

Cutting Room.

Perhaps the most interesting single process is that of putting the rubber boot together. This work is done by men, and requires, in addition to accurate eyesight, rapid and very deft movements of the hand and considerable strength. No nails, tacks, or stitching are required. The natural adhesiveness of the rubber, assisted by the use of rubber cement, holds the parts solidly together.

In the making of the shoe the last is covered with the various pieces which are so made as to adhere where they are placed. It is exact and nice work fitting all these pieces perfectly, each edge overlapping just so far and no farther. The lighter shoes are made by women, but the heavy lumbermen’s shoes, arctics, and especially the boots, are made by men, for this work needs strength as well as dexterity.

The goods which require varnishing are put on racks and treated with a mixture of boiled linseed oil, naphtha, and other materials, which are applied with brushes, and impart a gloss to the surface.