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- The following is an article about the American sporting manufacturer. See also Converse College, a school in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Converse, (pronounced ), is an American shoe company which has been making shoes since the early 20th century.
History
1908—1941: The Early Days and Chuck Taylor
In his late 30's, Marquis M. Converse, who was previously a respected manager at a footwear manufacturing firm opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts in 1908. The company was a rubber shoe manufacturer, providing winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women, and children. By 1910, Converse was producing 4,000 shoes daily, but it wasn't until 1915 that the company began manufacturing athletic shoes for tennis. The company's main turning point came in 1917 when the Converse All-Star basketball shoe was introduced. This was a real innovation at the time, considering the sport was only 25 years old. Then in 1921, a basketball player named Charles H. "Chuck" Taylor walked into Converse complaining of sore feet. Converse gave him a job. He worked as a salesman and ambassador, promoting the shoes around the United States, and in 1923 after publishing a restrospective on the first 60 years of basketball and teaching his first basketball clinic at North Carolina State University, his signature was added to the All Star patch. He tirelessly continued this work until shortly before his death in 1969. Converse also customized shoes for the New York Renaissance (the "Rens"), basketball's first all African American pro basketball team; the "Rens" pioneered a whole new method of playing and won a remarkable 2,588 games with only 539 losses.1941—Present: War, Bankruptcy, and New Management
When America entered World War II in 1941, Converse shifted production to manufacturing footwear, apparel, boots, parkas, rubber protective suits, and ponchos for pilots and troops. Wildly popular during the 1970s and early 1980s, Converse lost some of its popularity and apparent monopoly during the mid-1980s and much of the 1990s, with the surge of new competitors such as Nike and Reebok who introduced radical new designs to the market. Converse found themselves to be no longer the official shoe of the National Basketball Association, a title they had enjoyed for many, many years. This loss of market share, combined with poor business decisions forced Converse to file for bankruptcy on January 22, 2001. When the company subsequently changed hands that year, the last factory in the United States was closed. Thereafter, manufacturing for the American market was no longer performed in the United States, but instead in a number of Asian countries, including China, Indonesia and Vietnam.On July 9, 2003, the company accepted a $305 million purchase offer from rival Nike.
Style
From Rubber to an "All-Star"
The Converse Shoe Company started as a rubber shoe company. The company then made a tennis shoe which grew in popularity. In 1917 the All-Star came into production, and after Chuck Taylor signed on they where referred to as the "Chuck Taylor" All Star basketball shoe. In 1966 Converse started adding color choices to the basic black and white Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe.Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe
Also referred to as "Cons","Connies", "Chuckers", "Chucks"' or "Chucker Boots" for the higher styles, for decades the Chuck Taylor All Star basketball shoe only came in black or white. Under pressure from basketball teams it was decided in 1966 to manufacture other colors. Different materials started to appear also, such as leather, suede and vinyl, and even hemp, rather than just canvas. A low-top or "Oxford" and high-top versions, and later knee-high versions were produced. After Converse was bought by Nike and operations were moved from the United States to overseas, the design has had a few alterations. The fabric is no longer 2-ply cotton canvas but 1-ply "textile" and many wearers have noticed different patterns of wear.
Popularity
Despite the major setbacks for Converse in recent times, the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star is the most successful shoe in history, and has enjoyed recent popularity thanks to a resurgence of old skool trends. By the turn of the 21st century, over 750 million pairs have been sold worldwide. They no longer seem to be worn by their original target market of basketballers (at least not in the professional sphere), but instead they are now marketed to the mainstream teenager. Some are so enthusiastic about the sneakers that they have a vast, ever-growing collection. They are also quite influential in pop-culture; Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars have been popular for decades in the American punk and indie rock scenes, and Hollywood has popularized Chucks in countless motion pictures.
Endorsements and References in Popular Culture
- Converse currently has Andre Miller, Mike Sweetney, Jameer Nelson, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade as endorsers in the NBA.
- In the early 1980s, Converse had an campaign for the Chuck Taylors, featuring Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson, who commented "They're everywhere!" on the commercials.
- Rapper Snoop Dogg makes references to Chucks in his songs.
- A pair of black Converse One Stars were Kurt Cobain's only pair of shoes.
- In the 1985 film Back to the Future, a close-up camera shot reveals Michael J. Fox's character Marty McFly to be wearing Chucks.
- In the British sci-fi series Doctor Who, the signature costume of the Tenth reincarnation of the Doctor includes a pair of white Chuck Taylor All Stars.
- In the original Saved by the Bell series, Screech is seen most of the time wearing a pair of red Converse shoes.
- In the first (1976) Rocky film when Rocky starts to run on philadelphia morning he wears chucks.
- The Warner Brothers' cartoon alien, Marvin the Martian, is depicted wearing Chucks.
- The BSD Daemon is commonly depicted wearing a pair of Converse shoes, particularly in the versions used by FreeBSD.
- Worn by many powerlifters such as Alexander Kang for the squat.
- Seen in I, Robot when worn by Will Smith, who played the main character, Detective Spooner.
See also
External links
1908 establishments | Nike brands | Shoe companies of the United States
"Converse"