Leather Shoes

Abstract

Right up to the first half of the 19th century, shoes were exclusively made by hand with tools such as curved awls, hammers, chisel-like knives, scapers, spoke-shaves and drawknives - tools that had been in use as early as 1,300 B.C., as excavations have proved. The first real step toward the mechanization of shoe production was the invention of a "rolling machine" in 1845. That machine was used to soften leather and improve its wearing qualities. In the following year an invention by no means confined in its effects to the shoe industry, proved to be a milestone in the production-line manufacture of shoes: the first functioning sewing machine. Its successful adaptation marked the beginning of a rapid series of inventions and improvements in the shoe production that has continued up to the present day. The production plant described on the following pages is laid out for the production of 500 pairs of shoes in 8 hours.