A timeline of sneaker brands: 1876 - 1980

Sneaker brand graphic timeline @ The Deffest

Here's a graphic timeline of the founding dates for most of the major sneaker and running shoe brands. A couple of notes on this post.⁣

1. A lot of the brands didn't start out immediately making athletic footwear until much later. In Etonic's case it took them until 1945 to start making golf shoes.⁣

2. The line height levels were only to make enough real estate to fit all of the information since a lot of the dates were clustered closely together.⁣

3. If you’re interested in vintage products for the brands in this list check out our vintage shop over at RewindRunning.com.

Here’s the list from oldest to newest…

​1876
Etonic - In 1876, the man who inspired the Etonic name, Charles A. Eaton, opened his first shoe factory in Brockton, MA. To put in perspective how old this is… Rutherford B. Hayes won the election of 1876 taking over as President of the United States from Ulysses S. Grant.

1882
​Le Coq Sportif - Founded by Émile Camuset in Entzheim, France.

1891
Tretorn - Founded by Johan Dunker in Helsingborg, Sweden.

1894
Bata - Founded by Tomáš Baťa in Zlín.

1898
Saucony - first factory was founded in 1898 at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, on the high banks of the Saucony Creek. The brand was founded by four partners named William Donnoyer, Thomas Levan, Walter Snyder and Benjamin Reider. More Saucony history at Wikipedia.

1905
Gola - founded on 22 May 1905. It used to be known as the Bozeat Boot Company, and was based in the Northamptonshire village of Bozeat, England.

For more info:
There’s a brief history on Gola at their site here.
Gola over at Wikipedia.
Here’s an interview with Gola VP of U.S. Operations Steven Weinreb from 2016 at Sourcing Journal.

1906
New Balance - In 1906, William J. Riley, British emigrant, founded the New Balance Arch Support Company in the Boston area, manufacturing arch supports and other accessories designed to improve shoe fit.

Mizuno - Founded by Rihachi Mizuno in Osaka.

1908
Converse - Marquis Mills Converse opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in February 1908 in Malden, MA. For more info there’s a pretty good history at The Idle Man and over at Heddels.

1911
Fila was founded by Giansevero Fila and his brothers in in Biella, Italy. More history at Fila’s website here.

1913
Wilson - Founded as Ashland Manufacturing Company in Chicago, IL​.

1914
Brooks is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by John Brooks Goldenberg. Here’s another article at Funding Universe with a Brooks history up until around 1999.

1916
Karhu - founded as Ab Sport Artiklar formed and became Karhu in 1920.

1916
Keds - founded when U.S. Rubber consolidated 30 different shoe brands into one company. Originally named "Peds" it quickly turned into Keds due to trademark issues with the name Peds. More info at Popsugar.

1923
Hummel - Founded as Messmer & Company in Hamburg, Germany​.

1924
Adidas and Puma - formed by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house; he was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.

1937
P.F. Flyers - Founded by B.F. Goodrich in Akron, Ohio​.

1948
Adidas and Puma - After some family acrimony the Dassler brothers split in 1948, forming separate brands Adidas and Puma.

Diadora - founded by Marcello Danieli, in Italy. More info at Diadora’s website here.

1949
Onitsuka Tiger - founded by 32-year-old former military officer Kihachiro Onitsuka in Kobe, Japan. Onitsuka Tiger eventually became ASICS in 1977. Here’s a pretty good history over at Barkers too.

Pro-Keds - Founded in 1949 by Keds as their athletic footwear line.. Sneaker Freaker has a great write up on Pro-Keds history here.

1958
Reebok - formed by Joe and Jeff Foster in Bolton, UK as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons. Here’s an excellent history over at Grailed. And another history over at RetailDive.

1964
Nike - BRS Blue Ribbon Sports (Nike) founded on January 25, 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971.

1966
Vans - March 16, 1966; Van formed as The Van Doren Rubber Company and was founded by Paul Van Doren, Serge D’Elia and Gordy Lee.

K-Swiss - Founded by Art & Ernie Brunner in Los Angeles, CA​.

1972
PONY - founded in NYC by Roberto Muller with financing provided by Horst Dassler, the son of Adolf "Adi" Dassler who founded Adidas. A cliff notes version of PONY’s history is over here at Wikipedia.

1974
Hi-Tec - founded by Frank Van Wezel in Shoeburyness, England. More info at Wikipedia.

1975
Osaga - founded in Eugene, OR by Bill Combs.

Jaclar - founded in 1975 in Stoughton, MA.

1979
Avia - founded in Oregon by Jerry Stubblefield.

KangaROOS - Founded by Bob Gamm in St. Louis, MO.

National Track and Field Hall of Fame at the Armory NYC

I was back in NY for a minute recently and able to drop in and check out the National Track & Field Hall of Fame at the Armory in NYC. If you're interested in track and field history or want to check out some super old school running shoes I'd definitely recommend to check it out. It is at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, New York, NY 10032. Make sure you call ahead because they host events in the HoF which close it off to the public sometimes. Here's some more details on the photos below.

The orange velcro wing Puma shoes were worn by Jim Hines when he set a world record while winning the 100 meter race at the 1968 Olympics.

The red white and blue Gola(?) shoes in this post are Alice Coachman's from the 1948 Olympics. She wore them as the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

The black shoes in the last photos are Betty Robinson's from the 1928 Olympics. She wore them as the first women's Olympic medalist winning the 100m dash.

UPDATE: In the time since we first posted this we’ve connected with Betty Robinson’s granddaughter honoring Betty’s feats on Instagram. You can see her profile here @elizabethbaberobinson or at BettyRobinson.org.

Last FREAKIN' call! Bata x Wilson John Wooden sneaker giveaway!

Hey errrybody just a quick reminder that 8PM PST tonight is the cut off for the Bata x Wilson John Wooden Instagram sneaker giveaway! If you'd like to be entered all you have to do is like the original sneaker giveaway post from Monday and follow @bataheritage and our account here on Instagram. I found a site that will randomly pick the winning name out of a hat which I will do tonight at 8PM PST. I will announce the winner tomorrow morning. Good luck!

Last Freakin' Call - Bata x Wilson sneaker giveaway @ The Freakin' Ekin

Bata x Wilson John Wooden sneaker giveaway contest!

We hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving! We're back today with a contest to raffle off one pair of Bata x Wilson mens John Wooden sneakers courtesy of our friends over Bata Heritage. The sneakers are re-issues of the legendary UCLA coach John Wooden basketball shoes 🏀👟 that originally debuted in the 1970s – and were famously worn by Magic Johnson on and off the court. All you have to do to be entered is like this post and follow @bataheritage and our account here on Instagram. To make it fair I found a site that will randomly pick the winning name out of a hat which I will do at 8PM PST on Thursday 11/29. I will announce the winner on Friday. Good luck!

The Deffest vintage sneaker blog on Pinterest

Hey all, quick update. Due to a limitation on our Squarespace theme I had to completely re-work the way the vintage ads page is setup. It used to be a tile gallery similar to the way the home page is setup but I reached a limit on the amount of posts that I could add to it and had to change it to the current format of blog posts which makes it a little harder to browse. To make it easier to find content on the site I added a search page here and also will be adding all of the posts to Pinterest. You can see a gallery view of the vintage ads page on Pinterest here. Each image will take you to the correct blog post for that ad if you click through.

The Deffest vintage sneaker blog on Pinterest

The most legit vintage Nike waffle sneaker ever

Hey y'all, just wanted to post what may be the most legit vintage Nike waffle sneaker ever. As you can probably imagine when you’re dealing with vintage items you come across some really strange and weird things sometimes. So here’s to presenting the Nike Swampfoot runner! Below was the description posted with this shoe.

One of a kind Vintage Nike LDV running shoe. This was found in the Trinity National Forest in Northern California. Probably been sitting there over 20 years. Moss is slightly brown, but with a little water it will turn green. No Tongue, maybe a squirrel had a nice lunch. 👟🐿️ This was a USA made model. Great addition to the true Nike collector. International shipping $40.

And it turns out that someone bought it like this! 🤣

You can check out the photos below...

Vintage Nike LDV swampfoot runner @ The Deffest
Vintage Nike LDV mossy runner @ The Deffest
Weird moss covered vintage Nike LDV sneaker @ The Deffest
Mossy vintage Nike LDV sneaker @ The Deffest

UPDATE: January 25, 2019
We spotted this Nike Chia sneaker over on Swoosh262’s Instagram account and are happy to report that it is being properly watered (see below.)

Image credit to Swoosh262 Instagram account

Image credit to Swoosh262 Instagram account

Tokyo & Kyoto vintage sneaker shopping guide

Hey all - just got back from Japan and had an awesome time there. It was a great trip. Both Tokyo and Kyoto have some incredibly well curated vintage clothing and sneaker shops. Below is a quick summary guide in case any of you venture across the pond.

Passover Evisu Tokyo sneaker logo store front

Passover Evisu Tokyo sneaker logo store front

Koenji is the cool historic punk rock neighborhood of Tokyo and it is a gold mine of vintage shops. I saw some dope old 1970’s Skips by Montgomery Ward and some knock off Adidas country vintage sneakers at Grandberry Jam. Salers, right across the street, had some rare Nike waffles and really cool old school Trax by Kmart running shoes as well. 

Vintage Trax, Skips by Montgomery Ward, and Nike sneakers at Grandberry Jam, Koenji, Tokyo.

Vintage Trax, Skips by Montgomery Ward, and Nike sneakers at Grandberry Jam, Koenji, Tokyo.

Salers Koenji 2018 Tokyo vintage sneaker shopping guide @ The Deffest

If you’re poking around the neighborhood you may want to work your way a few blocks over to Top of the Hill Koenji and CA shop which are on the same street. They didn’t have any vintage kicks but they both had a pretty great selection of other american vintage items. Elsewhere in Tokyo I stumbled upon a sign for a closed down Thom McAn shop. Weird.

This Thom McAn was at 35.659840, 139.699131 on Google maps. You can see it if you zoom in on the left had side of the alley.

This Thom McAn was at 35.659840, 139.699131 on Google maps. You can see it if you zoom in on the left had side of the alley.

Another excellent neighborhood for shopping is in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood which has a surplus of vintage shops. Right in the heart of the neighborhood is Soma sneaker store, who may have the most impressive collection on vintage kicks that I’ve seen. Walking into this store is like walking into a waffle sneaker museum. If you’re ever in town I highly recommend you check it out. Some other good vintage stores in this neighborhood include New York Joe Exchange, Flamingo and Haight & Ashbury.

Vintage 1970's Nike Oregon waffle running shoes at Dockery Farm.

Vintage 1970's Nike Oregon waffle running shoes at Dockery Farm.

Kyoto had fewer vintage shops but there are definitely some finds to be had there. The Three Star Vintage store is huge and the staff was really nice. Dockery Farm had some excellent 1970’s Nike Oregon waffles as well. All in all this is really just scratching the surface. There were a ton of other shops that don't have an online presence but if you're in Japan all of the above are definitely worth checking out.

Nike & Onitsuka Tiger clones week

This week we'll be posting some vintage Nike Cortez & Onitsuka Tiger Corsair knock off shoes. SneakerFreaker has a great post on the shared origins of the Cortez and Corsair which is here. Since the Cortez was one of Nike's most popular sneakers it spawned a few imitators, some better than others.

UPDATE: Blog posts are now live here, here and here.

Vintage Nike Cortez clones week @ The Deffest

Sneaker Design School

For those who are interested in sneaker design and construction I came across this diagram today which covers the basic design elements...as they were in 1978. I've included the text below and put the list back into order.

ANATOMY OF THE RUNNING SHOE

Heel Counter (A): The inflexible material surrounding the heel area which adds stability to the heel and reduces the pronatory forces entering the heel area during heel contact.

Pull Tab (B): Small tab on heel area which allows the shoe to be pulled on the foot.

Outer Sole (C): The portion of the shoe that makes contact with the ground. It provides protection from the running surface and improves traction. Most common types are the waffle,
ripple, and transverse ridge.

Upper (D): The material covering the upper part of the shoe. Nylon is the preferred material.

Toe Cap (E): The larger foxing that radiates into the toe area, originally designed to prevent scuffing, lifting the upper material away from the top of the foot.

Midsole (F): The portion of the shoe between the outer and inner soles. Its purpose is to provide added cushioning.

Last: The basic mold around which a shoe is fashioned. In most cases it is hand-carved wood, but later-model shoes are constructed around a plastic mold.

Sale: The bottom of the shoe and can be made of different materials of various thicknesses and layers.

Insole: The inner portion of the sole that makes contact with the foot. Materials used in its construction can be either leather. rubber, or preferably, Spenco.

Foxing: The material portion of the shoe giving medial and lateral support to the sides of the shoes.

Shank Support: The small arch pad of very little use. In walking shoes it is a metal piece which runs through the middle of the shoe.

Spike Plate: A plate material placed under the ball of the foot providing a base for the spikes, when applicable.