When a man is “on his uppers” he is in a very serious condition for
then his shoe soles have worn out and he has no money to buy more.
This expression therefore carries with it the assumption that the
uppers of our shoes wear better than the soles. It is a slang phrase of
recent introduction: for can we not recall our boyhood days, and see
those gorgeous patches on our Sunday best wax calf shoes, or our every
day high boots--patches which were striking emblems of the cobbler’s
art? Yes, the soles outwore the uppers then, but they had other less
desirable qualities than durability. Hark back, and you can hear again
that vibrant reverberation echoing upon the stillness of the Sabbath
morn as the deacon, contribution box in hand, tip-toed up and down the
aisle; every squeak of those blessed boots sounding like the droaning
of a rusty saw in a hemlock log.
Times have changed, however, since those happy days. The Chemist has
been busy, and his achievements in the leather industry have been
revolutionary. In 1884, Augustus Schultz of New York City, who was not
a tanner but a chemist, patented a process for tanning with chromium
salts. As a result of this discovery, over ninety per cent. of the
shoes worn throughout the world to-day are made with chrome-tanned
upper leather. This chrome-tanned leather, which, we are proud to say
was made commercially possible in America, is cheaper, more durable,
easier to manufacture, holds its shape better, and, in every other
respect, is superior to bark-tanned leather of former years. This is
the reason why we do not wear patches on our shoe uppers to-day.
The sole leather of to-day, it is claimed, does not wear so well as
that of former years. Possibly this may be the case, but still the
statement is open to a question. Granted, however, that the sole
leather of fifty years ago did wear somewhat longer, there are reasons
why we should not care to return to its use. In place of the old style
leather, which was a hard and as hard and as slippery as steel, we now
have a leather which cuts well, looks well, and, above all else, feels
well on the foot. Therefore, looking to our comfort as we do, we would
never be satisfied with the shoes that grandpa used to wear.
The meeting of the American Chemical Society, which was held in New
York City during the week of September 25 to 30, and the Exposition of
Chemical Industries meeting there at the same time, makes us wonder
if the chemist will soon be able to make the sole of a shoe wear as
long as the upper. Something along this line may be forthcoming, as it
is pretty well known in the trade that a sole leather can be produced
by means of a so-called chrome combination tannage which will outwear
bark-tanned leather three to one. To prove this point, a recent series
of tests were made on twenty mail carriers and twenty policemen in New
York City. On the right shoe of each was a sole made from a chrome
combination, and on the left was the best oak sole obtainable. On the
average, two oak soles wore through and the men were on the third
before the chrome combination saw its finish.
With the price of leather constantly going up and the supply of hides
not sufficient to meet the demand, the time is soon coming when we
shall be forced to produce sole leather possessing a greater degree of
wearing quality. We shall then have shoes on our feet which will be
like the proverbial, “One Horse Shay”; for, when they do go, even the
cobbler will not be able to find the pieces.