From the Mint Museum’s exhibition Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks:
A Step Ahead
Before industrialization, an experienced shoemaker in the West made roughly two pairs of shoes or one pair of boots per day. In the nineteenth century, new techniques, innovations, and materials sped up production and signifcantly boosted output.
The Gentle Craft
Traditional shoemakers’ shops were micro-manufacturing enterprises with tasks divided between the workers. However, the output was extremely low as each shoe was entirely handcrafted. Shoemakers used a variety of tools to make shoes, including hammers, moon-shaped knives, awls, pinchers, skiving tools, boar’s bristles, thread, and wax.
Machine-Made
As the nineteenth century wore on, machine after machine replaced skilled workers in the shoe industry. Sewing machines sped production and reduced the cost of adding embroidered embellishment, encouraging more people to participate in fashion consumption.
I can’t help feeling like a shoemaker.