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ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH
A. H. WINHEIM International Shoe Co., St. Louis, M o .
NE of the oldest and most stable enterprises of the St. Louis area is the leather boot and shoe business. It is the largest among the six huge industries of this area which are, in the order of their importance, leather boots and shoes, chemicals and allied products, machinery and equipment, textiles, iron and steel, and brewery products. The United States is an important factor in the leather footwear field. American output of shoes during 1939 represented more than 40 per cent of world production, utilizing tanning materials, natural dyestuffs, mordants, and sizes worth over $42,000,000 and approximately 20 other products valued at nearly S400,O00,000. From Spain and France St. Louis inherited whatever lore and legend these two Latin nations had gathered about shoes prior to the 19th century. The Spanish city of Cordova gave i t s name to a fine-grained leather, Cordovan. Originally this leather was obtained from a high-grade kidskin, but later was secured exclusively from a unique skin structure peculiar to the horse, the socalled "shell" between the epidermis and flesh over the butt. The French worker in this leather, "un cordonnier", became a "cordwainer" in English—the equivalent of the subsequent "shoemaker". A tablet marks the spot where once stood the old Spanish Government House. There the flags of three different nations flaunted their colors within 24 hours, symbolic of sovereignty over the vast upper Louisiana Territory. In 1811, seven
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years after the transfer of this territory to the United States, St. Louis boasted of but one firm of eordwainers. This establishonent ^was followed by others, and in 1819 a n announcement stated: "Theo. Hunt haus opened a tanyard on S. Second Street." By 1831 the number had increased -to 13, and by 1841 the city had .50 boot- and shoemakers. Profiting from the political unrest in Kurope in 1848, St. Louis acquired its first shoe factory. Although ail work was
Army b»oot—1651 style—reputedly worn by Captain o»r Colonel Lenche at Battle or Worcester is in International Shoe Co/s collection to be displayed in the Ladies' Program at the A. C. S. meeting 303
done by hand, division of labor in shoemaking had begun. Within a single shop were found cutters, stitchers, and peggers. This simple innovation, however, gave no intimation of the proximity of the specialization and amazing efficiency found in the modern shoe factory. In some instances today more than 200 distinct items of material are assembled into a single shoe, involving approximately 300 operations. Such strides have permitted a national per capita consumption of 3V2 pairs of shoes per year in the United States, much higher than that of any other country. Canada holds second place with an annual per capita use of 2V2 pairs, far in advance of the next most foot-conscious nation. According to estimates, the national leather industry utilizes skins and hides from 120,000,000 animals each year. There is perhaps no richer field of scientific research than leather manufacture. It challenges men in biological, organic, inorganic, colloidal, physical, and physiological chemistry; it draws its disciples from biology, physics, and microscopy. The need for fundamental knowledge has become apparent. Outstanding among accomplishments of leather chemistry during its recent era of rapid growth are development of the faster chrome and formaldehyde tannages, discovery of synthetic tanning agents, use of both natural and cultivated enzymes for specific destruction or modification of skin constituents, application of organic reducing agents to facilitate unhairing of hides, and development of lacquer and resin finishing of leathers. These and hordes of other changes have helped transform the ancient art to a carefully controlled, scientifically supervised production process.
NEWS
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E D I T I O N
S T . L O U I S POST DISPATCH
Hanging upper assemblies for U. S. Army shoes after sewing The diminution of requisite elapsed time and acceleration of processes in the manufacture of the leather, textiles, rubber articles, cements, and finishes as well as in the fabricated shoe or boot have created a condition currently appreciated. Surveys of the industry by the U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce indicate that the leather footwear needs of the Army and Navy can be met without disruption of supply for civilians. According to this survey, anticipated defense needs will account for the annual production of 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 pairs of boots and shoes in excess of normal requirements. A recent Department of Commerce report states that government orders for leather footwear during the first nine months of 1940 exceeded 5,000,000 pairs, compared with average government purchases of 1,600,000 pairs per year during the preceding three years. During 1917 and 1918, government purchases of military shoes amounted to 20,000,000 and 8,800,000 pairs, respectively. In this same interval the industry absorbed the manufacture of large quantities of military shoes for Russia, England, and Italy. Of a total national production of 424,000,000 pairs of leather footwear in 1939, the St. Louis territory produced more than 72,000,000 pairs, 17 per cent of the entire output. The largest shoe manufacturer in the United States, the International Shoe Co., and the third largest, Brown Shoe Co., are St. Louis organizations. The larger of these two manufactured over 49,000,000 pairs of leather boots and shoes in 1939. Starting in 1899, with a daily production of 300 pairs of shoes, the International Shoe Co. grew rapidly and steadily to its
present stature—a daily capacity of over 200,000 pairs of leather footwear, approximately 50,000,000 pairs per year. This growth necessitated acquisition of numerous plants for manufacturing materials, including 5 upper leather tanneries, 4 sole leather tanneries, a cotton mill, a box factory, 3 chemical plants, a rubber plant, and approximately 60 supply and service divisions. The shoes are manufactured in 45 factories, and sales are handled through 14 wholesale distribution branches. Contributing in no small measure to the improvement of shoemaking materials and processes have been the chemical research workers and laboratory technicians. Eighteen chemists and assistants employed by the International Shoe
Vol. 19, No. 6 Co. divide their time among control work for raw materials, process and finished products, specific trouble-shooting problems, and fundamental research and development. Sole leather tanneries operated by this company annually convert cow and steer hides into slowly formed vegetable-tanned leather for shoe soles, middle soles, insoles, heels, and counters. This operation requires 105 days of constant processing, necessitating enormous quantities of "in process" stock. The principal tanning agents accomplishing this conversion of a hydrophylic substance to a hydrophobic material include extracts from the quebracho tree of South America, extracts of the chestnut oak of North America, cutch from the Philippines, sumac from Sicily, and myrobalan nuts from India. The Wood River tanneries, 15 miles from St. Louis, are divided into three units for tanning army and heavy work shoe leathers, tanning light-\veight dress shoe and sport shoe leathers, and processing flesh split leathers for linings, work shoes, slippers, gussets, and work gloves. Approximately 1,^00,000 cowhides, representing 650,000,000 pounds of beef, are annually converted into leather. This processing requires 5,000,000 pounds of salt, 3,000,000 pounds of basic chromium sulfate, and 8,000,000 pounds of other chemicals each year. By-products include soap stock, glue stock, fertilizer, and hair. Thirty-seven days are normally required to produce the finished material which is a fully chrome-tanned leather. This company alone uses annually for sole leather the hides of 1,100,000 cattle, and for upper leather the skins of 8,300,000 buck, buffaloes, cabretta, calves, cows, goats, horses, kangaroos, pigs, reptiles, sharks, and sheep. The total is 9,400,000 skins per year—9,400,000 animals marching into a shoe factory, and then marching out as footwear for infants, children, men, women, and soldiers!
In leather tanning germ life is controlled if desirable; eliminated if harmful.
