Saturday, May 28, 2011

Shhhhh....Puppy!

In 1958, Wolverine founded the Hush Puppy brand shoe. It was made from a method of pigskin tanning for the US military because the material was so durable.
The shoe concept was based as a casual shoe for post war suburbia. The ultimate boomer shoe!
As far as the name goes, it was originally going to be called, Lasers. But, fate had other plans. James Gaylord Muir, the first sales manager went on a sales trip to the south. While dining with a local salesman, they had hush puppies with their catfish dinner.  Talking about the origin of this dish, Muir learned that farmers threw hush puppies to their hounds to quiet their barking dogs. How genius! A shoe to quiet your barking dogs!
By 1965 1 in every 10 people were wearing Hush Puppies. Even celebrities like Perry Como, Johnny Carson and Prince Phillip had to have a pair.
In 1965, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones accidentally touched his guitar to an ungrounded microphone, which knocked him unconscious.The fact that he was wearing Hush Puppies with rubber soles, saved his life.
During the 90's, sales of the shoe were down. But, designers brought the shoe back on the scene and they became the hippest shoe around. Today, they are global and come in many different styles.
So, the next time your dogs start barking, slip on a pair of Hush Puppies to quiet them down.

2 comments:

Onlythemanager said...

Well, I'm glad to know the history behind the shoe!

-blessed holy socks, the non-perishable-zealot said...

Heaven's alla bout MakingLove, NotWar. 'Nuff sed. God bless you.