50 Fun Facts About Sneakers

The name "sneaker" originally referred to what quality of the shoe?

The Boston Journal was already using the word in 1887 for the name boys gave to tennis shoes.

What do British speakers commonly call sneakers?

Cheaper canvas versions are plimsolls or daps; in Latvia any sneaker is a bota after a Czech brand.

Roughly what share of the world's shoes are made in Asia?

Footwear follows the rest of the clothing industry in being concentrated there.

The British plimsoll got its nickname from a line on what?

The coloured band joining the upper to the sole looked like the Plimsoll load line, and water above it meant wet feet.

In what year was the first Air Jordan released to the public?

It was produced for Jordan in November 1984 and hit shelves on April 1, 1985.

Michael Jordan's first Nike deal in 1984 was worth how much over six years?

It was three times bigger than any other NBA shoe deal at the time, and royalties made it far richer.

Nike hoped Air Jordans would earn $3M in three years. What did they earn in year one?

The success was helped by an ad campaign built around the NBA supposedly banning the shoe.

What was the per-game fine the NBA supposedly levied over Jordan's non-regulation shoes?

Nike turned the policy into the famous "Banned" advertisement.

The Jumpman logo came from a photo shoot for which magazine?

Co Rentmeester shot it at Chapel Hill before Jordan played for Team USA at the 1984 Olympics.

Which two brands besides Nike courted Jordan for a shoe deal in 1984?

The others saw him as a face for existing lines; Nike offered him his own.

In which Massachusetts town was Converse founded in 1908?

Marquis Mills Converse started with winterized rubber-soled shoes, galoshes and even car tyres.

In what year was Chuck Taylor's signature added to the All-Star ankle patch?

That made it the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoe; Taylor had toured the country running basketball clinics.

What was Converse's 1917 forerunner of the All Star marketed as?

Chuck Taylor asked the company for a redesign with more support in 1922.

What share of the US basketball shoe market did Converse hold by the 1960s?

The decline came in the 1970s as players switched to rival brands.

Converse became a subsidiary of which company in 2003?

It had gone bankrupt in 2001 after passing through several owners.

In which US state was Chuck Taylor born?

He played guard for Columbus High School before turning semi-pro and then salesman.

What was Nike originally called when it was founded in 1964?

Phil Knight sold Japanese Onitsuka Tiger shoes out of his car at track meets before the Nike name arrived in 1971.

Nike is named after the Greek goddess of what?

The name replaced Blue Ribbon Sports on May 30, 1971, the same year the Swoosh was adopted.

Which Japanese shoemaker did Nike's founders originally distribute for?

The partnership ended in a court fight over the Cortez name, which Nike won in 1974.

How much was Carolyn Davidson paid for designing the Swoosh in 1971?

She was a Portland State design student earning $2 an hour; Knight later gave her Nike stock.

Who coined the slogan "Just Do It" in 1988?

The ad agency co-founder said he was inspired by murderer Gary Gilmore's last words, "Let's do it".

Bill Bowerman ruined which kitchen appliance inventing a new sole?

He poured rubber into his wife's Belgian waffle iron around 1970 to make a grippy, lightweight tread.

The Nike Cortez paid tribute to which historical figure?

The shoe was first called "Mexico" after the 1968 Olympics; Forrest Gump runs across America in a pair.

Which Nike shoe was the first to use visible Air cushioning, in 1986?

Designer Tinker Hatfield had started at Nike designing stores; the Air Tailwind hid its air unit in 1978.

Who pitched Nike the idea of air cushioning in 1977?

Frank Rudy's pressurised pouches debuted in the Nike Air Tailwind the following year.

Who designed the Nike Air Force 1 in 1982?

It was the first basketball shoe to use Nike Air, and it was discontinued just two years later before its comeback.

What was the Nike Dunk originally called?

Peter Moore's 1985 design borrowed from the Legend, Terminator and Air Force 1 before skaters adopted it.

Tinker Hatfield earned his degree from the University of Oregon in which field?

He pole-vaulted for Bill Bowerman there and joined Nike in 1981, moving to shoes in 1985.

The Nike Mag replicates a self-lacing shoe from which film?

The 2016 release was limited to just 89 pairs, raising money for Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's foundation.

How many pairs of the Nike Mag were released in 2011?

They were auctioned on eBay; the film's power laces were missing from that first batch.

In which German town are both Adidas and Puma headquartered?

The Dassler brothers split their shoe factory in 1949 and the town was divided between the rival firms.

Which sprinter did Adi Dassler persuade to wear his spikes at the 1936 Olympics?

Owens won four golds in Berlin, the first big endorsement coup for the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory.

Which brand did Rudolf Dassler found after splitting from his brother?

He first registered it as Ruda, from Rudolf Dassler, before settling on the big cat.

What was Puma briefly called before it got its current name?

The portmanteau mirrored Adidas, which was built from Adi Dassler's name.

The Adidas Trefoil logo launched just in time for which Olympics?

It was designed in 1971; the three stripes had been the company's mark since the start.

Which Adidas shoe is nicknamed the "shell toe"?

Launched in 1969 as a low-top Pro Model, it was taken up by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and later Run-DMC.

Which hip-hop group signed the first endorsement deal between rappers and a major corporation?

Their 1986 track "My Adidas" was a response to an anti-sneaker rap called "Felon Sneakers".

The Adidas Stan Smith was originally named after which French tennis player?

The shoe launched in 1965 and was renamed for the American in 1978; it lacks the usual external three stripes.

Which athletes carried Puma Suedes to the podium in the 1968 Black Power salute?

They had won gold and bronze in the 200 metres and stood shoeless in black socks.

The 1970 "Pelé Pact" between Adidas and Puma agreed to do what?

Cousins Armin and Horst Dassler struck the deal months before the World Cup; Puma broke it anyway.

In which California city did Vans open its first store in 1966?

Customers took shoes home and came back the next day to pay because Paul Van Doren had no change.

Which 1982 film put Vans checkerboard slip-ons on a national stage?

Sean Penn wore them as Jeff Spicoli; the pattern was copied from skaters doodling on their shoes.

The name Reebok comes from an Afrikaans word for what animal?

The grey rhebok gave its name to a company that began in Bolton, England, making running spikes.

The 1982 Reebok Freestyle was the first athletic shoe designed for whom?

It rode the aerobics boom and helped Reebok pass $1.5 million in sales by 1981 and far beyond after.

Which Reebok technology debuted in 1989 and was worn by Shaquille O'Neal?

More than 100 professional athletes were wearing inflatable shoes by 1992.

New Balance began in 1906 making what product?

Founder William Riley reportedly got the name from watching chickens balance on three-point feet.

What was New Balance's 1960 Trackster the first running shoe to offer?

The company had sold mainly arch supports for its first half-century.

The Asics name is an acronym of a Latin phrase meaning what?

Anima sana in corpore sano; the company grew out of Kihachiro Onitsuka's 1949 Kobe shoe business.

Keds was nearly named what, after the Latin word for feet?

That name was already trademarked when U.S. Rubber merged 30 shoe brands into one in 1916.

The first Adidas Yeezy, the Boost 750, was released in which year?

Kanye West had left Nike in 2013 after the "Red October" Air Yeezy 2; Adidas let him keep full ownership of the brand.