THE ATHLETIC SHOE TREE

Not even the most prescient ancient Egyptian wearing sandals made of plant fiber could have envisioned today's athletic footwear: Coming soon, shoes that emit a red light on impact. From 1868, when the flat-soled rubber-and-canvas shoe was introduced, to the early 1970s, the sneaker developed at a modest pace. Then Bill Bowerman, track coach at Oregon, accelerated the process with a variety of creations, including the Moon Shoe, the sole of which consisted of latex poured into his wife's waffle iron. From Bowerman's tinkering came a conglomerate, Nike. In the '70s (the jogging decade), the '80s (the aerobics decade) and the '90s (the gadget decade), buyers hungered for the shoe juste and spawned a $12 billion industry. And through it all, the 1916 Keds slipper survives intact.

TWENTY EIGHT PHOTOS

BETH PHILLIPS

FOUR PHOTOS

BRET WILLS

PHOTO

W. MILES WRIGHT/MCCLUND MUSEUM

PHOTO

NATIONAL BASEBALL LIBRARY

FIVE PHOTOS

1993
?

1992
CO[2]-INJECTED PUMP

1992
ULTRA-MOLDED REEBOK

1992
DUAL-STRAPPED NIKE

1992
DISC-TIGHTENED PUMA

1992
AIRED-OUT ADIDAS

1992
TAIL-LIT L.A. GEAR

1991
NIKE AIR HUARACHE

1991
AIR JORDAN, IN-YOUR-FACE VIEW

1991
NIKE AIR 180

1990
AIR JORDAN

1990
NIKE WITH HAND-HELD PUMP

1989
INTRODUCTION OF THE PUMP

1988
AIR JORDAN

1987
FIRST NIKE CROSS-TRAINER

1986
CONVERSE BASKETBALL SHOE

1986
L.A. GEAR 'FASHION' SHOE

1985
FIRST AIR JORDAN

1985
IVAN LENDL'S TENNIS SHOE

1984
'VELCRO' RUNNING SHOE

1984
OLYMPIC HIGH JUMP SHOE

1982
NIKE AIR FORCE ONE

1982
FIRST AEROBICS SHOE

1979
FIRST AIR SHOE

1974
NIKE WAFFLE TRAINER

1972
NIKE CORTEZ

1972
BOWERMAN MOON SHOE

1968
ADIDAS GAZELLE

1968
MUHAMMAD ALI'S SHOE

1968
FULL CUSHIONED MID-SOLE

1960
OLYMPIC SPRINTER'S SHOE

1950s
BOWERMAN TRACK SHOE

1945
KEDS BASKETBALL HIGH-TOP

1936
JESSE OWENS'S TRACK SHOE

1923
CONVERSE ALL-STAR

1916
KEDS SPORTS SLIPPER

1895
FOSTER RUNNING PUMP

1890s
EARLY BASEBALL SHOE

300-30 B.C.
EGYPTIAN SANDAL