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
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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
