![]() Apocryphal or not, this reputation as the boot of choice for drug-dealers and other “hooligans in Brooklyn,” cemented Timberland’s place in the counterculture. Rob Walker, in his book Buying In relates that the first New York city-dwellers to pick up the famous boots were drug dealers, who wanted to stay comfortable and dry standing out in the street all night. The reason? Rap.įrom New England to Brooklyn, the famous yellow boot had gone on quite a journey, but its hard-wearing comfort still resonated, now with a very different demographic. The stodgy folks back in Timberland’s New Hampshire headquarters must have been shocked when their sales trebled in the 1990s. Though unlike goodyear-welting, injection molding couldn’t guarantee the boot could outlast its sole, it made for a more waterproof boot in the short term, great for hard work in challenging climates and weather.īiggie in Timbs, albeit tricked-out ones. Now commonplace in the footwear industry, the brand that was about to become Timberland could take credit for inventing this then-revolutionary technique. The first landmark came in 1965 with the advent of injection molding, which, without stitching, could fuse rubber soles to leather uppers for a fully waterproof connection. Nathan had trained as a shoemaker since his youth in 1918 and he consistently pushed the brand to innovate and improve. ![]() Swartz slowly bought up shares until he controlled the company and began bringing his sons into the fold of the family business. Specializing in workwear for New England’s working man, the company was primarily focused on making truly waterproof leather, which was proving difficult. ![]() In 1952, almost twenty years prior to the release of the modern Timberland Boot, Nathan Swartz bought into a Massachusetts company called the Abington Shoe Company.
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