Friday, August 5, 2011

Hush Puppies

Ooops, love of food took over! 


STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP

Hush Puppies!

The ultimate baby boomer shoe!
G.A. Krause founded the company in 1883. It originally was a utility company. However, in 1903, Krause built a shoe factory in Michigan
(Krause is my maiden name, so long history of shoe nuts in the family) 

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 Hush Puppies name and mascot were coined by the brand's first sales manager, James Gaylord Muir. Initially, the company recommended naming the product "Lasers". Then, on a selling trip to the southeastern United States, Muir dined with one of his regional salesmen and the meal included hush puppies, traditional fried southern cornballs. When Muir asked about the origin of the name, he was told that farmers threw hush puppies at the hounds to "quiet their barking dogs."  "Barking dogs" was an idiom for sore feet. Muir surmised his new shoes were so comfortable that they could "quiet 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.
In the 1995 Autumn collections  fashion designers John Bartlett, Anna Sui, and Joel Fitzpatrick began featuring them in their collections. Depending on word of mouth, Wolverine sold 430,000 pairs of the shoes, and four times that the following year. Hush Puppies won the prize for best accessory at the Council of Fashion Designers awards dinner in 1996.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.

and if you thought they were just "comfortable" and not stylish as well. Think again my lovelies !
 Pizazz 







 and a tasteful touch of bling











Bows







Boots made for walking



Summer Styles
 
Buttons!
Need I say more Dorothy!


So pop on out, do your feet a favour and keep the barking dogs quiet at the same time, woof

1 comment:

Elise said...

I'm a shoe girl. I'm always down for a new pair of red shoes :)