Do not pull the rubber

Rubber is rubber. Natural rubber is ecology. Ecology is fashionable. Fashionable are rubber shoes. An unthinkable combination of colors, a real madness, from which one so wants to live, plus modern technology and impeccable design - this is what rubber shoes have become today. This squeak of fashion has finally become the cry of the broad masses. Tellingly, he touched not only boots, but also evening shoes. Time to collect stones from this trend. Evgenia Bubnova has collected the TOP 15 most curious stories about rubber shoes that your sellers can tell customers.

The history of rubber began with the Great Geographical Discoveries. At the end of the 460th century, XNUMX years ago, Christopher Columbus, during his second voyage to the shores of the new continent, together with his sailors, was able to observe the game of the natives in Santo Domingo. They played with strange balls made of "plastic tree resin". When hitting the ground, the balls bounced. And the sailors were surprised. However, the commercial potential of wood resin was found only in the XNUMXth century, when the Frenchman Charles Marie de la Condomine presented rubber samples and possible ways of using this substance at the Paris Academy of Sciences.

The name "rubber" came from the mixture of two Indian words "kao" - a tree and "o-chu" - flow, cry. That is, in translation it means approximately “tears of a tree”. Natural rubber is extracted from hevea, making cuts on the cortex and collecting its milky juice (latex).

Hevea grew up only in Brazil. And Brazil carefully preserved the source of its wealth. The export of hevea seeds was banned on pain of the death penalty. However, in 1876, the British spy Henry Wickham secretly exported 70 000 hevea seeds. In the British colonies of Southeast Asia, the first rubber plantations were laid. Natural English rubber, cheaper than Brazilian, has appeared on the world market.

The search for rubber plants went all over the world. In the Soviet Union, he was especially active in the 1930's, the general list of such plants was the 903 species. The Tien Shan dandelion kok-sagyz was considered the best rubber, it was grown on the fields of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, rubber factories were working, which in quality was considered not inferior to rubber from hevea. In the late 1950's, with increased production of synthetic rubber, dandelion cultivation was discontinued.

Until 1839, rubber was not able to cure, it melted in the heat and cracked in the cold.

When the Goodyear and Sons hardware company faced financial difficulties in 1830, one of the partners, Charles Goodyear, decided to work on improving the rubber technology. For ten years he tried to create a material that would remain elastic and durable in the heat and cold. He devoted several years to this idea and spent all his savings. Contemporaries laughed at him: “If you see a man in a rubber coat, rubber boots, a rubber cylinder and a rubber wallet, and not a single cent in his wallet, then you can be sure that this is Goodyear.” He treated the rubber resin with acid, boiled it in magnesia, added various substances, but all of his products turned into a sticky mass on the very first hot day. In 1839, a drop of a mixture of rubber and sulfur prepared by him accidentally fell on a hot plate, so the first vulcanization of rubber occurred. After numerous trials, Goodyear found the optimum vulcanization regime and in 1844 received a patent for his invention.

Classic wellies are often called wellingtons. It is believed that they were invented by the British Duke and commander Arthur Wellington, the hero of the Battle of Waterloo. They say that at the end of his life he liked to repeat: "I managed to do two things: defeat Napoleon and invent hunting boots." In fact, the boots he invented were made of leather. Their main difference from previous styles were low heels and legs to the knee. But a beautiful legend was stronger than historical truth.

The most ordinary rubber boots are made of plastic: it is poured into a mold and molded under a press. Therefore, not all boots are really rubber. Many of them are polyvinyl chloride products. Only the most expensive boots are made of real rubber, that is, of vulcanized rubber mixed with sulfur.

The rubber boot boom is Nokia’s merit. In the 60 years, the company, which then produced shoes, for the first time abandoned the traditional dark green and black colors and added juicy yellow and red.

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In South Africa, the sound of people dancing in rubber boots has become part of a musical direction known as “gumboot music”.

The Brazilian company Melissa, owned by Grendene shoes, is considered the pioneer in the field of designer plastic shoes. Over the past thirty years, she has worked to give plastic a design spirit. That is why Melissa collaborates with the most famous designers. The company has assets in the collections of Vivienne Westwood, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Isabela Capeto and Karim Rashid. “I believe that Melissa has done a lot to break the stereotypes that have developed around plastic shoes,” said Eduardo Giordao de Magallaies, head of international marketing communications at Melissa. “It's funny to watch the whole fashion world begin to do what we have been working on for thirty years.”

Plastic shoes are surprisingly environmentally friendly. It can be recycled and created a new pair without harming the environment. “Thirty percent of Melissa shoes are made from recycled polyvinyl chloride,” says Eduardo Jordaud de Magagliès, head of international marketing communications at Melissa. - This method involves the use of any residues from production. Grendene shoes owes this method many awards. ”

On the soles of the galoshes Swims City slippers are maps of megacities of the world. Each size has its own city. These can be Parisian boulevards (on the sole of Medium 37-38 size), Tokyo (Cityslippers Small 35-36 size) and Manhattan (Large 39-40 size). These cards are not just an element of decoration, the ribbed sole allows you to feel more confident when walking on asphalt or sand.

In the center of Vilnius in 2007, a monument to the writer Romain Gary was unveiled. The sculpture, performed by Romualdas Quintas, depicts a boy who looks up at the sky and presses his galoshe to his heart. This sculpture perpetuated an episode from the childhood of R. Gary, when the future writer first fell in love and decided in the name of love to take an unusual step. When he was not able to charm the girl he liked, raising his eyes to the sky, on the advice of his mother, to emphasize their blue, the boy ate a piece of galosh. Gary described his first feat in the name of love and children's adventures in the book "Promise at Dawn."

In Russia, industrial production of galoshes began in the 19th century. In 1859, a German businessman Ferdinand Krauzkopf arrived in Petersburg to sell American galoshes in Hamburg. Having assessed the market prospects, Krauzkopf in the 1860 year opened TRAM, or the Partnership of the Russian-American Rubber Manufactory. A few months later, the company produced about 1000 galoshes per day. And the rate was right, since the demand for galoshes was very good and constantly growing.

Seven Pros

1. It’s comfortable in rubber boots, they don’t squeeze and do not crush, these are very soft and light shoes

2. Bright rubber boots do not lose their fashionable color and do not wear

3. On rubber boots do not need to change heels

4. In trendy rubber boots, you can go to the club and pick mushrooms!

5. Rubber boots can be worn in any weather, besides they are not afraid of subzero temperatures

6. In rubber boots, you can measure the depth of all puddles and find out which is deeper!

8. Rubber boots easy to clean