After spending time this weekend with my wife and niece in the ultimate hunt for that perfect pair of shoes, I thought about how much the shoe shopping experience has changed over the last few decades. Shoes were once designed and manufactured to be repaired if, and when, they wore out. Today they are pretty much a throw away commodity. Shoe manufacturing was once one of the largest industries in the U.S., but most of it is now being done offshore. Nashua was at the heart of that business for many years, being the home of several world renown manufacturers.

Shopping for shoes at one time consisted of a visit to one of several Main street stores or a jaunt to each of them to find the right fit and style. Of the many shoe stores that once dotted Main street, only one, Alec’s, remains. Once an iconic Main Street staple, Alec’s is now thriving at its new location. I can remember when Alec’s was in a much smaller building on West Pearl Street. We lived around the corner. My mother would always have a “shoe club” going, whereby she’d add a few dollars a week to an account, sort of like a layaway, until there was enough available to buy a pair of shoes. It was a simple concept that worked well for a family who needed to budget simple but needed purchases.

Some competitors of the day included stores such as Lampron’s, at 215 Main Street, Berg’s, at 70 Main Street and later at 6 High Street, Endicott Johnson at 121 Main and Morse’s at 124 Main. All were respected and well-known establishments.

A look back at several early editions of The Telegraph shows just how much things have changed. A Feb. 4, 1970, edition shows a Lampron’s ad touting a sale on 150 pairs of shoes at $10.00 each. A 1951 ad for Berg’s shoe store lists ladies’ shoes at a whopping $3.98, and a 1968 Endicott Johnson “store closing” ad listed shoes on sale for $3.87 – $7.87.

Several stores listed “tennis shoe” specials. For those who don’t remember, tennis shoes were not specifically used or designed to play tennis. Tennis shoes were a generic name for canvas sport shoes, now known as athletic, cross-training or running shoes. We also called them sneakers. Any footwear used for athletic purposes was referred to as a tennis shoe or sneaker. I’m still trying to figure out exactly when tennis shoes became athletic, running or training shoes. How did the basic tennis shoes at less than $10.00 per pair become cross training shoes with some selling north of $200?

I can remember when I was ecstatic to get a pair of Converse All Star high tops, in my choice of black or white, for $2.99. It was the shoe, or sneaker, of choice back then. If your choice was in white, it was the ultimate challenge to keep them dirt and scuff free for as long as possible, or immediately get them as grungy as possible so as not to appear to have new sneakers. Then of course, there were the bullies who scuffed them up for you.

If you could afford them, you could opt for a pair of Jack Purcell low cuts. As a kid, I had no clue who Jack Purcell was. I have since learned that Jack Purcell was both a Canadian and world champion badminton player. A badminton player getting his own shoe? Really? I would guess that he didn’t get the bazillion dollar deal to plug that shoe that many of today’s athletes get to plug theirs. Oddly enough, both models are still available, but at a considerably higher price.

If you think about it, the shoe industry has done a complete one eighty, going from a time when leather shoes were worn daily by both men and women and sneakers mostly by kids, to today’s athletic shoes (or tennis shoes/sneakers) being the daily shoe of choice for all. Athletic shoes are probably not my typical choice for dress or formal wear, but have you seen some of the garb in Hollywood lately?

Don Canney is a freelance writer and professional voice artist. He was born and raised in downtown Nashua with great interest in Nashua history circa 1950-1970. He now resides in Litchfield.

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