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TELLING THE STORY SINCE 1993

How the Converse All-Star changed the world ...

Von Robbin Barberan 23/08/2021 Blog , Sneaker History

Quick, name all signature basketball shoes you can think of!

 

Air Jordan, check.

LeBron, check.

KD, check.

PG, Curry, Kyrie, check check check.

 

Even if your list included a dozen shoes, we would bet all the money in our pockets right now, the Converse All-Star was not on it.

Well, shame on you. The 'Chuck Taylor' is not only the oldest and most popular but also the best-selling basketball shoe of all time. That's right, the old 'Chucks' you've been wearing since 12th grade, the shoes that look like they have been through hell and back, the only sneakers even your parents wear, are – at heart – basketball shoes.

 

But let's start at the beginning. Converse Rubber Corporation or just Converse – for all of you younger than 90 – first started producing the All-Star basketball shoe way back in 1917, just five years after the Titanic went ass up.

handsome-chuck-taylor
Charles 'Chuck' H. Taylor around 1930 - @ Converse

 

The first Converse All-Star basketball shoe came in natural brown colors with black trim and featured a thick rubber sole. Just a couple of years later black canvas and leather versions came into existence. Sales were slow at first, which is understandable. Making a basketball shoe in 1921 is like making a shoe for curling today. Not many people will buy it when not many people play the sport. Sorry, Curlers, you know we love you.

 

But that all changed in 1921, thanks to a man named Charles H. Taylor. Even though Charles or 'Chuck' as his friends called him was a baller – he played for the team that would later become THE Boston Celtics – there was no way he could pay his bill with just a basketball player's salary. Baseball ruled the entire sports landscape in the 1920s. You might have heard of the New York Yankees and a guy named Babe Ruth. Those guys were the rockstars back in the day. As a sport basketball had about the same standing as frisbee.

 

To make an honest living and stay connected to basketball at the same time Charles Taylor joined Converse as a salesman. Just two years later Converse made him the face of the company and added the now-famous All-Star patch on the shoes' ankle which is there to this day.

Oscar 'The Big O' Robertson in his Converse 'Chuck Taylor' All Star shoes
Oscar Robertson wearing Converse All-Stars in 1958 - © Getty Images

 

But Taylor's involvement went further than that. He became involved in the design of the sneaker, too, helping develop it beyond the initial creation of 1917 to increase the amount of support in the ankle and help reconfigure the rubber outsole formula for increased traction. Taylor traveled all across the United States hosting basketball clinics, promoting his shoe. And he did it with so much success that Converse eventually slapped his name high on the ankle. The Chuck Taylor was born!

 

In 1936 the Chuck Taylor shoe made its mark in sports history as it was worn by the first U.S. Olympic basketball team. And both Oregon and Ohio State wore it in the first-ever NCAA Championship game in 1939. Ten years later, in 1949, when the National Basketball Association (NBA) began its operation, nearly every player stepped onto the court in a pair of 'Chucks'. Until 1960, however, it only came in black and white.

bill-russell-wilt-chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain (left) with Bill Russell wearing Converse All-Stars in 1959 - © Getty Images

 

When more technologically advanced shoes started to hit the basketball floor in the early 1980s and 'air in the sole' became a must-have for players, the Chuck revolution began to fade. Tree Rollins, a mountain of a man playing for the Atlanta Hawks was the last player to ever wear the Chuck Taylor in an NBA Game (1979). The shoe that had helped bring basketball from a sideshow into a global phenomenon became a lifestyle choice.

 

The Chuck Taylor was synonymous with basketball tradition and the addition of multiple colors started to give an athletic shoe a cultural crossover appeal that companies dream about. Therefore it is no surprise that when skateboarding emerged in the late 70s, the urban and rugged Chuck Taylor was one of the first choices for many skaters. That makes it TWO sports that basically owe their popularity if not existence to the Chuck. No other sports shoe even comes close.

 

It has been estimated that over 800.000.000 pairs of Chucks have been sold as of today. As the decades pass, these simple but timeless sneakers are rediscovered and adapted by millions of people in each new generation who like their look and feel on their feet.

 

Now almost 100 years after its original conception we should all take a step back and remember where this absolute legend of a shoe came from.

 

And keep in mind that even though the Chuck Taylor is no longer a basketball shoe… at its core, it has always been nevernotballin.

 

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