Sneakers. Shoes for the poor.

Many of you probably have sneakers. But have you ever wondered where the strange name came from? And did you know that it was the shoe that gave birth to trainers? Sneakers as we know them appeared in 1892, when the U.S. Rubber Company, an American corporation, which included the Goodyear (a tyre manufacturer), started producing rubber shoes with canvas uppers. These shoes were available to poor Americans (peds), which is why they were called peds. The managers of the company did not like such labels very much and it was decided to rebrand the shoes in the modern language. To expand the audience, the manufacturer was forced to rename the company, combining two words "kid" and "peds". This resulted in the word 'keds', which is now firmly embedded in the name of the shoe.

But, as is often the case, what was originally intended for the lowest strata of the population, suddenly became in demand and among wealthy citizens. After all, thanks to their accessibility, sneakers have become incredibly popular, and in the first place such a novelty appealed to athletes. Production was slightly changed and the design was improved.

Sneakers are losing ground, trainers are gaining popularity.

In 1908, Marquis M Converse started producing professional, slightly modified sports shoes. The name was given to trainers, originally "snickers" from the English word "sneak" - to sneak up unnoticed. For a while it was out of competition, until in 1928 two brothers, Rudy and Adolf Dasler, started their own production of trainers.

The brothers eventually quarrelled over the reasons for this, but one version is that the brothers did not share their father's inheritance. Another version is that women were involved. In 1928, Rudolf married the 18-year-old Friedl and six years later, Adolf married the 17-year-old Katharina. The girls helped their brothers in the factory, but often did not understand each other. The explosive and ambitious Cathy wanted more power, which in turn displeased the modest and judicious Friedl.

"Friedl worked even on Saturdays and Sundays," recalled her sister Betty. - She was an accountant and really did a lot for the company. Cathy, on the other hand, was very young and didn't want to adapt to that kind of work. She had her own way, her own career ambitions. So she was always dragging Adolf along, wanting him to have complete control of the factory.    

One way or another, in 1948 the brothers went their separate ways. Rudolf founded the company Puma and Adolf simply combined the first letters of his name and surname to form Ad & Das. From this moment on the fierce competition, which at times led to open hostility, was born the shoes that many of us have passionately loved for their lightness and practicality. And the name of this И имя этой обуви – trainers.