Brief History of McKays Shoes

Brief History of McKays Shoes
This entry is part 19 of 26 in the series 1924 St. Louis Fashion Pageant

These look like advertisements for two more different shoe companies in St. Louis! I kept seeing the name “McKays”, especially “novelty McKays” shoes, and realized from the context that McKays are not a brand… so I did a little research into the history of footwear, and found some interesting bits of shoe making history.

Apparently the word “McKays” refers to a type of shoe, manufactured with on machines patented by and leased from the United Shoe Machinery Company. The United Shoe Company formed in 1899 as a merger of Goodyear Machinery Company, Consolidated Hand Lasting Machine Company and McKay Shoe Machinery Company. Leasing these shoe making machines allowed manufacturers to get into business at a fraction of the cost of buying a shoe making machine, and United Shoe Machine Company had a virtual monopoly over the shoe manufacturing business until it was broken up in the late 1940s. In the 1960s shoe manufacturing started moving overseas to Asia.

It seems to me that St. Louis shoe manufacturers advertising “McKays” leased the shoe making machines from the same corporation (United Shoe Machinery Company), and customized the styles, patterns, material, and service to fit their customers’ tastes.

Below are two advertisements by two 1924 St. Louis shoe manufacturers, John Meier Shoe Company and Capitol Shoemakers:

Links to sites that I found informative when researching what McKays Shoes are:

Series Navigation<< 1920s St. Louis Shoe Advertisements – 4 scans1920s Dresses, Millinery, Coat, and Textile Ads >>

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