Footwear unique to the 20th Century will be featured in the new State Historical Building display that opens soon. “Sneakers” which will be on display at the State Historical Building in the new “A Few of Our Favorite Things” display. White gym shoes from the 1950s, plus a collector’s gaudy purple Converse All-Stars, with their orange shoelaces, will be under glass for those who pass by the new display, which is the museum’s third largest exhibit. “Converse All-Stars” were first marketed in 1931, but way back in 1917, the U-S Rubber Company introduced the first sneakers.Exhibit curator Jack Lufkin says sneakers were mainly worn for athletics until a new design was introduced 40 years ago by Nike with a waffle sole. Those shoes became a fashion statement by themselves.Lufkin launched a world-wide search for sneakers to display and says he found that finding vintage Keds from the 1950s is hard because the Japanese like to wear them.
