Shoe Industry in Lynn
Shoe Factory of V.K and A.H Jones at 120 Broad St. Lynn, Ma
120 Broad Street now
V.K. & A. H. Jones Shoe Factory manufactured fine ladies’ shoes and boots. They were known for hiring only the most skilled people in the trade and as a result their products were highly sought after. Despite their popularity, they only concerned themselves with the New England and Western trade. They had a factory in Hampton, New Hampshire but closed it down when they consolidated their business in Lynn, causing an economic collapse in Hampton.
I decided to do my blog about the shoe industry in Lynn , because not only is Lynn the first place I lived when I moved to America but it's also where most of my relatives/family friends currently live and I found it interesting to know that Lynn has all these historic facts that I never knew about in middle school .
Lynn was dotted with 10 foot by 10 foot shacks where artisan shoemakers practiced their craft, back then maybe if they’re lucky they could produce up to five shoes a day. But as the Industrial Revolution swept through America in the early 19th century, shoemaking in Lynn moved from small shops to factory floors. Aided by new technology, production increased – from five shoes a day to 50 pairs.
Matzeliger set out to find a solution to the problems he discerned in the shoemaking process. He thought there had to be a way to develop an automatic method for lasting shoes. He began coming up with designs for machines that could do the job. After experimenting with several models, he applied for a patent on a "lasting machine."
Matzeliger's invention was unveiled, and demonstrated for the first time. Not only did it work, it changed everything. Factory production jumped from 50 pairs a day to 750 pairs a day. The cost of a pair of shoes made in Lynn dropped in half.
The mechanism held a shoe on a last, pulled the leather down around the heel, set and drove in the nails, and then discharged the completed shoe.
http://www.biography.com/people/jan-matzeliger-21317107#invention-of-the-lasting-machine
The factory in the lithograph must have burned down. Maybe in the Great Lynn Fire of 1889. I just looked up the current building and it was built in 1900. Not as impressive as the factory.
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