No Business Like Shoe Business

  The Keith family emigrated from Scotland to Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1662. The Rev. James Keith became the first minister in town. It was his grandson, Levi, that built an addition to the house where he ran a tannery business. It remained in the family for a number of generations. But, it was George E Keith who invested $1000 into a  new shoe manufacturing company in the campello section of Brockton, Massachusetts, which at this time was known as North Bridgewater, and becoming one of the premier manufacturer of quality shoes.

Brockton, MA was known as "Shoe City". The Keith Shoe mfg. co. was established in 1758.  The Walk Over name came from a newspaper headline in 1899. "America's Cup Defender, 'Columbia' wins in a Walk Over of Sir Thomas Lipton's 'Shamrock'". 

The shoe mfg. company built a clubhouse for its' employees on thirteen acres. The Walk Over Club had baseball fields, tennis courts, croquet, archery and all kinds of outdoor sport activities. Indoors, there was a bowling alley, a swimming pool, billiards and so much more. There were rooms that catered to men only and other rooms with fireplaces  just for the women. There was ample room to conduct dances, socials, weddings, and other entertainment.

The clubhouse was so popular that by 1900 more than 1600 employees became member for a fee of $2.00.

By 1919 Walkover shoe was not the only shoe mfg. company in the city.  The city now had approximately 13,000 employees making shoes. Walkover shoe in Brockton came to end in 1945.

When this building came to its end of life and it was being torn down, this brass door knob was rescued. You can literally see George walking over the shoe, hence Walk Over Shoe.

When WWII began there was a need for military boots. One of those manufacturers was Corcoran Shoe where my grandfather, Malcolm Leroy Smith, worked from 1941 until is death of a heart attack in 1955.

There were others in my family tree that made shoes.  They too were one of the many that worked for the largest industry in Southeast Massachusetts.

My dad, Robert Franklin Smith, also worked in the shoe industry, by making the leather board in large vats that went in to making the shoes.  He was the General Manager for the George O Jenkins Company in Bridgewater, Massachusetts until his retirement. Dad passed away in 2008 at the age of 86.

I remember hearing on the the radio one day in late 1969 early 1970 how shoes were going to made overseas; less expensive to produce, lowering prices for Americans to purchase  This was the beginning of the final curtain for the shoe business in Massachusetts.