This Day in Patent History – On March 20, 1883, Jan Matzeliger was issued patent for a “lasting device for shoes”

On March 20, 1883, Jan Matzeliger was issued patent for a “lasting device for shoes”.

This invention made the mass production of inexpensive shoes possible.

In the early days of shoe making, shoes were made mainly by hand. For a proper fit, the customer’s feet had to be duplicated in size and form by creating a stone or wooden mold called a “last” from which the shoes were sized and shaped. 

Made by hand, a good laster could make 50 pairs in 10 hour workday, Metzeligers invention allowed to make 150-700 pair a day, cutting shoe prices across the nation in half.

Matzeliger obtained a patent for his invention after five years of work. He sacrificed his health working exhausting hours on his invention and not eating over long periods of time, he caught a cold which quickly developed into tuberculosis. He died at age 36 on August 24, 1889. His early death meant he never saw the full profit of his invention.

Sources: Wikipedia 

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