Timberland – the birth of a legend. The story of the yellow boots

People quite often buy clothes and shoes for themselves, do it spontaneously, seduced by their appearance and cost.

And only a few think – how convenient and useful the purchased item will be for them, how long it will last for its owner, and whether it will harm his health. Indeed, for example, improperly selected shoes can cause its owner not only discomfort when worn, but also serious foot diseases.

As a practical person, I approach the selection of my wardrobe very carefully, preferring to buy things that have their own history, time-tested and won the trust and popularity of the consumer. The main criteria for me in choosing clothes and shoes are quality, reliability and durability, convenience and comfort. Not the last role, of course, is the appearance.

Only a few manufacturing companies manage to combine the above factors in their models at the same time. One such company is Timberland.

Timberland logo

I met the Timberland brand two years ago by buying White Ledge boots – this was one of my first purchases on Ebay.

Living in a small provincial town, in which there are no mega-malls, shopping centers and brand boutiques, I did not even suspect the existence of this brand.

The first time I made a purchase, trusting only my intuition. But as it turned out, she did not let me down. Boots exceeded all my expectations, being incredibly comfortable, comfortable, having impeccable quality.

After two years of operation on local roads and the passage of such natural disasters as mud, puddles and wet snow, without any special care for them, the shoes I bought still remain in excellent condition. And the Timberland brand has since become one of my favorites.

About Timberland, about the person who founded it and about those technologies that make the products manufactured by the company unique in its way, and we will go further.

It was this year in the city of Odessa, in the family of hereditary shoemakers Shvartsev, the son Nathan was born.

For unknown reasons, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, the Schwartz family left their homeland and moved to live in the United States. In a foreign country, having no support from the outside, the Schwarts had a hard time – they needed to make significant efforts to ensure their existence.

From the age of 16, Nathan had to earn a living as an apprentice shoemaker. But the prospect of working out his whole life as a wage worker, he was not painfully pleased.

Nathan Schwartz, no matter what, decided to radically change his fate and try to achieve something more. His cherished desire was to open his own business.

And now, after 34 years, having accumulated a small capital, he manages to get closer to his dream – Schwartz buys part of the shares of The Abington Shoe Company.

This company owned a small shoe factory in Abington, which allowed Nathan to take the first step to his success. Subsequently, the name Abington will receive one of the collections of Timberland shoes.

Three years passed, and Nathan Schwartz became the full owner of the company, having bought the rest of the shares. He conducted his business with his sons, who wished to continue family traditions with his father. Things went well with Nathan Schwartz, but his production still remained little known.

The year 1965 was a turning point in the fate of the former apprentice – he invented a new unique technology that had never before been used in the manufacture of shoes.

Its essence lies in the fact that using a press, using high pressure, the leather upper of the shoe was connected to a rubber sole. As a result of using this technology, there is no need to sew the top of the shoe to the sole with threads, and as a result, the shoes become waterproof.
It took Schwartz a few more years to work out the technology he had invented, and to create a unique shoe of its kind, in which everything was thought out to the smallest detail – it was in these shoes that the seams were first sewn with nylon threads and metal fittings were used.

And then, finally, in 1973. Nathan Schwartz launches his first leather absolutely waterproof yellow boots called “Timberland”, which later came to the British Museum of Design as an exhibit.

Innovative shoes became instantly known and popular, and the phrase “yellow shoes” became firmly associated with the Timberland brand.

In 1978, the company was renamed The Timberland Company.

Timberland Development
The reason that prompted Nathan Schwartz to choose the yellow color for his shoes is still not known for certain. But, whatever it was, it was this color – bright and easily soiled – that made it possible to show all the advantages of the shoes made, which was subsequently used by the Italian Giuseppe Veronesi, who bought them from Schwartz.