Comfort Shoe Specialists
11693 Manchester Rd
St. Louis, MO 63131
314-822-3300
HISTORY
OF ALDEN SHOE COMPANY
The Alden Shoe Company was founded in 1884 by Charles H. Alden in Middleborough,
Massachusetts. It is difficult to imagine just how active and important
the shoe industry was in Massachusetts so long ago. Early New England shoemaking
was a trade based upon one craftsman making a pair a day in one room cottages
(called "ten footers"). Beginning in 1850 a series of inventions led
to mechanized stitching and lasting. Operations and the birth of New England
shoe industry followed rapidly. The productivity gains over the traditional
shoemaker were on the order of 500 - 700%, yet the new methods also led to an
extraordinary improvement in both quality and consistency. In many ways the
explosive growth of the shoe industry in eastern Massachusetts at the turn of
the century reminds me of our modern day high-tech industry. New companies being
started every week and demand soaring as product made its way west and south on
newly expanded rail routes. Charles Alden's factory prospered and expanded even
adding children's shoes to their offering of shoes and custom boots. By
1933, at Charles Alden's retirement, operations moved to Brockton, Massachusetts
and joined with the Old Colony factory. The Great Depression took a severe toll
on the countless shoe companies in New England. Although production demand
increased during World War II, by the late 40's renewed consumer demand had
fueled the search for manufacturing regions offering lower labor costs. Over the
remainder of the century attrition would take hold as manufacturers looked
farther and farther away in search of low cost labor and materials to meet the
insatiable demand in the U.S.A. for low cost, mass-market consumer footwear.
Most of the companies who remained in New England could not compete in
the demanding post-war economy. Yet Alden prospered by relying not on lower
quality mass-markets but on high quality dress shoes, and excelling in
specialties such as orthopedic and medical footwear. It was a period of growth
and intensive development at Alden, especially in the design of comfortable,
orthopedically correct lasts. In 1970 a new factory was constructed in
Middleborough, Massachusetts where production continues today. Alden is now the only original New England shoe and bootmaker
remaining of the hundreds who began so long ago. Still a family owned business,
still carrying forward a tradition of quality genuine-welted shoemaking that is
exceptional in every way.
A long time ago Alden decided that it is important to create handsome shoes of great comfort and quality. Since 1884, the Alden Shoe Company has designed and manufactured classic gentlemen's footwear that represents America's tradition of old-school, custom shoemaking at its finest.
Still, given a modern world that too often prizes the promotion rather than the product, you might well imagine these old-fashioned talents for craft and honest value to be irretrievably lost. Alden's footwear stands as clear, adamant proof to the contrary.
We proudly offer the Alden New England original designs, trim, well-balanced oxfords of proportion and elegance. Each is hand worked from the finest leathers, representing a century-old tradition of craftsmanship, and reflecting in a quiet, sure way the solid values of the man who wears them.