Footwear History, Dirt On Dirt Part II - The Vans

Paul Van Doren was born in 1930 and grew up in the Boston Area. When he reached the eigth grade, he realized he didn't like school and promptly left. He had a passion for horses and at the age of 14 and a half made his way to the race track. He was known as 'Dutch the Clutch' and for a buck he would give you odds on the race. Paul’s mother couldn’t stand he wasn’t working or going to school. She dragged him into the shoe factory where she worked and got him a job making shoes and sweeping the factory floor.

 This was to define the young Van Doren’s future. In twenty years, Paul worked his way up the ranks and became the Executive Vice President of Randy’s, a Boston based shoe manufacturer. Randy’s was well known at the time and made canvas shoes for Bob Cousy, the flashy Boston Celtics legend who was later voted one of the top 50 NBA players of all time.

During the early sixties, Randy’s had become the third largest manufacturer of shoes in the US. But they had a factory in Gardenvale California that was losing a million dollars a month. Paul Van Doren, his brother Jim Van Doren and long time friend Gordon Lee were given the task of straightening out the factory, and after 8 months they turned the west coast factory around and it was doing better than the one back in Boston.

 Three months later Paul Van Doren sat his five kids down and announced he was quitting his job to start a new shoe company. “Don’t worry we’re going to be fine” he said to his children, who weren’t at all concerned. Their dad was fanatical about cleaning and they were hoping this meant they only had to wash his car every second day instead of every day as it was currently.
 Paul had been making shoes for most of his life and the most he ever saw the company make was a dime a pair and they were making hundreds of thousands of shoes.
The retailer was the one who was making all the cash. His dream was to have his own factory and his own retail stores. He was a great business person, his brother Jim was an amazing engineer and their friend Gordon was an excellent manufacturing man. They formed the Van Doren Rubber Company with Serge D’Elia, an Belgian friend Paul made in Japan, who had been supplying shoe uppers from Japan to the USA.

The company was formed with Paul and Serge owning 40% each and Jim and Gordon owning 10% each. It took a year to set up the factory at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim. It was built from scratch using old machinery the bought from all over the USA. It took a lot of machinery and was a lot harder to do then, compared was with todays modern processes. Since 1900 there had only been 3 companies that had manufactured vulcanized footwear in the US, Randy’s, Keds and Converse.
And now there was Vans...

From Dirt On Dirt part II we all are aware of how obsessed i am about worn out dirty shoes, they suit my personality, my mindset. My feet feel much happier with dirty shoes. Lets all move to the sound of Indie in our dirty Vans and connect with the 10 years old little ones within us, it's allowed plus it does not hurt at all, it's like fashion's own therapy or should i say it's like yoga? You tell me. ☮

Play With Those Vans Vans Vans Vans Vans Vans In The Mud. Get Some Dirt On Those Vans. Free Your Spirit :)