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Born Shoes
 Hal Manogue- Author Essayist and Poet
Shoe manufacturing in the late 19th century put bread on the table for thousands of people around the United States. Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other Southern states were considered the sweet spots for shoe production due to an abundance of workers that wanted to work long days with little pay. The pay put food on the table, and employment longevity was almost guaranteed due to the demand for everyday footwear. Not all workers loved the work, but they needed the security back at the turn of the 20th century.
Henry H. Brown was one of the early pioneers of shoe manufacturing in Natick, Massachusetts. His company, H.H. Brown, became a leader in work boots during the early years. The company continued to produce heavy-duty boots for the army and private sector after Ray Heffernan bought the factory in 1927. Heffernan ran the company until his death in 1990.
The 1980s and 1990s were tumultuous years for domestic shoe manufacturing. Countries like China and Brazil entered the United States shoe market with products that were cheaper and more stylish. Shoe factories around the country couldn't compete with the imports. Factories either went out of business, or found a way to compete with the popular priced imports. H.H. Brown decided to develop a line of footwear using an old European construction, and they named the new brand Born Shoes.
Born shoes redefined the meaning of comfort footwear by using imported leathers, padded sock linings, exquisite detailing, and the European stitch-out construction, which made the shoes extremely flexible. Born shoes hit the retail market in 1995, and a new footwear star was born. The demand for this line of comfort footwear was strong, so the company decided to produce all Born styles off-shore. Today,the Born line is manufactured in better-grade China factories.
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