Charles Goodyear Jr. is widely credited with writing a new chapter in the history of men’s shoes as he patented the Goodyear welted machine, which was introduced into Tricker’s at the turn of the 20th Century. He follows in the footsteps of his father, who invented vulcanised rubber.

Walter James Barltrop had returned from a buying trip to New York and soon realised that Charles Goodyear Jr’s machine was different from all the others on the market. This machine made it possible to sew the shoes upper with the insole, without having to attach the undersole with the same stitching. In other words, you could make a smart, well-made shoe with the help of a machine, and not only by hand which had long been practised by Tricker’s since 1829.

Due to electrification during Queen Victoria’s reign, Goodyear’s machine became the number one, both when it came to results and efficiency.