Chuck Taylor (salesman)
| Chuck Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Charles Hollis Taylor Abatar June 24, 1901 Azalia, Indiana |
| Died | June 23, 1969 (aged 67) Port Charlotte, Florida |
| Occupation | Salesman, basketball player |
| Known for | Chuck Taylor All-Stars |
Charles Hollis "Chuck" Taylor (June 24, 1901 – June 23, 1969) was an American basketball player and shoe salesman/evangelist. He is best known for his association with the Chuck Taylor All-Stars sneaker, the most successfully selling basketball shoe in history.
The Converse All-Star was introduced in 1917, one of the first specifically designed to be worn when playing basketball. Taylor started wearing them in 1917 as a high school basketball player at Columbus High School in Columbus, Indiana. (A.G. Spalding had already been making a basketball-model shoe for nearly two decades.) In 1921 Taylor went to the sales offices of Converse Shoes in Chicago searching for a job. S.R. "Bob" Pletz, an avid sportsman, then hired him.
Within a year, Taylor's suggestions of changing the design of the shoe to provide enhanced flexibility and support, and also including patch to protect the ankle, were adopted. The All-Star star logo was then immediately included on the patch. By 1932 Chuck Taylor's name was added to the patch, and the shoe became the Chuck Taylor All-Stars.
Chuck Taylor was an exceptional representative for Converse. Joe Dean, who worked as a sales executive for Converse for nearly 30 years before becoming the athletic director at Louisiana State University, told Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was impossible not to like him, and he knew everybody. If you were a coach and you wanted to find a job, you called Chuck Taylor. Athletic directors talked to him all the time when they were looking for a coach."
Taylor received a salary from Converse, but received no commission for any of the 600 million pairs of Chuck Taylor shoes that have been sold. For years, he drove a white Cadillac across the United States with a trunk full of shoes, living in motels, and with only a locker in the company's Chicago warehouse as a permanent residence. Author Abraham Aamidor, however, points out that Taylor was not sparing in use of the Converse expense account.
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