CHAPTER SEVEN

McKAY AND TURNED SHOES

The McKay process is used very extensively in the manufacture of cheap shoes. Its introduction was a great improvement over the nailing and pegging of the soles to the uppers. It allows the two to be stitched together by means of a straight needle running through the entire thickness of upper, sole, and insole.

In following the McKay process through the factory, we find it very similar to the Goodyear welt process, which has been explained, the main difference being in the methods of fastening the sole to the uppers.

The lasts and patterns are obtained in the same manner as described in the previous chapter. The order is made out in the factory office, and the ticket is given to the sorter, who selects the required number of skins, which he rolls in a bundle and turns over to the cutter. The cutters form the various pieces of leather and linings, which are tied up in bundles and sent to the stitching room. Here they pass through the various sewing machines, finally coming out in the form of a complete upper ready to be attached to the bottoms.

The soles, insoles, counters, and heels for McKay shoes are all formed in the same room, as described in the Goodyear process.

There is a difference in making ready the outsoles and insoles. It will be recalled that the outsole for the Goodyear welt shoe was simply a block of leather cut to fit the shoe and was not channeled. The outsole for the McKay shoe is run through a channeling machine, which cuts a slit around the edge of the sole, folds the leather back, and digs a little trench along the inside of the slit. It will also be remembered that the insole of the Goodyear welt shoe was channeled with two slits, one of which was turned back to form the breast for sewing on the welt strip. The insole of a McKay shoe is not channeled in any way, but is left plain, like the outsole of the Goodyear welt. The uppers, the soles, insoles, counters, and heels all having been made ready, the pieces are taken to the lasting room.

The first process is called “assembling.” The operator takes up one of the uppers, inserts the last, sticks in a counter between the lining and the outside, puts in a “box” (a stout piece of canvas to give stability to the toe) at the toe, beneath the tip, puts in the insole, and then may pull the shoe tight on the last or give it to the operator on the pulling over machine to have it done. The pulling over machine is now used in nearly all factories, having displaced hand pulling the same as the lasting machines have displaced hand lasting. The assembling, pulling, and lasting on the machine are all parts of the regular operation of lasting. The hand laster had to do all three parts in former times, but now there are machines to do nearly everything, and at the present time the operation of lasting is divided into assembling, pulling over, and lasting on the machine. But even these machines do not do it all, as there is surplus upper to be cut away, toes to be pounded down, and filling to be put in the bottom, all of which are done on a McKay shoe before the sole can be laid. There are machines to do these parts, too.

A trimmer (this is done by hand) now takes the shoe, trims off all the surplus leather, tacks in the shank (a little piece of steel to give rigidity to the shank of the sole), fills all up smoothly and then passes it to the sole layer, who puts on the outer sole and tacks it in place.

The last is now pulled out of the shoe and it is ready for the McKay sewing machine.

This machine sews right through the inner and outer sole, and at the same time catches the edges of the upper leather and the lining in between the two and draws them all snugly and firmly together. The stitches are made right along in the channel of the outer sole, which is deep enough to admit the row of stitches without raising a ridge on the outside of the sole, after the channel is closed up and leveled. The channel is next filled with cement and passed on to the leveler, which turns down the loosened flap of leather, presses it all out smooth, and covers the seam up so completely that no trace of the sewing is to be seen. This little folded-over flap of leather serves the double purpose of hiding the stitches in the sole, and at the same time protecting them from wear against the ground.

The shoe is then ready to be heeled, and from here to the shipping door the McKay generally goes through the same process as a welt. After heeling, the McKay shoes are relasted or have followers put in to keep them in shape while going through. The sock lining may be put in here, too, before relasting, or it may not be put in till the shoes get to another room. The McKay lasting last must be pulled from the shoe to have the bottoms and heels put on and this also applies to a pegged or nailed shoe. But in the case of a welt shoe or a turn shoe, both stay on the original last until the bottoms and heels have been fastened on. The turn shoe being lasted inside out, must come off the last to be turned right side out, and it goes right on the last as soon as it can be turned. The different methods of fastening the bottoms constitute the main difference between Goodyear and turn shoes on the one hand, and McKay, pegged, and nailed on the other. The bottom stock must be prepared differently in order to fit the methods. Thus it is seen that only two departments are affected, namely, the sole leather and the making departments. In the cutting, stitching, finishing, treeing, and packing, all operations are practically the same on every shoe, no matter how it is bottomed. The patterns, however, by which shoes are cut may be different.

In the finishing room all of the finishing of the bottoms and heel edges is done. The heels are sandpapered or scoured, and are then blacked and polished under hot-iron pressure. Considerable wax is used on the edge and is melted by the hot iron. Heel edges may also be finished on a wheel or roll. There are several different ways, but the object of each method is to give a hard, black, and highly polished surface to the edge.

In finishing the bottom the top lift is scoured or buffed, and all of the sole and the breast of the heel also. Each is a different process, a different operator attending to each part. The object of scouring or buffing with sandpaper is to get a smooth foundation for the finish, which is put on next, and which may be all the same color in all parts of the bottom or may have one color in the shank and another in the forepart. The stains and blackings are used on bottoms, and these are brought to a high, hard gloss by means of rolls and brushes. Hot irons are often used on black shanks and bottoms to give added hardness and luster to the finish.

The turned or turn shoe is a woman’s fine shoe that is made wrong side out, then turned right side out. The sole is fastened to the last, and the upper is twisted over, the wrong side out. Then the two are sewed together, the thread catching through a channel or shoulder cut in the edge of the sole. The seam does not come through to the bottom of the sole, nor to any part inside where it would chafe the foot.

The preparation of the upper for a turn shoe is identical with that of a welt or McKay, with the exception that the back is cut a little longer and a little larger, in order to last it over the sole. The important difference in the make-up of a turn shoe as compared with that of a McKay or welt is that it has no insole, the upper being sewed directly to a portion of the sole itself.

As the cutting of the uppers and the stitching operations of a turn shoe are the same as the Goodyear and McKay, and have been explained, we will take up the forming of the sole, which is entirely different from either of the other two methods.

A turn shoe is put together wrong side out, and it is necessary, during the course of making, to turn it by rolling the sole up like a roll of carpet. It is evident, then, that nothing but good quality, pliable leather can be used satisfactorily, and great care is taken to include nothing but the best.

The soles are cut out on the beam machines, also previously described. They are then channeled on the side that is next to the foot. This channeling is similar to that done on the welt insole. Two incisions are made, the inside one being the same as in the welt insoles. The outside one, however, is different, as the flange is cut off square instead of being rolled up. This leaves a channel which begins at the edge and surface of the sole and extends in semicircular form to the abrupt wall of the cut in the sole, which forms the breast against which the upper is to be sewed.

After the soles are channeled, they are soaked until they become soft enough to roll up easily. They are then placed on racks and kept in a damp room until needed.

A turn shoe is hand lasted wrong side out. First the uppers are turned with the lining outside, then the last is inserted and also the toe boxing.

The sole is set straight on the last and is tacked firmly to it. The operator, by aid of hand pullers, draws the upper over the sole and tacks it securely from a point where the breast of the heel will rest to where the large toe will extend, and then along the same distance on the other side. The toe part is next lasted by machinery, a wire being fastened at one side and run around the edge holding the pulled-up parts of the upper which has been stretched tightly over the last.

The shoe is next passed over to the Goodyear inseamer operator, who sews the upper to the sole, the needle passing down through the inside channel, through the sole leather, out through the square-cut channel and then through the upper, uniting the upper to the sole with the chain stitch. In fact, the bottom of a turn shoe at this time looks exactly like the bottom of a welt, with the exception that the turn shoe is still turned wrong side out. The nature of the stitch is the same--a waxed, threaded chain, with two rows of thread on the outside that loop with the single thread in the inside lip of the insole. The shoe is sewed only from the back of the shank to the toe, the heel part still being loose.

The seam is now trimmed with an inseam trimmer, a machine with a revolving, jagged-edged knife that saws off the surplus portions of the upper, leaving it smooth and even with the sole. The tacks are all pulled out with a sort of a nail puller, which works rapidly and automatically.

The lasts are then taken out and the shoe is turned right side out. This turning process is not a difficult one, but it is perhaps the most interesting operation that the layman will see in the entire factory. The operation is accomplished by means of a rigid iron bar set slantwise in a table. The upper is turned right side out by hand and the sole is rolled right side out by means of pressure on this bar.

After this turning process, which twists and rolls the shoe out of shape, it has no semblance of its final form. The back part of the sole and upper are still loose, the upper being fastened from the shank to the toe.

The turn shoe must be “second” lasted, and the inserting of the last is no easy matter. A contrivance called a push jack assists the operator greatly. He uses a flat, narrow rod to smooth out the lining, and after squeezing, pushing, and smoothing, the last is finally made to fit in the shoe. The counter is placed in at this time, the shank piece is set in place, and the shoe and last are placed on a jack for nailing. The back part upper is now stretched tightly over the heel part of the last by means of lasting pullers, and is tacked down, the nails going through the shank piece and clinching against the anvil heel seat of the last. This operation completes the lasting, the shoe now having a form exactly like the last over which it is made.

Workmen now level the bottoms and form the shank by a hand method, preparatory to the machine leveling process. The shoe is still wet and is left to dry on the last twenty-four hours. Then it is run through the machine called the “leveler,” which, with its enormous pressure, forms the sole to that of the last. The shoes are now left four days on the lasts, to dry thoroughly, so that they may retain their shape permanently.

The putting on of the heel, and the various finishing processes are practically the same as that of the welt, with the exception that a turn sole must have a sock lining.

Some factories use a grain leather sock lining, which is pasted in, covering up the channels of the sole which hold the stitches and forming a smooth surface for the foot to rest upon.

The difference between a McKay and a turn shoe may be told by the fact that the stitching on the inside of the sole is much closer to the edge in a turn. Another thing, in a turn shoe, the seam connecting the upper and the outsole can be seen.

Nothing is likely to excel the turn shoe for lightness and flexibility, since the method of making, whereby the sole is stitched directly to the upper, interposes no thick or cumbersome material. Sole leather of good quality is used. In fact, the sole would have to be not only strong, but thin and light, or the shoe could not be turned in the process of manufacture without straining it and getting it out of shape.

HISTORY OF THE TURN SHOE

History states that prior to 1845, which marked the date of the introduction of shoe machinery, most of the shoes were sewed by hand, the lighter ones turned and the heavier ones welted. In fact, the early factories that began to spring up in New England about the beginning of the century, were merely cutting rooms and places for storing the lasts and stock.

Here the uppers, soles, and linings were cut by hand and then given out to people in the vicinity, mostly farmers and fishermen, to be stitched together and paid for at so much a dozen. Such was the beginning of the shoe industry in New England. Hundreds of families added to their resources in this way, the women doing the lighter work and the men the heavier.

In fishing communities, where men were away most of the time in their boats, their wives and daughters, who stayed at home, undertook the lighter grades of shoemaking--the turn process. This was the case in the “North Shore” towns like Lynn, Haverhill, and Marblehead, and these to-day, keeping to the old traditions, are the great centers for the finer turn-grades of shoemaking, whereas the “South Shore” towns, like Brockton, Whitman, Abington, Rockland, and the Weymouths, with the men at home all the year, came to make a specialty of shoes for men, and absorbed the heavier part of the growing industry.

With the introduction of the Goodyear turn machine, however, the handwork was gradually done away with, although more handwork is done in the turn process than in either the McKay or welt process.

STANDARD SCREW SHOEMAKING

Many good qualities of heavy shoes are made by the standard screw method, which differs from the McKay method by having the outsole and insole fastened together with a double-threaded wire, which is screwed through and cut off by the machine the instant it reaches the inside of the shoe.

A pegged shoe is made in much the same way as the standard screw, except that wooden pegs are used instead of wire to fasten the sole together.

The nailed method of shoemaking consists in nailing the soles together around the edge. It is used principally for heavy, cheap shoes.