Adidas All Around 1963 (1960's)

 

Origin: This shoe originated from the need for a shoe that was fashionable but was still light. Adidas stepped up in 1963 and made this shoe with the materials that were used in most running shoes at the time. The normal sneaker design from basketball shoes of the past was still the accepted design. However, people wanted a basketball shoe that was different from the basketball shoe before the 60's. They wanted something other than the canvas on the upper part of the shoe. Adidas AG was a German company that was founded in 1949. They began making products for a variety of sports in the 60's and basketball was one of them. By 1963, they began making their first basketball shoe, which was the All Around.

Purpose: This shoe had the same rubber bottom as all of the other shoes of this time period. It then had a leather part for the upper shoe. The top was made of leather simply because it looked a lot better, However, the leather used was also light. The patch was just for looks and the shoe laces were made of cotton like most shoe laces. The new component of this shoe was the leather upper part. This part of the shoe looked good and it also isn't add weight to the shoe. This shoe was created because the needed to be a shoe that looked good and functioned well. It fulfilled both needs quite well.

Value: This shoe is an expression of this time period because it clearly symbolizes the growth in business in Western Europe since it originates from Germany. It shows the economy boomed in Western Europe after a lot of money was given by the U.S to countries struggling after the second World War. Companies like Adidas were able to expand business and gain popularity. Adidas making basketball shoes shows that Adidas gained popularity globally. It expresses values of business in Germany and Western Europe and concerns of the same thing. This shoe is a better expression of this time compared to other items because it is a perfectly clear example of the economic boom resulting in Western Europe coming from the money in he Marshall Plan.

Limitations: This item cannot tell us anything about the time period except for the economic boom in Western Europe. it cannot tell us anything that was happening pertaining to the Cold War which included anything happening in Asia or anything happening with the nuclear weapons. This is because this inanimate object is incapable of symbolizing those things. There were many voices resisting communism and many voices of things happening I the U.S and this item cannot symbolize that because it only symbolized things that were happening outside the U.S. This shoe was not a mainstream item for this time because most shoes still used the canvas as the material for the upper part of the shoe. The voices and perspectives that were not symbolized by this item included all of the voices and perspectives in any art of the world other than Western Europe.

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