Birkenstock Sandals Are Hardly a Product of the 60s

Those of us who have parents or friends who were "flower children" might think that Birkenstock sandals were invented sometime in the 1960s.  It turns out that these rustic looking sandals were around long before the 60s.  The Birkenstock sandals are named after the German family that was in the shoe business before the United States declared independence.

The Birkenstock family has been designing and crafting footwear since 1774, beginning with Johann Birkenstock, who worked as a shoemaker in a small German village. In the 1890s, his descendant, Konrad Birkenstock, had a revolutionary idea. Konrad decided to create a shoe that matched the actual shape of the human foot. These shoes were all custom made and enjoyed tremendous success. By the next decade, however, cheaper factory-made shoes were produced and there was a decline in the demand for the more expensive, custom-made footwear.

Blurb Alert! Access HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of brand new, new merchandise items at wholesale prices -- at the guaranteed lowest wholesale prices online!  You don't need to be an eBay reseller or retailer to buy wholesale -- simply get your FREE 7-day trial account, order what you want, pay for it like a regular online store, and have the item of your choice drop-shipped direct from the wholesale warehouse directly to your door.  Save 30%, 40%, 50% or even 60% off of regular retail prices.  Get your free trial right now to access a huge selection of wholesale jewelry, wholesale clothing and accessories.  You'll love it!

Factory production did not dampen the Birkenstock ingenuity.  Konrad designed an insert that followed the natural contours of the foot and more importantly, the arch of the foot.  This insert could be placed in almost any shoe, including the cheap, factory produced footwear. Over the next 50 years, Konrad and later, his son Carl,  improved and refined the arch supports. These popular arch supports became known as "footbed supports" and the word "footbed" was registered as a Birkenstock trademark.

Konrad's grandson Karl, joined the family business in 1954. Karl felt that the family was limiting its potential by producing only shoe inserts designed for a limited clientele suffering with bad feet. Karl envisioned the ultimate shoe -- a shoe designed for everyone that would make the wearer feel as comfortable as if he were walking barefoot. Using his grandfather's ideas on flexible arch supports and combining these ideas with his own knowledge of how the foot works when walking, Karl spent the next decade researching and designing his ultimate shoe.  The first model, the Madrid, became the first of the Birkenstock sandals.

In 1966, a woman named Margot Fraser vacationed in Germany.  There, she bought a pair of Birkenstock  sandals because of the pain she suffered.  Karl's ultimate shoe, the Birkenstock sandal, alleviated the chronic foot pain she had experienced since childhood. Margot brought Birkenstock sandals to the United States, where they became immensely popular.

Today, Birkenstock offers more than 400 styles of Birkenstock sandals, clogs, and shoes. Birkenstock sandals are available in a wide range of materials, colors, and sizes.  New materials and styles are introduced each year. Although ugly and expensive in some people's opinions, the Birkenstock sandals are probably the most comfortable footwear on earth.

 "Birkenstock Sandals Are Hardly a Product of the 60s" contributed by Veronica Lopez