Jan matzeliger invention pictures

Why did jan ernst matzeliger invent shoes

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By Tamara Shiloh,
The Oakland Post

(NNPA Newswire) – The craft of shoemaking was at one time difficult and manual work. But with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, cobblers and cordwainers cut, sewed, and tacked shoes with machines.

The inner and outer soles were attached with machines and other devices were used to sew uppers to lowers. The final part of the process though, remained manual: the lasting.

A cordwainer is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. Lasting is the part of the process that sets the final shape of a shoe and holds it in place so the outsole can be permanently attached.

Designing a machine to perform the lasting was thought to have been impossible. But Jan Ernst Matzeliger (–), was determined to automate this task. And with persistence, he was successful. He revolutionized the industry of shoemaking with his lasting machine. It cut the cost of manufacturing shoes in half, thereby making shoes more affordable.

Little is known about Matzeliger’s early life. He was born on the northern coast of South America in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (now the Republic of Suriname). By age 10, he was apprenticed in the machine shops. He had an interest in machinery and mechanics, and at the same time, desired to see the world.

At 19, Matzeliger wen

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Jan Matzeliger

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Who Was Jan Matzeliger?

Jan Matzeliger settled in the United States in and trained as a shoemaker. In , he patented a shoe lasting machine that increased the availability of shoes and decreased the price of footwear. He died of tuberculosis on August 24,

Early Life

Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on September 15, , in Paramaribo, Suriname —known at the time as Dutch Guiana. Matzeliger's father was a Dutch engineer, and his mother was Surinamese. Showing mechanical aptitude at a young age, Matzeliger began working in machine shops supervised by his father at the age of At 19, he left Suriname to see the world as a sailor on an East Indian merchant ship. In , he settled in Philadelphia.

Invention of the Lasting Machine

After settling in the United States, Matzeliger worked for several years to learn English. As a dark-skinned man, his professional options were limited, and he struggled to make a living in Philadelphia. In , Matzeliger moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, to seek work in the town's rapidly growing shoe industry. He found a position as an apprentice in a shoe factory. Matzeliger learned the cordwaining trade, which involved crafting shoes almost entirely by hand.

Cordwainers made molds of customers' feet, called "lasts," with wood o