We love to wear Safety rubber boots, but what is about the history of that footwear? Do we all know who and where was made the first rubberboots? I was wondering about. So i will share with you what i found out.

My first look goes to wikipedia, where i read some interesting things about wellington boots. So we can read there, that, the wellington boot was originally a type of leather boot.

However, in 1852 Hiram Hutchinson acquired rights to the vulcanisation of rubber from Charles Goodyear jnvention, to manufacture footwear. One year later, 1853, he moved to France. He sales his product under the brand, Â l’aigle (“to the aegle”) to honour his home country, the US. Today this brand is known as Aigle. The manufacture still exist and produce high quality rubber boots.

An other entrepreneur from the US, Henry Lee Noris and his partner Spencer Thomas bought also a patent of this invention. In 1856 he founded the North British Rubber Company, which later became Hunter Boot Ltd.

Norris was succeeded at the company by William Bartlett. Bartlett invented what is accepted as the type of car tyre, today. Around 1907 the patent was bought by Dunlop tyre company. Dunlop expanded his production with protective footwear. The Dunlop boot was born. Dunlop still produce Rubber boots.

In the same year, 1927, an other man, Claude Chamot decided to create a new type of boot made for the countryside and the seat. So a new high quality rubber boot was born.

The production of rubberboot was boosted with first world war, when the British Army needed suitable footwear for the flooded and muddy trenches. The North British Rubber Campany was asked to construct a suitable boot for such conditions. Over a million pairs were made.

In the second world war, Hunter Boot was requested to supply vast quantities of Wellington an thigh boots for the Army.

After war Wellington boot had become a popular footwear for wet weather. Because of the rationing of that time, rubber boots were also used by labourers for daily work. So rubber boots were made for all kind of occupational requirements.

In 1955 Hunter Boot Ltd introduced the green wellington boot, they became gradually a shorthand for country life in the UK.

Of course rubber boots were not only made in Britain and France. But i will tell you more in the next time.

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