Kaufman Footwear

Kaufman Footwear was a Kitchener, Ontario-based shoe company. It was known for its Sorel brand.

History

The Kaufman Rubber Company was founded by Jacob Kaufman and his son Alvin Ratz Kaufman in 1908, in what is now Kitchener, Ontario.[1] It became Kaufman Footwear in 1964.[2]

A.R. Kaufman took over as president of the company in 1920, a position he held until 1964.[3] A. R. Kaufman was a leading Canadian eugenicist who encouraged sterilization of his workers. When Kaufman Rubber laid off workers during the Great Depression, Kaufman's proposed solution to their financial woes was sterilization. Kaufman would later take credit for over 1000 male sterilizations performed at Kaufman factories between 1930 and 1969.[4]

Kaufman Rubber Co. brands included Foamtread slippers, introduced in 1953; Showertogs, an early use of PVC as a clothing material, in 1954; and its Sorel line of winter boots, which was later developed as a fashion footwear brand.[2]

In 1961 Kaufman purchased L.H. Packard & Co. of Montreal, followed by Prospect Shoes Ltd. of Sherbrooke in 1966.[2] Footwear production for the company became centered in Quebec.

Kaufman Footwear declared bankruptcy in 2000 and the Sorel trademark was bought by Columbia Sportswear.[5]

gollark: Oh, hey, a survey?
gollark: There are some TP-Link ones, and Netgear has a usable "wireless access point" which is basically the same.
gollark: No, I bought some OpenWRT-able routers cheaply.
gollark: Sure. Check the OpenWRT compatibility list.
gollark: Unless they're "tri-band" ones, which are better.

References
  1. Richardson, Lynn E. "KAUFMAN, JACOB – Volume XIV (1911-1920) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  2. "Kaufman Footwear fonds". University of Waterloo. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  3. Hogan, David B. (11 November 2011). "What's Behind a Name: The Kaufman Prize of the Canadian Geriatrics Society". Canadian Geriatrics Journal. 14 (3). doi:10.5770/cgj.v14i3.10. ISSN 1925-8348. PMC 3516348. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  4. "Kaufman, A. R." Eugenics Archive. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  5. "Sorel's demise leaves boot shortage". CBC News. 2000-11-21. Retrieved 2009-11-16.


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