by Donna Alexandria

Created on: April 06, 2007   Last Updated: April 11, 2007

I do remember very distinctively my first pair of all stars. Going downtown in Detroit, and seeing them in the glass store window, and wishing I could run home with a pair on my feet. Naturally, my mother wouldn't buy them for me. Back then, kids knew not to ask for frivolous things just because it was the latest brand name fashion that all the kids were wearing. Then, parents cared less about trends. So, I did what all the other kids did: saved enough money up from my paper route, and bought my own high top red all stars.

Of course I had no ideal what wearing a pair of all stars meant. I just sported them on the basketball court, gliding all the way to the hoop. Two points, in your face!

Now I would like to think that by wearing a pair of all stars I contributed to an interesting part of American history. The history of converse Chuck Taylor basketball sneakers is a phenomenal story that many Americans can identify with, and embrace wholeheartedly.

In 1910, converse sneakers made its grand appearance. A man by the name of Marquis M. Converse from Malden, Massachusetts discovered the shoe that would transcend all social and economic backgrounds. At that time they made 4,000 pairs of converse sneakers daily (Sneakerhead, p.1).

By 1917, they produced Converse All Stars for basketball, and in 1918 Charles Chuck Taylor, a basketball player for the Akron Firestones got his first pair (Sneakerhead, p.1). He introduced the game of basketball to the world. Charles Chuck Taylor was the first player endorser. But, the most intriguing, defining moment was in 1923 when Chuck Taylor signature was added to the all-star patch (Sneakerhead, p.2).

Chucks became the number one basketball shoe in America by 1955-56. Basketball players like Wilt Chamberlain succeed insurmountable feats-he scored 100 points in a game wearing his Chucks. That record still remains today! Julius Erving aka Dr "J" received his first pair of chucks in 1957 for $3.95, and while wearing his chucks; he defied the game of basketball as we know it today.

Eventually, all good things come to pass. Converse began to decline in the 70's and continued on for the next twenty years until Nike bought them out. But despite that, they continued to imprint American culture from movie stars to rock groups.

In 2005, I bought my five-year-old twin daughters their first pair of pink high top all stars-I guess you can say it was my way of passing the torch.

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