{"id":1468,"date":"2019-09-18T19:52:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T23:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=1468"},"modified":"2021-11-12T15:28:20","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T19:28:20","slug":"nike-waffle-shoes-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/nike-waffle-shoes-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Nike’s Waffle Shoes: The Surprising History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At Nike, one of Phil\u2019s key partners was Bill Bowerman<\/a>, a star Olympic track coach and Phil\u2019s former running coach from college. Bowerman was the mad scientist of the group, experimenting with new shoe designs and rubber formulations to produce a better running shoe. In one landmark experiment, he squeezed rubber in his wife\u2019s waffle iron, producing the waffle sole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn about the history of Nike’s waffle shoes here.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

1971: The Start of Nike<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Phil Knight and Sumeragi meet with factories in Japan. They visit a factory called Nippon Rubber, part of Bridgestone Tire. Knight shows them the Cortez in the morning, and after lunch they present a brand-new manufactured Cortez, Nike stripe and all. Confident, Phil describes shoes for a range of sports, including tennis, basketball, and running shoes. Within a few days, he gets samples \u2013 they\u2019re not perfect, but they\u2019re very good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a late-night creative session, Phil decides to name the shoes \u2013 the tennis shoe is Wimbledon. The basketball shoes are Blazer and Bruin. Running shoes are Cortez, Marathon, Obori, Boston, Finland, and Wet-flyte. Finally he feels proud and free, a bona fide creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He returns to Portland and meets with Bowerman. They comment that the outer sole of the training shoe hadn\u2019t changed in 50 years<\/strong> \u2013 still waves or grooves across bottom. Bowerman thinks about how he created a new track surface out of polyurethane, just like in the Olympics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowerman, inspired, sees his wife\u2019s waffle iron and thinks about the gridded pattern. <\/strong>He takes urethane and melts it, and it seals shut, now useless. He\u2019d forgotten to add releasing agents to the rubber. He keeps trying and eventually succeeds with the help of a rubber company. He sews the insoles to the bottom of running shoes, and it\u2019s a breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1976<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, the Nike waffle trainers are more popular than ever. They\u2019re breaking out of athletic uses and becoming an everyday lifestyle shoe, something competitors found hard to do. Sales double again<\/em> to $14 million.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At Nike, one of Phil\u2019s key partners was Bill Bowerman, a star Olympic track coach and Phil\u2019s former running coach from college. Bowerman was the mad scientist of the group, experimenting with new shoe designs and rubber formulations to produce a better running shoe. In one landmark experiment, he squeezed rubber in his wife\u2019s waffle iron, producing the waffle sole. Learn about the history of Nike’s waffle shoes here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-1468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-shoe-dog","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nNike's Waffle Shoes: The Surprising History - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bill Bowerman at Nike invented Nike's Waffle Shoes when he squeezed rubber in his wife\u2019s waffle iron. 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