The Rushden Echo and Argus, 12th May, 1950, transcribed by Gill Hollis
John White Impressed by U.S. Methods
American boot and shoe production methods have greatly impressed Mr. John White, principal of John White, Ltd., who, with his wife, has returned to Rushden after a two-month visit to the U.S.A., Canada and the West Indies.
“It has been from every angle a highly interesting and instructive visit,” Mr. White told the “Echo and Argus.”
Telling of his inspection of factories in Boston, New York and Chicago, Mr. White said : “I have been to see factories making the highest class, the medium class, and the most popular priced footwear of all. I have seen the methods in force in all these factories.
“Whatever doubts may have existed in my mind regarding the productivity of the American labour have been completely removed. What I have learned has been verified from actual contacts with executives and the operatives themselves, and the figures per head have been verified by the editor of the principal shoe trade journal in Boston, who gave me the figures before I went to the factories to confirm them for myself.
Superb
“I was impressed by their productivity and their systems. In some of the factories making the higher class goods, the organisation was superb. The Florsheim organisation – the principal of which is visiting our works next week – was particularly efficient.
“In the five, six dollar retail price bracket some 50,000 pairs are made daily in factories which concentrate on perhaps five or six lines. They work a 40-hour week, and their productivity is far higher than ours is in a 45-hour week.
“I think there are certain things we can learn from them. Every possible mechanical device is used, and the machinery is all of the very latest.
“I consider I have learned things which will help in our own organisation.
“What pleased me most of all was the absolutely free hand they gave me. I was allowed to go through the factory alone and question the men and the managers.”
Asked if Britain had much prospect of selling shoes to America, Mr. White said : “There is a market, undoubtedly, for the kind of shoe that Americans have always regarded as of typical British quality and type – it has got to be that. But it is not an easy trade; it wants a lot of careful preparation in lasts, designs, quality and price.”
Mr. White said he visited some of the largest leather concerns in the States and found plenty of good leather.
“But, of course,” he added, “we cannot buy it because of the low value of the £ and because of the dollar position.”
In the West Indies Mr. White found that the people had a great liking for English shoes.
“There was a time,” he said, “when they could not get them and had to buy American shoes. But when the opportunity came and they could get ours again, they bought them.”
No Opposition
“Canada has a shoe industry of its own which is extending, and they make some nice shoes. At the same time if the price is right English shoes can be sold in quantities in Canada. There is no opposition to British manufactured shoes as such.”
On the trip in general Mr. White is enthusiastic.
“The hospitality of the people we met,” he said, was almost embarrassing. Everywhere I had a car and chauffeur at my disposal.”
It was because of the extreme heat and humidity in the West Indies Mr. and Mrs. White shortened their tour and returned home earlier than had been planned. They spent some time in Jamaica, but the expected heavy rains did not come and visits to other districts were reluctantly cancelled.
In Toronto Mr. and Mrs. White were entertained by a brother of Mr. Arthur Sanders, Rushden builder.
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