Adolf Dassler
German cobbler who founded Adidas and revolutionized sports footwear.
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via Wikipedia: Adolf Dassler · see source
By the time of his death, the Adidas company he founded had 17 factories and was generating one billion Deutschmarks in yearly revenue.[1] Dassler pioneered new designs for sports footwear and was among the first to encourage athletes to endorse products.[1]
Key facts and history
Adolf Dassler began his business by repairing shoes and scavenging army debris for materials in post-war Germany.[2] Jesse Owens wore Dassler track shoes when he won gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.[3] Owens's success cemented the good reputation of Dassler shoes among the world's most famous sportsmen.[4] Adolf called his firm 'Adidas'; Rudolf called his 'Ruda' before changing to 'Puma'.[4]
One of the initial spiked shoes was made by Dassler, with the spikes created at the forge owned by his acquaintance Fritz Zehlein's family.[5] To produce footwear that was both sturdy and light, Dassler tried out unusual materials including shark skin and kangaroo leather.[5] According to his widow Käthe, shoe development was a scientific passion for Dassler, more a hobby than a job.[6] Following a post-World War II conflict, the two brothers split up and each launched their own company in 1948.[7]
The three stripe logo was officially trademarked by Dassler in March 1949.[5]
What the cited sources add
The Fashion Model Directory records that by his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment.[3] A Rediff.com article reports that the Dasslers were selling 200,000 pairs of shoes each year before World War Two.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Adolf Dassler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Gestorben: Adolf ('Adi') Dassler", Der Spiegel, 11 September 1978 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Adolf Dassler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "1920–1922: Inventive Spirit and First Shoe Production Chronicle and Biography of Adi & Käthe Dassler", Adi & Käthe Dassler Memorial Foundation, 2018; Smit 2008, p. 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Adolph (Adi) and Rudolf (Rudi) Dassler", Fashion Model Directory. facts only, no text reused. fashionmodeldirectory.com
- Kirschbaum, "How Adidas and Puma were born", Rediff.com, 8 November 2005. facts only, no text reused. in.rediff.com
- Wikipedia, "Adolf Dassler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smit 2008, p. 5 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Adolf Dassler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tagliabue, "Adidas, Puma: The Bavarian Shoemakers", The New York Times, 15 February 1981, p. F8 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Adolf Dassler" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Carbone, "Adidas vs. Puma – Top 10 Family Feuds – TIME", Time, 2011-08-23 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Adolf Dassler (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Adolf Dassler (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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