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Short Stories

Short Stories About Shoes

This is a collection of short stories that we think will be of interest to our visitors. We would like to see this section grow with input from our students. If you have any stories that you would like to share, submit the story for review, maybe we will add it to our collection and publish it on the website.

Links to Short Stories:

Stanford Story:

( There are several versions of this legendary tale. We like this one the best.)

And now for the rest of the story.........

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the president's outer office at Harvard.

The secretary could see that the people were not from Boston, and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned. "We want to see the president", the man said softly.

"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped. "We'll wait," the lady replied.

For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.

They didn't. And the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted to do.

"Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. And he sighed in exasperation and nodded.

Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to
spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and Homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The president, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus".

The president wasn't touched he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly, "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs?

We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical
plant at Harvard".

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now.

And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.

And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Prior to the Late 1800's work was done in the home, on the farm, or in the local shop of the Master Craftsman.

With the rapid growth of Mass Production in the early 1900's, the movement was to centralized manufacturing and distribution facilities. Small local factories were closed. People were forced to travel long distances to find work, often leaving their home, family and friends behind.

During the Mid 1900's the Global Economy became an important factor in Mass Production and consumer oriented product development for Mass Marketing.

Some nations became Consumers, and others Producers. Driven by Price Competition, manufacturers would go to the ends of the earth to find the cheapest possible labor to produce their products.

By the Late 1900's almost 98% of the footwear that was being sold in the US was produced in a foreign country. The competition for cheap prices was eventually realized in the poor quality of the finished products.

The items would "Look Great", but they would soon fall apart, and in most cases the products are not repairable, forcing the consumer to purchase another item and send the old one to the land fill.

In the long run this type of thinking has proven to be very costly, and short sighted.

Since the 1990's many people have been displaced from their career positions, and smaller businesses have been forced to close down completely due to price competition from cheap foreign imports.

By the turn of the Century in 2000, Consumers have grown weary from the cheap quality of the mass produced import goods that are forced on them. They are searching for alternatives at a time when there are very few choices for quality locally produced footwear.

In the 21st Century we will have come full circle, bringing Old World Craftsmanship together with Modern Technology to develop the Cottage Industry of the Future.

Localized manufacturing and marketing makes it possible to offer customized, high quality products and services to the local community, stimulating the local economy.

Historically, at times when money is tight, bartering for products and services has always been a reliable method of stimulating the local economy and creating Self Employment, which often grows into a Home Based Business or Cottage Industry.

Traditionally, Shoemakers have been Self Employed, independent personalities.

The most successful shoe companies in the world were founded by the Master Craftsman Shoemaker.