Chuck Who?

As a kid I remeber spending countless weekends riding my bike to the Rogans Shoes tent sale to find the (at the time) all but obtainable black on black Chuck Taylors. I don't know if it was the simplicity of the shoe I was attracted to, the thrill of finding something nobody had, or the fact I was able to cut my grandmas grass and buy a new pair of shoes considering they were $15 all summer. Most trips resulted in me settling for a pair of black /white, red/white, or blue /white Chucks but I still felt like a million dollars riding away with a fresh pair of kicks! I did eventually find the elusive black on blacks a few weeks before i started high-school, rocked em' for a month or two, then sold em' to a kid at shcool for $30 (I was hustlin' lol). Needless to say my love for the shoe was short-lived. I all but forgot about the Chuck Taylor until everybodys favorite Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa started the "Taylor Gang" movent!

The seemingly ever-growing popularity of Wiz Khalifa and the "Taylor Gang" resparked my interest in the shoe and left me asking the question, "Who is Chuck Taylor?". I did a little research and the answer i found has lead me to believe that Charles "Chuck" Taylor was nothing short of THE FUCKIN' MAN in the early 1900's! Here's a small section of the article written by the people at Converse and featured on Insidehoops.com

" The Early Years: 1908 - 1920A young Marquis M. Converse starts the company with winterized footwear for men, women and children. Converse canvas shoes for the sport of tennis soon follow. And, during basketball’s formative years, Converse invents the All Star® basketball shoe, helping to spark a century-long American love affair with the sport.1908 – Marquis Mills Converse opens the doors of the Converse Rubber Shoe Company1910 – Converse produces 4,000 shoes daily1915 – Converse canvas tennis shoe business climbs, doubling by 19181917 – World’s first performance basketball sneaker debuts – the Converse All Star1918 – Charles H. “Chuck” Taylor, an All American high school player who would later suit up with the original Celtics, Buffalo Germans and Akron Firestones, puts on his first pair of All Star shoesRoaring 1920sThe run on Converse performance tennis shoes proliferates. Meanwhile, backed by Converse, Chuck Taylor, the game’s most inspired, credible and tireless advocate, hits the road to introduce legions of Americans to the sport. Along the way, Converse makes basketball shoes for the nation’s most famous barnstorming teams who are recognized for bringing to the game an improvisational style that showcased speed, competitive play and team spirit. Before there was an “old school,” Converse, and the game’s pioneers who played in our shoes, set the benchmarks against which others aspired to reach. Converse is The First School™, the true owners of the soul of the game.1921 – Chuck Taylor joins Converse, improves the All Star shoe’s traction and ankle support, becomes America’s first player endorser, and publishes the first of 60 years of the Converse Basketball Yearbook1922 – Chuck Taylor teaches the first basketball clinic at North Carolina State University1923 – THE pinnacle moment in the history of Converse: Converse adds Chuck Taylor’s signature to the All Star® patch, giving birth to what would become an American icon. Chuck Taylor, the “Ambassador of Basketball,” begins his 35-year “evangelist tour” across America to introduce and teach the game1923 – Converse customizes shoes for the New York Renaissance, the game’s first all African American pro basketball team. Specializing in teamwork, the “Rens” leverage the fast-pivoting All Star shoes to pioneer a whole new level of play, compiling an unprecedented record of 2,588 wins and only 539 losses, and becoming one of the game’s most successful teams of all time Read more: http://www.insidehoops.com/converse-history.shtml#ixzz16pxnTW8K" I highly suggest you read the rest of the article, I have a new found respect for Converse as a company from doing so.

Stay updated on the latest from Wiz at http://www.wizkhalifa.com/ or create your own Chuck Taylors at http://www.converse.com/