05/04/2025
In the late 1800s, shoes were still a luxury for many—painfully slow and expensive to make by hand. But in 1883, an inventor named Jan Ernst Matzeliger changed everything.
Born in Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) in 1852, Matzeliger immigrated to the U.S. and began working in a Massachusetts shoe factory. There, he saw a problem: attaching soles to shoes—called “lasting”—was done by hand, limiting how many pairs could be made. He knew there had to be a better way.
So, he built it.
Matzeliger invented the lasting machine, a device that could do the work of ten skilled shoemakers in a fraction of the time. His machine revolutionized the industry, cutting shoe prices in half and making durable footwear affordable for working-class families across America. Sadly, he died at just 36 from tuberculosis, before he could see how widely his invention would transform lives.
Jan Ernst Matzeliger wasn’t just a genius—he was a visionary who changed an entire industry. His name may not appear in most textbooks, but every pair of shoes we wear today walks in the path he helped create.
~Lovely USA
