#Buster brown shoes movie#

Each pair, of course, has Tiges paw print inside. Still, Juli Niemann an RT Jones analyst based in Brown Shoes home turf considers the company 'a totally focused business' since its retooling and more nimble in a world where 'fashion can change on a dime.'īrown Shoes prized Buster Brown line has evolved from the brown-and-buckled variety to todays pink, blue or sparkly versions for girls, hiking boots or sandals for boys. And although sales for the Bass footwear line contributed $9.1 million in the quarter, weakness in childrens and womens private-label markets more than offset that increase. In announcing last month that its second-quarter earnings were off 32 percent at $7.8 million, Brown Shoe said its net sales for the period largely were flat at $458.7 million. Look for me in there, too.'ĭecades since, Brown Shoes portfolio has grown to include the 915-store Famous Footwear chain of family shoe stores and the 380-store Naturalizer chain selling womens shoes in the United States and Canada. 'If I did, Id probably make a lot of money.'īy 1958, Buster Brown shoes were the worlds best seller for children, by then versed in the well-worn tag line: 'Thats my dog, Tige. 'Im not quite sure why Buster Brown became so popular,' Olson said.

Seven years later, the program crossed over onto television as a Saturday morning fixture that paid off for Brown Shoe, which saw its shoe sales rocket from $6 million in 1945 to $30 million in 1954. While the nation was at war in 1943, an advertising company on behalf of the shoe brand launched 'The Buster Brown Gang,' a childrens radio show with Smilin Ed McConnell. In the mid-1920s, the rascal and his dog spent an hour each Monday and Friday entertaining on the Buster Brown Radio Club. Though Outcault drew Buster Brown until about 1920, the comic kid and his canine never faded.

#Buster brown shoes movie#

A year later, Buster Brown starred in the companys first national ads in 'The Saturday Evening Post.' With the dawn of movie theaters nationwide, Brown Shoe by 1913 was making Buster Brown a star of short films.įour years later, a sweeping advertising campaign in that times most popular magazines made Buster Brown shoes a national brand. In 1910, Brown Shoe published 'Buster Browns Jokes and Jingles,' a booklet that kids got with a purchase of the shoes.

In many areas, entire towns turned out to watch. Then it began its marketing push.Īn army of small circus performers with small dogs resembling Tige was dispatched across the country, portraying Buster Brown while promoting the shoes at theaters, department stores and shoe shops. 'I will be as good as I can, until temptation comes,' he intoned.Īt the 1904 Worlds Fair, Outcault licensed the character to several dozen companies at a time when copyrights to comic characters didnt exist, said Richard Olson, an expert on Outcault and his works.Īs a rising young Brown Shoe sales executive, John Bush apparently saw the value of the Buster Brown name as a trademark for youth shoes and persuaded the company to buy the rights to the name.īrown Shoe is said to have paid $200. Readers knew that Buster Brown despite each comic strips 'resolve' panel, where Buster pledged to walk the straight and narrow soon would be in trouble again, putting extra spice in food or lacing his moms shampoo with honey. The Buster Brown comic found spots in newspapers nationwide, just as mischievous as the Katzenjammer Kids who followed. It then changed its name to Brown Shoe Co. 'So when you have a cherished brand like Buster Brown that can say its been putting shoes on the feet of children for 100 years, its a real milestone.'īuster Brown debuted in Richard Outcaults comic strip in the New York Herald on May 4, 1902, nearly a quarter-century after shoemaking Bryan, Brown & Co. 'Few brands ever make it to 100 years,' Brown Shoe spokeswoman Beth Fagan says.