The difficult part of a shoeSourced
He automated a skilled bottleneck in shoemaking
Suriname-born Jan Matzeliger worked in the American shoe industry and developed an automatic lasting machine. Lasting shapes the upper around a foot-shaped form. His 1883 patent helped mechanize a step that had depended on skilled hand workers, changing the scale of shoe production.
A machine took on the work of forming the fit.
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Jan Ernst Matzeliger · Wikimedia contributors
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Reviewed: 2026-10-05