Make Your Feet Glad

Illustration of two human feet with smiling faces on the soles.  Blue text on a white background.

A native of Württemberg, Germany, Morris Selz, a businessman, arrived in Chicago in 1854 and immediately began a clothing business in the city named Selz & Cohn. However, in 1871, Selz switched his business to focus on the shoe trade and founded M. Selz & Co in 1871. The company enjoyed immediate success, with the firms factory, the East Madison Street Factory operating with three hundred and fifty employees while making one million dollars worth of hand-pegged shoes and boots each year. Soon, Selz's company would rank among the leading shoe manufacturers in the Midwest. Charles H. Schwab, another German immigrant who had arrived in Chicago in 1854 as well joined the firm in 1878 and became a co-partner, changing the name of the company to Selz, Schwab & Co. From there the company continued to grow where by the early twentieth century, fifteen hundred workers were employed in the companies four factories located in Chicago, Genoa, Elgin, and Joliet. In addition, the company was now manufacturing twelve thousand pairs of shoes and boots per day, effectively making it the leading maker of footwear in the United States at the time. Yet, despite its success, the company like many others fell victim to the Great Depression, which caused a dramatic decrease in sales. Eventually, the factories were forced to close, ending the company and its success.