Rice & Hutchins

A curly-haired blonde child with a chalkboard sits with his feet out in front of him; his sore red foot is showing through one of his shoes. "Educator SHOE" is printed on the sole of the other shoe. The text and company logo appears on both sides of the character in red over a white background. The logo text is written on the chalkboard in white.

Rice & Hutchins was a shoe manufacturing and wholesaling company based in Boston. It was started in 1866 by William Ball Rice and neighbor Horatio H. Hutchins. Both had experience in the shoe business, Rice having apprenticed as a shoe maker before joining the Union Army. The company grew quickly, adding factories in the northeast. Hutchins retired in 1885 but Rice continued the company's reach into the Midwest and opened offices in Berlin, London and Manila. By the time of his death in 1909, the company was considered to be among the largest shoe manufacturers in America. Sons Harry and Fred continued the business until it was sold in 1929.

Rice & Hutchins "Educator" was advertised as an "orthopoedically correct" shoe for men, women and children, prices starting at $1.35. They were among the 800 pairs of shoes on display in the company's award winning exhibit at the 1915 World's Fair held in San Francisco (Panama-Pacific International Exposition).