The Hush Puppies brand was founded by Wolverine in 1958 to appeal to post war suburbia. Wolverine developed a practical method of pigskin tanning for the US military, so chairman Victor Krause came up with the concept of a “casual pigskin shoe” to appeal to these post war consumers. The brand was popular in the 50’s and 60’s, but in 1994, the brand (down to sales of 30,000 per year) was almost axed by Wolverine, almost. Although sales were down, Hush Puppies had become popular in the clubs and bars of downtown Manhattan, where hipsters were buying them up at mom and pop shoe stores. In 1995, a few influential fashion designers featured Hush Puppies in their collections and Wolverine went on to sell 430,000 pairs (they sold four times that amount the following year). Sixteen years later, after a huge comeback, Hush Puppies is going strong and still pumping out the goods. To check out their current lineup visit hushpuppies.com. For now check out this 1998 ad below.
