There are many firsts for Nike but AIR isn’t one of them. Ask the average person on the street who’s responsible for Air cushioned sneakers and the first name that most likely will pop out of their mouth is Nike. The thing that most people don’t know, however, is that Finnish brand Karhu was using air in their shoes long before Nike (Karhu began using air cushioning in 1976). To Nike’s defense however, Karhu isn’t TRULY the first person on the block with this idea either. Brands like the Weyenberg Shoe Manufacturing Co was selling Massagic “Air Cushion” Shoes in 1958, and Fillmore Moore was pumping air into his insoles back in 1893! Nonetheless Karhu still beat Nike to the punch and currently licenses those soles to brand Merrell. To read more about Karhu check out nshoremag.com’s article on the brand. For now take a trip back above!