Dr. Scholl's - History - Exercise Sandal

Exercise Sandal

Frank's son William, born in London in 1920, had joined Scholl Manufacturing following World War II. A graduate of modern languages from the University of Cambridge, while acting as an interpreter in Germany at the end of the war, he had come across a wooden sandal. Returning to develop his design in the 1950s, he added a coloured leather strap, and decided to market it on launch in 1959 is as the "Original Exercise Sandal," claiming that wearing it toned the leg muscles.

Although the sandal was designed primarily for footcare, female fashion of the early 1960s was based around the mini skirt, which showed off the full length of a lady's legs. The fact the sandal now looked trendy with its primary-coloured leather strap added to its marketability, and resulted in huge sales.

Known today simply as "Scholls", with wooden soles and leather uppers they quickly became a style and comfort icon throughout the 60s and 70s, worn by celebrities such as Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton. William enhanced distribution by making them available in self-service racks in drugstores, which by 1972 resulted in Scholl selling over 1 million sandals in the United States alone.