The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback: Jogging.

This time tomorrow I will be rocking out with NEEDTOBREATHE. Which means I'll be doing a lot of standing and walking around Ichthus Festival. I've even had to run a few times to make the start of a concert. So I thought I'd I bring a walking/jogging/running shoe today.

They're simple in a nice white/blue colorway. They're appear to have an upper of suede and nylon.

I hope I was able to catch the game last night, but I don't know yet. Either way I'll be Weapresenting Boston. Thanks for checking out the blog and remember the vote on your way out.

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback: Get you Jog On

Did I really just type that for a title, wow, sorry about that. Well I've got a bag of Converse goodies last night, nothing like loving Parents stopping by the Converse stores in Las Vegas and Primm, Nevada. I might get to them next week, say like Wednesday. However, they weren't going to find anything that would help me out with today's post. So since I am back home right now and close to my supply, I thought I'd dig into my own collection for a change.

Right off the bat let me tell you that my camera skills have certainly waned from all of those film classes I took. I did also rush, but I am not about making excuses...yet. So I am not sure how this will look on screen, well that's a lie because I will see them before this gets posted. Anyway let's get to the goods.

The Converse Blog's Friday Flashback

Converse Jogger

Here is a side shot of the Jogger. When I bought these on eBay a few years ago they were advertised as being from the 70's, in fact I think he said from 1977. As you will see from the box shot below that they were produced during the Eltra period.

The heel tap is simple and just proclaims Converse. Sometimes this works really well and I think this is one of those times. However, I can't help but wonder want this would look like with the Star in a Square logo. Also you notice the rest of the heel area is in suede. In the another picture that you will see a close up shot of the toe cap. The outline of the toe cap is also in suede.

The rest of the shoe is almost like a nylon and satin mix. Of course I could be completely wrong about that. However, I do know that the Chevron and Star's are screened on. I am still a little surprised by this and can't think of another Converse shoe I've seen with screened logos.

Well the outsole was pleasantly unexpected and pretty unique. It's all molded with ovals in alternating directions. One thing that stood out to me was the lack of branding on the outsole, a rare feature for any athletic shoe.

This is probably the best shot of the whole bunch. It shows a great profile view of the shoe. The nylon, stitching, suede, and gum outsole really come together in this picture.

Finally, here are some pictures of Eltra era box.

Well that will be it for today. I haven't worn these yet but I am thinking it might be time. Anyway I know the colorway is a little off, but it's vintage so I am not going to complain. Thanks for stopping by, don't forget to click a link on your way out. Enjoy the weekend.

Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback: Arizona

Hello and welcome to another edition of Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback. Today I was having a really hard time picking which shoe to feature. I kept thinking about it while I was trying to read for my East Asia to 1800 history class. Then I thought about how nice it was that I no longer have class on Friday. It's awesome story how that happened but I won't go into here, let me just say that God is good. So I was thinking about going for a walk later on and then I thought about doing a running shoe for today's post. Which leads us to...

Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback:

The Converse Arizona

With a name that seems more fitting for a battle ship I was interested in trying figure out the reason for the name. However I was unable to find this information and so we'll have to use our imagination. At first glance this is a pretty simple looking jogging/training shoe. It's got suede in the ankle and heel areas and also in part of the toe cap. Then it appears to have mesh throughout the rest of the shoe.

Then as you'll see below the shoe really seems to come alive with the outsole, which I must admit seems rare. To me the best part about the outsole is that it obviously has a purpose for being designed in such a way. The heel and forefoot areas make the most sense to me. The pods, for lack of a better term, are gathered around particular strike areas. The heel has the largest grouping with a heel stabilizing bar for good measure. Then the pods get wider almost like ovals in the forefoot were the ball of your foot would strike and the push off.

However, I am not quite sure of the reason to place certain pods in the midfoot where the arch of your foot is. My best guess is so that the shoe did not completely sink in the midfoot while still providing cushion and return in more populous pod areas. If anyone has any ideas on this please post.

A few years ago Converse re-issued a shoe called the Arizona Racer, however upon further review I don't think it was based on this shoe. Which means there could have been at least one other shoe with the Arizona tag. This re-issued shoe also featured the pods, but they were place all over outsole. So I am guessing that the Arizona line of running, jogging, or training shoes all had these pods on the outsoles.

Well that's all for today, I wish I had some more pictures, maybe I can find some more. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend. Watch a lot of college football and eat lots of grilled meats. Thanks for reading Converse NCAA's Friday Flashback.