{"id":235960,"date":"2022-11-10T16:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/?p=235960"},"modified":"2023-09-20T10:35:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T09:35:23","slug":"doc-martens-facts","status":"publish","type":[],"link":"https:\/\/www.factstoryhub.com\/doc-martens-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Definitive Facts About Doc Martens"},"content":{"rendered":"
These boots were made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do!\n
As it turns out, they’re also pretty good for all kinds of activities!\n
Dr. Martens, Doc Martens, Docs, DMs; these timeless boots have gone by many different names over the years.\n
One thing that hasn’t changed, though: their rugged simplicity.\n
If you’ve ever wondered about the origins of Docs or how they became so popular, then read on \u2013 as we sure have a treat for you!\n
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Doc Martens were invented at the end of WWII by Dr. Klaus M\u00e4rtens, a German army doctor who had broken his foot.\n
The standard-issue military boots simply weren’t comfortable enough, so he made his own.\n
He cobbled a prototype using old rubber tires for soles, and scraps of leather scavenged from war-torn German cities.\n
By 1947, he had paired up with an old university friend, Herbert Funck, who helped M\u00e4rtens develop the design further and find more customers.\n
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Specifically, more than 80% of Doc Martens sales within the first ten years of the company being in business were to homemakers over the age of 40.\n
They particularly liked the boots because of their cushioned soles, which were pretty handy considering the amount of time the average housewife spent on her feet!\n
By 1952, sales had grown so much that M\u00e4rtens and Funck opened a factory in Munich.\n
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M\u00e4rtens and Funck’s boots were getting so popular that they decided to go international.\n
In 1959, a British footwear manufacturer called R. Griggs Group bought the exclusive rights to make and sell the boots in the UK.\n In addition to changing the name of the boots to Dr. Martens to make it more palatable to the post-war British public, Griggs also introduced the iconic yellow stitching and slightly modified the shoe’s shape.\n Doc Martens were hardy, reliable, and, most importantly, they were comfortable if you needed to spend all day on your feet.\n Factory workers, police officers, and mail carriers were some of the first to adopt the iconic boots.\n At around 2 pounds a pair, they were cheap enough for anyone in a low-income bracket to get their hands on.\n Once again, Doc Martens are tough, and their steel-capped toes can do some damage if you know how to use them.\n This was a huge selling point for anyone who wanted to get up to no good, and skinheads, punks, and a wide variety of countercultures were big fans of Docs.\n Skinheads, particularly the ultra-right-wing ones in the 70s and 80s, almost permanently ruined the brand’s reputation.\n Had it not been that everyone else (including the police they were fighting with) were wearing them, that might have been the case!\n With the decline of grunge, punk, and alt-rock in the early 2000s, Doc Martens suddenly found themselves with rapidly shrinking profits.\nThe working classes were the first people to adopt Doc Martens in the UK.\n
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They gained a bad reputation for a while.\n
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The company nearly went broke.\n
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