Chuck Taylor Goes Green

Having grown up near Boston, the Boston Celtics in the 60's were the team to beat in the NBA. What with the likes of Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, and company, how could they loose? Year in and year out, they captured NBA titles, and they became known as a true sports dynasty. As altar boys we'd go into "The Garden" to watch their games, which were rarely sold out as compared to today. In those days the "Celts" wore the black high top sneakers which became one of their trademarks, the old Chuck Taylor's. Nowadays, kids can get them in nearly any color they choose, but here is what I remember about those Converse All Stars

When I was in high school, the "Chucks" only came in white or black, and white was the most popular, in spite of the team down the road. However, those "green" roots did have an influence on some of us. My younger brother one day decided he'd had enough of the old and was going to bring in the new. Instead of the off the shelf sneaker colors, he was going to create his own and go green. Since green wasn't available, he exercised his creativity and painted his with some green shoe polish. I thought it was rather ingenious myself, so I followed suit. Here we were with the only green sneakers this side of anywhere. We were the envy of anyone who saw them.

As I see the multitude of options that these young people have when choosing their "Chucks" today, I think of my brother and his clever solution for going green. Now, if I happen to see one of these kids wearing a pair of sneakers bearing that classic logo, I ask, "Who is Chuck Taylor?", and most are unable to tell me. However, on occasion in a "random" moment, some at least can tell me that he is the guy whose name appears on the side of their sneakers. Little do they know however, that my brother and I were in on the ground floor, or better yet, we got in on "the hardwood" floor for this fashion trend!