Florsheim Duckie Brown Photos - Page 2

I like the wingtip boots. Wondering about prices on all of this DB line.

WTF is 'Duckie Brown'?

Actually, if you knew what I know, I would hope you'd think there was something very much wrong with manufacturing in India. I think it is 'inherently' wrong to profit off of the un-protected, abused, economically and environmentally left for dead, faceless and hopeless workers that provide the hands of production in the tanning, leather and shoe manufacturing region of India.

And to encourage it by buying the goods imported here...well -

I agree with that 100% but what is the solution? Paying the India workers more? or shutting down business overseas altogether. US companies 'profit off of the un-protected, abused, economically and environmentally left for dead, faceless and hopeless workers' right here in America. Bad or no health care, age discrimination, sex discrimination, you name it, we have it right here at home. Corporate greed is an insidious thing. The poor workers in India have it far worse for sure. (same with all 3rd world countries ofcourse); just toss someone into the mudpits until they die, drag out the body then toss another in his/her place (and a lot of them are children). We can boycott the product. We can refuse to pay retail. We can use the power of the internet to educate and empower others. Any politicians reading this? Please propose a new law that provides for all out-sourcing to be classified as an act of treason. The penalty..well, not death, I mean lets be creative..the penalty should be that corporate weiner-flippers are relegated to menial labor for life. . You know, use the old ways. Let the 'suits' do the tanning. That Cromium Tanning process is near lethal to workers.

He's a fashion designer who worked at McDonalds.

What do you know about shoes? Especially cordovan


Help them out with some antiquing knowledge Ron. Muck that Duck


And finally, when you start out with a name like Duckie Brown, how seriously will you be taken?

I'm not really sure what the solution is.....I'm only a dreamer and an idealist, so I'm the wrong person to ask. The only thing I know, from the 3 smuggled video's I have seen and the two conversations I have had with 2 different factories that went there to see about working in India (one to buy material the other a Spanish factory where the daughter runs the show but her father still owns the factory - he sent her there to see about production - and she told me 'it's very, very sad what I saw') is that it is far worse than most other places of cheap labor production. And, for sure, I am no expert on worldwide manufacturing facilities but I do know a few people.....and have visited factories in China, here and obviously many in Italy....and one who would know said that Vietnam was like Paris compared to India. In the end, we all vote with our wallets.

Actually, in my opinion it's even worse to make goods in these places and then label from a factory's home country. There are plenty of 'Italian' goods on the market made mostly in Rumania, Egypt, Ethiopia, etc. Hell, Allen Edmonds makes alot of production in the DR and labels 'Made in USA'. At least India goods actually say 'Made in India', even though you often have to hunt for the origin label. Better than lying, I guess.

I'm perfectly aware of the price/class issue - and understand the access to goods based on this. And there is hardly a good solution in this regard. But, for those that can afford to be picky, please do.

I'm a bit surprised India would be worse than China. And as horrible as the conditions are, I suppose capitalism obliges me to say (a) that many of the people doing this work would probably have no jobs if Florsheim or some other exploitative manufacturer wasn't employing them and (b) I'd prefer our money go to India rather than to nominally Communist, command-economy China.

That being said, more and more manufacturers are displacing production from the US or England to India, and lax labelling laws in other countries allow them to do that while keeping prices high and pocketing the difference (thus not raising the workers' quality of life much or helping the consumers' pocketbook). The rumor is that Loake, Grenson and Barkers have been having most of their shoes made there, with sometimes some finishing done to get the "made in England" label -- although I think Jinda says he saw some "made in India"-labelled Grensons somewhere. _Sometimes_ quality suffers with this outsourcing, sometimes not; sometimes the quality of a brand declines as it chases lower-price consumer market share.

I believe the Duckie Brown Florsheims are pretty expensive, aren't they?

Actually, I was shocked how organized, clean and well operated the 9 factories I visited there were. I was expecting the worse, but was impressed. Now, I can't answer for the workers.....for sure culturally I would not understand.....but at least the work areas and living quarters were spotless and well managed. I found nothing obvious to say conditions were depressed. As a matter of fact, the factories there were far cleaner and more organized than in Italy. And our group was not important enough to put on a show. We are selling there so we had full run, without supervision, of numerous areas of work over many days. I also was told by one of the translators that 5 years working in this area and the people could go back to the interior regions and basically be set. Have no idea if this is true, but is what he said in a quite conversation. I'm sure I only saw a little, but what I did see I had a hard time condemning.

From what I know about India, it's more the simple protections of a well managed factory than money, even, for me. Ventilation, protective fences on machinery, break times, a place to sit that is not like a cattle car, gloves instead of having to rinse salts and/or chemicals off of hides with your bare hands, dust masks, etc., etc. Organized dormatories instead of tent cities that back up to tanneries who dump putrid waste directly upstream from where you bathe and drink the water. Little things like that.

I also understand that many places in India are very nice, and someplace that is worth a visit. I guess it's alot like Baltimore....just depends what you see -

Where does Lichtenstein place in your ranking of countries to which one would rather send our money?

Or is Lichtenstein off the list because it's merely a principality...and perhaps...because of the vaguely pornographic aspect to the name?

?


- B

I never thought that Baltimore would come up in this thread, but now that it has, I am glad.


- B

Right below Uranus

- B

Ducky

Those are harsh, but true, words concering Piobare.


- B