Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When were athletic sneakers first used?
These shoes acquired the nickname 'plimsoll' in the 1870s, derived according to Nicholette Jones' book The Plimsoll Sensation, from the coloured horizontal band joining the upper to the sole, which resembled the Plimsoll line on a ship's hull. Alternatively, just like the Plimsoll line on a ship, if water got above the line of the rubber sole, the wearer would get wet.[7]
Purcell designed a low, bleached-white canvas-and-rubber badminton sneaker for the B.F. Goodrich Company, known as PF Flyers in 1935. The shoe would provide better support on badminton courts because of a steel shank embedded in its heel. For most of the twentieth century, Jack Purcell's tennis sneaker was required wear on all grass and clay tennis courts in the United States and, at least for a time, on newer, all-weather asphalt courts as well. Unlike basketball sneakers (running shoes hadn't been invented yet), Jack Purcell sneakers had perfectly flat soles, unmarred by grooves that could tear up clay or grass and skew the elasticity of tennis ball bounces. Everyone from the youngest learner to professional and amateur tennis stars on the international tour wore Purcell sneakers; no other company made them. In 1972, Converse purchased PF Flyers (now owned by New Balance), along with the trademark rights of Jack Purcell sneakers. When Nike purchased Converse in 2003, Jack Purcell sneakers were kept in production, and is still manufactured today. Purcell-type basketball sneakers are now no different from Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars, except they have the trademark blue across their toes. Classic Purcell tennis sneakers are unchanged in appearance from their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, when they were first nicknamed "Blue Tips" and "Smilies", but they have risen in price from about $20 in 1965 to as much as $150 or more today. Converse "Jack Purcell" basketball sneakers are also popular, but more for their vintage fashion appeal than for athletic use.
Wave 1: Sneakers
The first wave pits the player against the innocuous "Sneakers", smiling, white-legged creatures that fly randomly around the screen. If one collides with the ship it will destroy it, but otherwise they do not pursue or fire upon it. Sneakers are blue when flying freely, but turn red when sitting on the ground or traveling vertically. Each is worth 10 points.
Although Nike started aggressively advertising towards women in the 1990s, they were not the first athletic company to promote their products towards women. According to Shelly Lucas's article, "Nike's Commercial Solution: Girls, Sneakers, and Salvation", "In 1981, Reebok, one of Nike's competitors in the athletic shoe industry, chose to make women its primary target market." Because aerobics became popular among women, Reebok pursued that opportunity and advertised towards women. Nike executives, however, did not view aerobics as a sport, and as a result, they did not immediately take advantage of the opportunity.
This style of footwear also became prominent in America at the turn of the 20th century, where they were called 'sneakers'. In 1892, the U.S. Rubber Company introduced the first rubber-soled shoes in the country, sparking a surge in demand and production. The first basketball shoes were designed by Spalding as early as 1907. The market for sneakers grew after World War I, when sports and athletics increasingly became a way to demonstrate moral fiber and patriotism. The U.S. market for sneakers grew steadily as young boys lined up to buy sneakers endorsed by football player Jim Thorpe and Converse All Stars endorsed by basketball player Chuck Taylor.
During the 1990s, shoe companies perfected their fashion and marketing skills. Sports endorsements with famous athletes grew larger, and marketing budgets went through the roof. Sneakers became a fashion statement and were marketed as a definition of identity and personality rather than simply athletic aids.[12]
Reebok Freestyle is an athletic shoe style introduced in 1982 by Reebok. The Freestyle was the first sneaker designed and marketed for women. It helped Reebok into the mainstream athletic wear market and fashion scene along with becoming one of the most popular athletic shoes of all time. In 1984, the shoe accounted for more than half of Reebok sales. The Reebok Freestyle was popular during the 1980s aerobics craze and is still in production and remodeled through various collections and style variations. 
The Nike Blazer is a basketball sneaker first made in 1973 by Nike and first worn by George "The Iceman" Gervin. However, it is no longer marketed as a basketball sneaker, it is now considered a retro/casual sneaker. The shoe is now marketed within the Nike Skateboarding sub-brand.
Chapters 4–5 (Summer in the Air) — Douglas discovers that his feet will not move as fast as that of the other boys because his sneakers are worn out. He becomes entranced by a pair of brand-new Cream-Sponge Para Litefoot Shoes in a shop window, and thinks on how the need for a "magic" pair of sneakers to run in the green grass is something only boys can understand when his father argues against buying another. The local shoe seller, Mr. Sanderson, is initially resistant to selling the sneakers to Douglas, especially since he does not even have enough money to pay for them upfront. Douglas, however, convinces him to try on a pair of his own sneakers, which triggers memories in Mr. Sanderson of when he was a kid and ran like the antelopes and gazelles. He agrees to let Douglas have the sneakers in return for work done by him in the shop to pay off the bill. The story ends with Douglas speeding away in the distance and Mr. Sanderson picking up his discarded old sneakers.
"Sneaker Freaker" is also used as a term for a sneaker enthusiast, the target audience of the magazine.
In 2003, the band's website stated they had "decided to undergo a mutation" and announced the launch of Chris Corner's new project, IAMX. A fourth Sneaker Pimps album was demoed but shelved, and is referred to in fan circles as SP4. Many of the songs would be finalized and recorded by Corner on the first two IAMX albums. Although the band's website hinted through 2005 that new Sneaker Pimps material and 5.1 Surround Sound re-releases of the first two albums were on the way, these plans never materialized and band members focused instead on varying side projects.
Tuck has participated in various philanthropic causes. Tuck and Giants teammate Michael Strahan teamed up with Nike to design their own exclusive pair of sneakers for ID studio in New York City. All proceeds of the sneakers were donated to Nike's Let Me Play global campaign. Tuck was also featured on the second season of "Cake Boss" when he ordered a cake shaped like a billiards table for the first annual celebrity billiards event for his charity "Tuck's Rush for Literacy."
In the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants defeated previously unbeaten Chicago 30–13 at the Polo Grounds on an icy field with temperatures peaking at 25 degrees. Before the game, team treasurer John Mara talked with Owen and team captain Flaherty about the field conditions. Flaherty suggested the Giants wear sneakers on the frozen field, as he had played in a game under similar circumstances at Gonzaga, and the sneakers proved to be effective. Mara dispatched equipment manager Abe Cohen to get as many sneakers as he could get. Due to traffic and the inability to find any athletic goods stores open on Sunday, Cohen was unable to return before the game started, and the Giants, wearing conventional footwear, trailed 10–3 at the end of the first half. Realizing time was short, Cohen went to Manhattan College — where he had a key to the equipment and locker rooms — and returned to the Polo Grounds at halftime with nine pairs of basketball sneakers, saying that "nine pairs was all I could get." Players donned the sneakers and New York, after allowing Chicago another field goal late in the 3rd quarter, responded with 27 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win their first NFL Championship game. The game would come to be known as "The Sneakers Game", and the 27 points the Giants scored in the 4th quarter set a single–quarter championship game scoring record that stood for decades. After the game, offensive tackle Len Grant expressed his sincere gratitude by stating "God bless Abe Cohen."
A typical outfit includes protective gloves, sneakers, athletic shorts and goggles. Eye protection is required in tournament handball, as the ball moves at high speeds and in close proximity to the players. It is rarely used in "street" handball, however, where a softer "big blue" ball is usually used.
Sneakers (also known as athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, sport shoes, runners, or trainers) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used for everyday wear. The term generally describes a type of footwear with a flexible sole made of rubber or synthetic material and an upper part made of leather, synthetic substitutes or cloth.
Yutaka Kōno published the novels, with illustrations by You Shiina, in Kadokawa Shoten's "The Sneaker" magazine. The first volume was then published under Kadokawa's Sneaker Bunko imprint in 2009. The series ran until 2012, during which time it was collected into seven volumes. Kōno also wrote six short stories for the series, four of which were collected in the fourth novel, while the other two were published on Kadokawa's "The Sneaker" website. A reprint of the novels was announced at the same time as the anime and live-action films. The first reprinted volume was released in September 2016, and further volumes were reprinted on a monthly schedule. A new novel adaptation is also due to accompany the anime and films.
Sneaker was a West Coast American rock band, active from 1973 to 1983. The band is best known for its "Billboard" Hot 100 Top 40 hit single, "More Than Just the Two of Us", from its first album, "Sneaker" (1981). They also had a minor hit with "Don't Let Me In", a song written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker from Steely Dan.
A sneakerhead is a person who collects, trades, or admires sneakers as a hobby. A sneakerhead may also be highly experienced in distinguishing between real and replica sneakers. Sneaker collecting is a hobby often manifested by the use and collection of shoes made for particular sports, particularly basketball and skateboarding.
During the 1950s, leisure opportunities greatly expanded, and children and adolescents began to wear sneakers as school dress codes relaxed. Sneaker sales rose so high, they began to adversely impact on the sales of conventional leather shoes, leading to a fierce advertising war for market share in the late '50s. In the 1970s, jogging for exercise became increasingly popular, and trainers designed specifically for comfort while jogging sold well. Companies also started to target some of their products at the casual fashion market. Soon, shoes were available for football, jogging, basketball, running, etc. Many sports had their relevant shoe, made possible by podiatrist development of athletic shoe technology.
In 2006, the chain announced its partnership with NBA point guard Stephon Marbury, a joint venture in which the chain would produce Marbury's Starbury Collection, a 50-item line of discount clothing, athletic clothing, and sneakers. The centerpiece of the line was the Starbury One, a basketball sneaker that retailed for $14.98. The low price point for an authentic on-court NBA shoe was positioned as a social statement, including donations of thousands of pairs to public school basketball players, with publicity that caused lines and sold-out conditions at many Steve & Barry’s stores. Marbury liked the high-quality, low price-point promise, which, as he later said, meant "we can help teach kids to be responsible, earn their own money and buy these shoes without asking their parents for money." When the collection was unveiled in August 2006, Marbury committed his time and energy by handing out Starburys to high school athletes at basketball camps, on playground courts and in barber shops. He wore on-court exactly the same shoes that consumers got off the shelves. In March 2007, the company announced that then Chicago Bulls center, and 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Wallace, would endorse the Starbury brand, wearing Starbury's during all his games and debuting his own Big Ben Starbury sneaker in the 2007-08 NBA season.
For some time, people have been drawing or painting on their sneakers using ink, markers or spray cans. Young people have made this kind of art with various motifs ranging from simple drawings to more complex graffiti paintings. Probably due to its often white color, the adidas stan smith has been used as an object for sneaker art. For example, many artists and design studios hand-paint Stan Smith sneakers and sell them as art.
Concerning signed adidas stan smith sneakers, it is possible to find them with Stan Smith's autograph with black marker ink on the white leather upper.
The two bands became engaged in a brief dispute soon after the song's release. Ali complained that the Sneaker Pimps were not present during the song's final mixing, and that they were never issued a master tape. She went on to call the song "crap." Manson responded by calling the Sneaker Pimps' involvement "a bit of a favor, in a sense, because we had already written the song, and I was interested in finding a girl to sing back-up vocals on it, and [they] were asking to be involved. I wasn't that familiar with them. I thought the girl's voice was great. When we worked on the song, I think they were a little upset because there wasn't much for them to do. The song was already done." He also refuted claims that the Sneaker Pimps were never issued with a master recording, suggesting that they had created a remix for the song, but had refused permission for it to appear on the single when they were informed it would appear as a b-side, instead of being released as the main single version. 
Plimsolls were widely worn by vacationers and also began to be worn by sportsmen on the tennis and croquet courts for their comfort. Special soles with engraved patterns to increase the surface grip of the shoe were developed, and these were ordered in bulk for the use of the British Army. Athletic shoes were increasingly used for leisure and outdoor activities at the turn of the 20th century - plimsolls were even found with the ill-fated Scott Antarctic expedition of 1911. Plimsolls were commonly worn by pupils in schools' physical education lessons in the UK from the 1950s until the early 1970s .
Athletic sneaker collection has also existed as a part of urban subculture in the United States for several decades. Recent decades have seen this trend spread to European nations such as the Czech Republic. A Sneakerhead is a person who owns multiple pairs of shoes as a form of collection and fashion. A contributor to the growth of sneaker collecting is the continued worldwide popularity of the Air Jordan line of sneakers designed by Nike for Basketball star Michael Jordan.
A freezing rain the night before the game froze the Polo Grounds field. After Giants end Ray Flaherty remarked to head coach Steve Owen that sneakers would provide better footing on the frozen playing surface, Owen sent his friend Abe Cohen, a tailor who assisted on the Giants sideline, to Manhattan College to get some sneakers. There, Brother Jasper, the athletic director (and the later namesake of the Manhattan Jaspers) emptied the lockers of the school's basketball team. Cohen arrived in the third quarter with nine pairs of basketball sneakers from the college.