![]() ![]() The top is then swept up to create height and then rolled or slicked back. Traditionally (in the previous century, anyway), a Pompadour consists of short back and sides. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Celebrities including Bruno Mars, David Beckham, Alex Turner as well as Pink and Rihanna have all been seen rocking a Pomp. Down the road, he'll be forgotten.", Copyright 2004 Associated Press. "It is the centennial, and there aren't that many around who were intimate with Buster Brown. ![]() ![]() "I bet if you ask 50 kids, 'Who's Buster Brown?' you might be hard-pressed to find people who could tell you," says Olson, a retired psychology research professor. Still, Juli Niemann - an RT Jones analyst based in Brown Shoe's home turf - considers the company "a totally focused business" since its retooling - and more nimble in a world where "fashion can change on a dime." Brown Shoe, she believes, "has very good long-term potential." Still, grown-ups including 59-year-old Olson wonder whether the childlike mascot may find its fame fading among consumers in this age of high-tech and video games. Potential And although sales for the Bass footwear line contributed $9.1 million in the quarter, weakness in children's and women's private label markets more than offset that increase. In announcing last month that its second-quarter earnings were off 32 percent at $7.8 million, Brown Shoe said its net sales for the period largely were flat at $458.7 million. Decades since, Brown Shoe's portfolio has grown to include the 915-store Famous Footwear chain of family shoe stores and the 380-store Naturalizer chain selling women's shoes in the United States and Canada. By 1958, Buster Brown shoes were the world's best seller for children. "I'm not quite sure why Buster Brown became so popular," Olson said. An army of small circus performers with small dogs resembling Tige was dispatched across the country, portraying Buster Brown while pitching the shoes at theaters, department stores and shoe shops. As a rising young Brown Shoe sales executive, John Bush persuaded the company to buy the rights to the name. At the 1904 World's Fair, Outcault licensed the character to several dozen companies at a time when copyrights to comic characters didn't exist, said Richard Olson, an expert on Outcault and his works. The "Buster Brown" comic found spots in newspapers nationwide, just as mischievous as the "Katzenjammer Kids" who followed. It then changed its name to Brown Shoe Co. "So when you have a cherished brand like Buster Brown that can say it's been putting shoes on the feet of children for 100 years, it's a real milestone." Start of comic strip "Buster Brown" debuted in Richard Outcault's comic strip in the New York Herald on May 4, 1902, nearly a quarter-century after shoemaking Bryan, Brown & amp Co. "Few brands ever make it to 100 years," Brown Shoe spokeswoman Beth Fagan says. Since then, Brown Shoe has grown, returning its global work force to about 11,500 workers and now happily celebrates Buster's anniversary. In recent years it has worked at restructuring, closing about 100 stores in its Naturalizer chain and laying off about 600 workers. Louis-based company are trading at around $27, narrowly above its 52-week low of $25.35 and well below its high for the year of about $42. For decades he proved a superb fit for Brown Shoe, which has stumbled some in recent years as it grows into a larger concern owning store chains and other shoe lines. The winking boy with his sidekick pooch, Tige, made his way into everything - comic books, radio, TV and theater spots. The lineup of children's footwear bearing his name helped build the company into what is now a $1.8 billion concern. In his Little Lord Fauntleroy outfits and Dutch-boy haircut, Buster Brown took swats on the backside in his comic strip and helped the Brown Shoe Co.'s bottom line. Louis shoe company took a chance and bought licensing rights to a comic strip character. LOUIS (AP) - Cross-marketing and multimedia weren't the buzzwords they are now when, 100 years ago, a suburban St. Today's kids aren't that familiar with the brand.
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