Last summer, Kalman was asked to come up with ideas for a New York City design show built around functional elegance, He was struggling when he accompanied his children to the shoe store and a clerk pulled out the device. There it was, exact and symmetrical, unchanged since the days when Kalman used it as a boy.
“Perfect,” he says. …
Most shoe stores don't get rid of their Brannock Devices for 10 or 15 years, until the numbers finally wear away from so much use. While Charles is guarded about production—he says the company makes “tens of thousands” each year—that total could be more. It would require switching to plastic, which would guarantee that each device would quickly crumble into ruin.
Via utopia with cheese [1], Brannock Device foot measuring device [2]
I've never really given them a second thought. Every shoe store I've been in has them; I don't think I've ever seen an alternative to the Brannock Device [3], and I think it's wonderful that the company makes a device that will last years and won't scrimp on quality just to make a quick buck.
Alas, if only more companies would follow suit …
[1] http://www.inu.org/cgi-bin/ensue?200209-009-000