o KNOW the wholesale shoe service industry in the U.S.A., its genesis and growth, you must first understand what a finder is for that is the general designation for those who function as wholesalers to the shoe service industry. The origin and use of this term finder are encompassed by the same haze of obscurity as is the early history of the industry itself. Two interesting legends exist and persist as to how the name finder came into being. In the pioneer days of our country the making and repairing of shoes was a necessary responsibility of the family, each family group developing an increasing facility. As the country grew and population increased, itinerant craftsmen journeyed from farm to farm and from village to village making and repairing the footwear of the family. The farmer often supplied leather for these shoes from the hides of animals he butchered for food. He tanned the leather himself in his own pits using his own formula. As the itinerant shoe craftsmen began to find out that farmer Jones' leather was better than farmer Smith's he would acquire extra quantities of this better leather and make it available to others on his trade route. The Buttons and Bows and other ornaments called for in the making of Sunday best shoes had to be found, and the wandering shoemaker spent much of his time searching the markets