Rebook pumps3/2/2023 ![]() ![]() Unveiled to the world at a trade show in March 1989, the sneaker was introduced to the public and pushed as the latest in athletic tech in September of that year. Litchfield and his team, working with the consultancy Design Continuum, came up with the Pump: a sneaker with a big button on the tongue that allowed the wearer to “pump up” the sneaker each time they put it on. Reebok president Paul Fireman wanted new tech to counter Nike, and put engineer Paul Litchfield in charge of a project to build a customizable sneaker. Reebok gained market share in the mid-80s by connecting its sneakers with the aerobics craze, but Nike commandeered the space by the late 80s with its Air Jordan line and its Air Max running sneakers with visible air. In the 1980s, sneaker companies were all about pioneering new gimmicks. ![]() Today a successor to the original shoe is the only Pump sneaker the company sells. By the time POGs hit, Pumps were on the way out. Pumps were a blip in the history of sneakers-an early 1990s fad. I’ve never owned a pair of original Pumps. Gear Regulator sneakers, a $65 knock-off. ![]() “When you wanted something,” she said, “it was like a quest for you.” But I never got them. Image by kikfoto licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 They even ended up in political cartoons, which tend to only add new tropes about every half-century. They had a controversial “banned” commercial. The next year, Dee Brown, a 6-foot-1 rookie, beat all-time dunker Shawn Kemp in part by incorporating the Pump into his dunk routines. They are etched in basketball lore: Legendary dunker Dominique Wilkins-the future NBA Hall of Famer nicknamed “The Human Highlight Reel”-wore the Pump for his 1990 Slam Dunk Contest win. Reebok, until then previously best known for women’s aerobic footwear, even managed to briefly pull ahead of Nike in market share as a result. They were famously and controversially expensive-$170 at launch, an outlandish figure that led to a moral panic in the nation’s newspapers. The Reebok Pumps were a pop culture phenomenon even before they went on sale in November of 1989. Reebok didn’t make them in kids’ sizes yet so I couldn’t even get them, but one of the first products I can remember wanting was a pair of Reebok Pump sneakers. ![]()
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