Paul Van Doren

Paul Van Doren is one of the two children of Johnson and Rena Van Doren. His father was an inventor while his mother was a seamstress.

Van Doren dropped out of school at the age of 14, when he was in the eighth grade. Interested in horses, he went to the race tracks every day; there, he became known as 'Dutch the Clutch.' [1] His mother then insisted that he get a job in a shoe factory.

In 1966, Van Doren, his brother James Van Doren, and their friends Gordon, Ryan Emmert and Serge D’Elia became partners in opening the first Vans. It took a year to build and set up the factory at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim. They offered only 3 different styles of shoes when they first opened; their prices ranged from $2.49 to $4.99.[2] Vans had about 70 stores in California by the end of the 1970s.[3] Van Doren ran the company until 1976, when his brother James took over.

• http://www.sneakerfreaker.com/feature/history-of-vans/2/
• http://sneakers.about.com/od/brands/p/Vans.htm
• http://www.the-house.com/portal/vans-history/
• http://www.vans.net.au/wawcs0130206/History.html