From The Indianapolis News, Wednesday, March 3, 1915: One issue facing Indiana Retail Shoe Association members, assembled today at the Claypool Hotel, was their women patrons are just now insisting on patent leather shoes and there is no such article to speak of because of the European war. Trying to make a woman understand that it is better for her pocket book if she did not insist on patent leathers is really a serious question. Most high grade patent leathers come principally from Russia, and the people over there are more busily engaged in war than in worrying about the complexities of feminine fashion. The substitute material which is now being manufactured in this country is of a lower grade. Indianapolis Association members have placed signs in their stores warning their patrons that patent leather shoes cannot be guaranteed.