In 1881, Daniel Green, a young travelling shoe salesman for the Wallace Elliot Company in New York city, visited Dogelville New York and was shown a pair of felt shoes made from waste piano felt made at the local mill. These felt shoes were worn by many of the factory workers to keep their feet warm while working on the cold concrete floors.

Daniel spotted a business opportunity and persuaded the mill owner to make the felt slippers available to the shoe trade. Daniel and his brother William became the sole agents of the business which was soon a big hit. A year later the brothers sold 600 pairs and by 1884 sales rose to 24,000. In 1885 the felt shoes and slippers were made with felt heels and could be worn either in the street or in the boudoir. Fancy coloured felt was added to the white piano felt soles and sales jumped to 75,000 pairs.