Sperry Top-Sider

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Sperry Top-Sider is a brand of shoe designed in 1935 by Paul Sperry, older brother of author/illustrator Armstrong Sperry. Sperry was an avid boater who, like most boaters, risked injury while walking on the slippery deck of his boat. He had tried without success to design a shoe that would provide improved traction. His successful design was inspired by the pattern of grooves or cracks on his dog's feet and combined a leather upper-shoe with a herringbone pattern of grooves on the sole. The cutting of grooves in the sole of the Top-Sider was an implementation of a process of splitting or siping a shoe sole invented and patented in the 1920s by John Sipe.

Sperry's shoe quickly became popular with boaters not only for its non-slip sole but also for its white color, which prevented the shoe from leaving marks on a boat's deck. The shoe remained a niche product until 1939 when the U.S. Navy negotiated the right to manufacture the shoe for its sailors. As a result of the Navy contract, Sperry's business was purchased by the U.S. Rubber Co., which then marketed the shoe across the country.

The brand is owned by the Stride Rite Corporation. The shoes are advertised with the slogan "Get-Wet", and still feature Sperry's non-slip soles.