In 1925, Charles F. Brannock invented the Brannock Device to measure feet and determine shoe size. He got the idea while working in his father’s shoe store, the Park-Brannock, in Syracuse, New York. He was 22 years old.

Charles Brannock works in his shop in this undated photo. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Before the Brannock Device was invented, shoe salesmen used size sticks to measure feet. They measured only the length of the foot. The Brannock Device measured the length and width at the same time. The new foot measuring device revolutionized the shoe business.
Even the United States military used the Brannock Device. In 1933, a captain in the Navy told a shoe salesman that many of his sailors had foot problems. The salesman measured the sailors' feet with the Brannock Device and realized that the sailors were wearing the wrong size shoes! Once the sailors had the correct sizes, their foot troubles went away. By World War II, the Brannock Device was used by most of the armed forces.
The Park-Brannock shoe store closed in 1981, but the Brannock Device Company still manufactures foot measuring instruments. They even make special ones for ski boots and other athletic footwear. Since 1925, more than one million Brannock Devices have been sold. They are used all over the world. Charles Brannock died on November 22, 1992, at the age of 89.

This image from McCall's magazine shows a happy shopper trying on shoes with the aid of the Brannock Device. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Unidentified worker using a drill press at the Brannock Device Company machine shop, undated. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Unidentified worker at the Brannock Device Company manufacturing facility in Syracuse, NY. Photo by C. Wesley Brewster. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

An advertising display for the Brannock device emphasized its ability to measure feet properly. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

All his life, Charles. F. Brannock (1903–1992) pursued his interest in the technical side of the shoe business and focused on the problem of foot measurement. Brannock Device Company Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History