The company was created in St. Louis and was originally named Bryan, Brown & Company after its founders George Warren Brown and Alvin Bryan. The company began business in 1878 and incorporated in 1881 as Bryan-Brown Shoe Company.

In 1904, the company bought the rights to Buster Brown, a character developed by cartoonist Richard F. Outcault they would use for marketing and his pet dog Tige was added a few years later.

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