With their soft suede and rubber soles, Hush Puppies padded into... Chronicle News Service illustration/Steve Young ROCKFORD -- Fifty years ago, a small shoe company gave birth to a casual shoe ...

Before long, Rockford-made Hush Puppies were on the feet of everyone from the Rat Pack in Las Vegas to the Beatles in London. Within a few years, the shoe maker said one out of every 10 adults in ...