{{Short description|New York-based shoe manufacturer, importer and banker}} {{Infobox person | name = Israel Miller | birth_date = 1866 | birth_place = Grodno, Poland | death_date = August 13, 1929 (aged 63) | death_place = Paris, France | resting_place = Union Field Cemetery, New York City, U.S. | occupation = Shoe manufacturer, importer, designer, businessman | known_for = Founder of I. Miller & Co. }}
'''Israel Miller''' (1866 – August 13, 1929) was a shoe manufacturer and merchant based in New York. His company I. Miller was the leading importer and maker of women's stilettos in the United States, with 200 retail locations around the country carrying a variety of designers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cox |first=Caroline |url= |title=Stiletto |date=2004 |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |isbn=1840009063 |pages=30}}</ref> Miller was also a founder and director of the Broadway National Bank of New York.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |date=August 21, 1929 |title=New and Comment: I. Miller, Noted Shoe Manufacturer Passes Away |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ieb5dYfF50IC&dq=Shoe+designer+Israel+Miller&pg=RA7-PA9 |journal=American Shoemaking |pages=9}}</ref>
== Life and career == Miller was born the son of a peasant shoemaker in Grodno, Poland in 1866.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=June 29, 1999 |title=I. Miller Building |url=https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2023.pdf |journal=Landmarks Preservation Committee |pages=2}}</ref> He was trained by his father as an expert craftsman.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1929-08-17 |title=I. Miller Dies In Paris At 63 Shoe Specialist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/international-gazette-israel-miller-obit/169768206/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=International Gazette |pages=3}}</ref> After four years in Paris as a cutter and designer, Miller emigrated to New York in 1892.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=August 15, 1929 |title=I. Miller, Shoe Manufacturer, Dies |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/i-miller-shoe-manufacturer-dies |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> He got a job at a cobbler's bench in Manhattan's Union Square with John Azzimonti, who was then the top producer of shoes for theatrical productions.<ref name=":2" />
Following a brief partnership with a man who solicited orders for custom shoes, Miller established his own company, I. Miller & Co., in 1885.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> His shop had the moniker: The Show Folks Show Shop Dedicated to Beauty in Footwear.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Finamore |first=Michelle Tolini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1uVEAAAQBAJ&dq=Shoe+designer+Israel+Miller&pg=PA74 |title=Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour |date=2022-10-10 |publisher=University of Arkansas Press |isbn=978-1-68226-217-7 |pages=74 |language=en}}</ref> Initially, Miller produced shoes primarily for the theater industry. Numerous vaudevillians began to patronize him because of his exceptional designs and craftsmanship, and he soon started getting orders to supply shoes for whole casts of theatrical shows.<ref name=":1" /> Among his famous clients were Richard Mansfield, E. H. Sothern, Lillian Russell, Fannie Davenport, and Charles Bigelow.<ref name=":4" /> I. Miller made the shoes for nearly all of ''The Passing Show'' productions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Westover |first=Jonas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAIBDQAAQBAJ&dq=Shoe+designer+Israel+Miller&pg=PA24 |title=The Shuberts and Their Passing Shows: The Untold Tale of Ziegfeld's Rivals |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-021923-9 |pages=24 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1905, Miller began a regular wholesale and retail business after he received commissions from society women requesting evening footwear, and actresses also wanted him to design shoes for their wardrobes.<ref name=":1" /> As Miller's business expanded, he built factories in Brooklyn, New York; Long Island, New York; and Haverhill, Massachusetts.<ref name=":1" /> The company name I. Miller was used for his flagship store at 1554 Broadway in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, which opened in 1911.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Within the decade, when shorter dresses became fashionable, women's shoes suddenly gained popularity, and I. Miller & Sons, as it was then known, saw a dramatic increase in sales and profits.<ref name=":4" />
Miller also imported shoes made by designer Andre Perugia from France, which were offered for sale in a special area known as the "Corner of Paris."<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /> Because women's stockings had historically been white, black, or dark brown, Miller also marketed Perugia's "sun tan" stockings, which were regarded as innovative.<ref name=":1" />
Miller negotiated a new long-term lease in 1920 that would take over the entire 1554 Broadway building and the adjacent 1552 Broadway building, which had frontages on Broadway and West 46th Street, in effect from May 1926.<ref name=":1" /> Miller had architect Louis H. Friedman submit plans in March 1926 to join and redesign the structure, resulting in the I. Miller Building on Broadway and 46th Street.<ref name=":1" /> Beginning in May 1926, the project was finished by December.<ref name=":1" />
In 1926, Miller retired from his role as head of I. Miller & Sons, an $8 million company that included two shoe manufacturers, 200 agencies around the United States, and sixteen retail stores in New York.<ref name=":2" /> His sons, who were inducted into the business as they grew up, continued to run the business.<ref name=":0" />
Miller was a founder and director of the Broadway National Bank of New York.<ref name=":0" />
Miller lived in Long Beach, New York, and was well-known for his charitable contributions.<ref name=":0" /> He made significant donations to the Jewish Educational Alliance, the Federation for the Support of Jewish Philanthropic Societies, and Beth Israel Hospital.<ref name=":2" />
== Death == On August 13, 1929, Miller died at the age of 63 from a heart attack at Hôtel Claridge in Paris during an extended European tour.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1929-08-14 |title=ISRAEL MILLER DIES SUDDENLY IN PARIS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/08/14/archives/israel-miller-dies-suddenly-in-paris-founder-of-shoe-business-here.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> He was survived by his wife, who was at his bedside at the time of his death, a daughter, and five sons: George, Maurice, Charles, Michael, and Irving.<ref name=":4" />
Miller's body was taken to New York on the North German Lloyd liner Bremen for burial.<ref name=":4" /> His funeral was held at the B'nai Jeshurun synagogue in Manhattan on August 21, 1929.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=1929-08-22 |title=2,000 At Miller Rites |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-times-israel-miller-f/169770019/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Times |pages=8A}}</ref> All I. Miller shops were closed out of respect on the day of his funeral.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1929-08-21 |title=I. Miller & Sons, Inc Advertisement |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-i-miller-sons-stores-close/169770432/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=Daily News |pages=10}}</ref> About 2,000 people attended the funeral, including friends in the theater industry and delegations from Jewish institutions and organizations he supported.<ref name=":5" /> In his eulogy, Rabbi Israel Goldstein said Miller died like Moses, "upon a mountain."<ref name=":5" /> He also described Miller's philanthropic activities.<ref name=":5" />
He is interred in the Miller family mausoleum at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.<ref name=":5" />
== References == {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Israel}} Category:1866 births Category:1929 deaths Category:Shoe designers Category:Polish emigrants to the United States Category:Jewish fashion designers Category:19th-century Polish businesspeople Category:20th-century Polish businesspeople Category:Businesspeople from New York (state) Category:People from Long Beach, New York <references /> Category:Businesspeople from the Kingdom of Prussia Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:Burials at Union Field Cemetery