Searching for a "Pair to Remember": a well-known shoe company has set out to find fresh faces of kids—and, apparently, canines—to be part of its latest ad campaign. Sound familiar?

AFTER 100 YEARS of being represented by a cartoon boy and his dog, the Buster Brown shoe brand set out looking for a new face or, more accurately, five new faces. (Actually, 10 if you count the dogs, and why wouldn't you?) The "Pair to Remember" contest, whose winners soon will appear on the company's shoe boxes, drew more than 1,000 entries. Buster Brown has long been a marketing pioneer, and its latest campaign is no exception, as the images printed here clearly show.

Buster Brown shoes debuted at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. In the decades that followed, the company used character appearances, radio and television sponsorships, gifts with purchases, and myriad other ideas to build loyalty among generations of consumers:

1904: The 25-year-old Brown Shoe Company buys the licensing right to Buster Brown (and his dog Tige) for $200.

1910: The company publishes Buster Brown's Jokes and Jingles, a booklet children receive with the purchase of shoes.

1911: Buster Brown stars in the company's first national ads published in The Saturday Evening Post.

1913: With the introduction of movie theaters throughout the country, Brown Shoe adds short films to the opening receptions.

1917: Buster Brown is given a new, more lifelike look. Thus is created the classic logo of a winking Buster and a grinning Tige.

1925: Universal Studios releases the "Buster Brown Comedies," a series of silent movies.

1926: The Buster Brown Radio Club hits the airwaves, broadcasting a one-hour program twice a week.

1943: A children's radio show, "The Buster Brown Gang with Smilin' Ed McConnell," is launched.

1945: McConnell introduces the Buster Brown comic book, free with a purchase of shoes.

1950: Television advertising features the famous tag line: "That's my dog Tige. He lives in a shoe. I'm Buster Brown. Look for me in there, too." The Buster Brown Gang also moves to Saturday morning TV, helping pioneer the weekend ritual of several generations of children.

1953: After McConnell's death, Andy Devine becomes show host.

1956: Buster Brown becomes a sponsor of the "Captain Kangaroo" show.

1958: Buster Browns become the largest-selling branded shoes in the world.

1969: Buster Brown partners with Walt Disney's latest movie, "Swiss Family Robinson," and offers a Pirate Pack tree with a pair of shoes.

1979: Buster Brown markets sports shoes with Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner.

1982: Brown Shoe licenses movie character E.T. for E.T. Shoes by Buster Brown, the first of a new generation of licensed shoes by the company.

The current contest, meanwhile, stemmed from a recent update of Buster Brown's image. The new tagline is "Kids only. Fun." Because the brand is all about youngsters, the Pair to Remember contest is supposed to take packaging redesign that extra step, spurting the company to search for children and their dogs to star on the next round of shoe boxes.

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