Who invented the jandal?

John Cowie. This may come as a surprise to many.John Cowie was an England-raised businessman who started a plastics manufacturing business in Hong Kong after the second World War (John Cowie and Co.). It was Cowie that started manufacturing a plastic version of the Japanese wooden sandals (Zori) in the late 1940s. New Zealander Morris Yock imported the already named 'Jandal' from Hong Kong and patented back in New Zealand in 1957. John Cowies children say that their father claimed to have invented the name Jandal from a shortened form of 'Japanese Sandal'. John Cowie and family emigrated to New Zealand in 1959.

Jandals are specifically known to New Zealanders. Other countries call them flip flops or thongs (aussies), of course us New Zealanders know a thong as an article of clothing for woman.

Many Kiwis use the term 'jandal' to describe their favourite summer footwear, but are they the genuine article? The name 'jandal' was trademarked 50 years ago and can only be used by the company that owns it, which is now Sandford Industries. It is widely reported that Morris Yock invented the jandal, but his son says it was common in Japan at the time. He says his father simply came up with the name, a derivative of 'Japanese sandal', before trademarking it in October 1957. In the jandal heyday of the 1980s, Skellerup owned the brand. "It was very popular. There were hundreds and hundreds of thousands sold," says Skellerup footwear manager Paul Randall. In the 1990s Viking footwear took on the name and fought hard to protect it. In an interesting PR move it took out a newspaper advertisement threatening those who used the name that their "legal eagles will sock it to you". The original jandal sets itself apart with its specific rubber formula. Advertisement "If someone's first in the market and they push the product strongly it tends to have a lingering effect, similar to Electrolux or a product like that. So brand protection's very important in footwear," says Randall. And while Sanford Industries is better known for making gumboots, they still make the summertime favourite.