In 1952, shoe store owner Peter Hulit got an urgent call from Einsteins housekeeper. She told him that Einstein was in pain and that he could not find a comfortable pair of shoes.

When Hulit made the house call, he recalled, This magnificent guy came down the stairs smoking his pipe, and he whipped this folded piece of paper out of his pocket and said, Zis is ze problem, Mr. Hulit.

Hulit opened the piece of paper (swipe left).

Einstein had made a sketch of the source of his problem. He was feeling pain on the outer edge of his feet and his big toe. He concluded that he needed a shoe that had more space around the top half of his feet with even distribution of pressure.

Hulit bent down and examined Einsteins feet and noted that they were tender like a childs, that skin texture; they were soft and easy. After a moment, Hulit looked up and explained to Einstein that What really happened is that he had gained some weight in his older age and his feet changed size.

Hulit made some measurements and fitted Einstein with a pair of roomy black dress shoes. "The man had never had a pair of black shoes in his life but I knew he was due to appear at an event in New York City pretty soon. I wasn't going to let him go in brown shoes or sneakers. Even if he was Albert Einstein."