My grandparents, Tomasso and Grazia Francione worked in the Marlborough, Massachusetts shoe factories – including B.A. Corbin and Son Co. — until they were age 75. Because my grandfather had been apprenticed to a shoe maker in Italy, he was tasked with making the first iteration of a shoe before it was mass produced.My grandmother was an inspector. He made the black shoes in the photo for my grandmother when they were first married. He made the white skates in the photo for my mother. They were copies of the skates he made for the Sonja Henie marketed line.