Florence Zacks Melton (November 6, 1911 – February 8, 2007) was an American inventor known for innovating the foam-soled and washable slipper. Early life Melton was born Florence to Meir and Rebecca Spurgeon in Philadelphia. Melton grew up in Philadelphia in an extremely poor family. Mostly under the care of her bubble (grandmother) who encourage Jewish values and raised her. Music was a large part of Melton’s childhood which inspired her to study music, art, and ballet. She worked at a local Woolworth's from age 13 in order to support her family. She married her first husband, Aaron Zacks, when she was 19, and subsequently moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked as a merchandiser for a department store. Together they had two sons, Gordon and Barry. Career Melton served on the board of United Way (then the Red Feather Agency) and with the Red Cross Nutrition Corps. In the 1970s, she became the first woman to serve on the board of the Huntington National Bank and was a founding member of CAJE (the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education). Melton co-founded the R.G. Barry Corporation in 1946 with Zacks. While investigating foam latex, a material invented as a helmet liner for World War II tank crewmen, as a possible material for her patented women's shoulder pad, she discovered that she could use the material to line slippers. This foam latex was then made into slippers, which were made of washable terrycloth or velour that came in a variety of colors. Each slipper was different, some had a slightly raised heel, some have backs, some have straps, open toes and some have tassels. The common denominator was that they all have the same foam-rubber insoles that was at least half an inch thick. Marketed first as Angel Treads and later as Dearfoams, Melton's slippers were immediately successful. More than 1 billion slippers have been sold, according to the company. The Slippers were not Melton’s only idea to reach success. Melton acknowledged that women’s fashion had a military look and common piece was wearing double-breasted suits with padded shoulder. In order to clean these clothing items the shoulder pads had to be removed and sewn back. Melton came up with, Shoulda-Shams, a cotton-batting shoulder pad with an elastic tab that could be snapped to a bra strap terminate the need for sewing. Even though Melton had the idea for the