In 1921, Samuel went into the shoe business with his three brothers, Morris, Nathan, and Gershon Gass. They established the Lion Shoe Company in Lynn, Massachusetts, then the women's shoe manufacturing capitol of the United States. Samuel financed this undertaking with most of the money coming from his rag business earnings.[1]

According to family tradition, Samuel Gass started Lion Shoe after he and Isaac Razin dissolved their partnership. Yet, according to the Chelsea City directories, Samuel Gass's occupation is still listed as "Razin and Gass" in January 1921 and January 1922. It appears that Razin and Gass did not dis­solve their company until some time after the beginning of 1922, even though Lion Shoe was apparently started in 1921.[2] Although the actual date of the beginning of Lion Shoe and its early business organization are somewhat obscure, it is clear that the brothers ran the company from the start.[3]  Sam had invited Isaac Razin to go into the shoe business with them but Isaac refused, fearing that the business would have to be open on the Sabbath.[4]

Click here to read what the Lynn City Directories reveal about the Lion Shoe Company and the Gass brothers.

The original idea for a shoe factory came from Nathan Gass, who was familiar with the manu­facturing and merchandising of shoes because as a new immigrant he had worked in a Lynn shoe factory during his first year in America. Nathan wanted to open his own shoe factory, but lacked the necessary capital. For a period of time he lived in San Antonio, Texas, where he was in the fruit business, but Nathan never gave up his dream of operating a shoe factory. Around 1920, Nathan asked Samuel to help him. Samuel agreed and Nathan returned to Lynn. The two siblings invited their other brothers, Morris and Gershon, to join the enterprise and Morris gave up his junk business in Brattleboro, Vermont, to do so.

According to Morris's son, Sam Gass, the participation of Morris may have been crucial to the business:

"Morris was the kind of person who kept things cohesive. I don't think Nathan and Samuel would have gotten along that well by themselves. Nothing that I saw was that apparent, but they would pull in different directions. My father would step in instinctively and say whatever had to be said, and it would be done." 

It is not known what role, if any, Gershon Gass played in Lion Shoe. In October 1923, not long after the company was formed, he took his own life by asphyxiating himself with natural gas from three gas lamps. His death certificate lists his occupation as a laborer and makes no mention of being a shoe worker, which was a familiar designation in the Lynn City Directories.[5] Nobody in the family talked about Gershon after his death. In those days a suicide brought shame to a family and it wasn't discussed, particularly if there were unmarried children whose matches could be jeopardized. (This prejudice is dramatically shown in the movie Yentl starring Barbara Streisand, based on a story by Isaac B. Singer.)   

Sometime after Gershon's death, Abraham Gootman, Samuel's broth­er-in-law, was brought in as another partner. According to family tradition, he was brought in as a replacement for Gershon, yet he wasn't listed in the 1925 Business Directory as one of the partners.[6]

Samuel Gass’s great-granddaughter, Mona Fish, explained how it was possible for a few, poor immigrants to get started in the shoe business:

“Immigrants were able to get into [shoe] manufacturing be­cause only a small initial capital investment was required. Anyone who had $5000 could open a factory. This was made possible, for the most part, by the leasing policy of the United Shoe Machinery Company (USM)...The company monopolized the shoe machinery industry, selling its machines all over the world and servicing the finest shoemakers...USM leased its machines to any would-be manufacturer who seemed to have a reasonable chance of staying in business. Since the ma­chinery could be leased rather than bought outright, the manufacturer did not need a lot of capital initially. Manu­facturers paid USM a minimum monthly charge, plus a royalty on every pair of shoes produced by the machines; dials on the machines recorded the number of pairs produced. USM provided the manufacturers with everything they needed to start a factory. This included not only the machinery, but also shoelaces, eyelets, waxes, tacks and machine parts. Even obtain­ing floor space was not a major capital investment; it too could be leased. Because a manufacturer's capital did not have to be invested in machinery or in floor space all of his funds could be directed towards material and labor costs. The immigrant manufacturers were helped here, too, by Jewish leather suppliers who gave them leather on credit.

"Jewish immigrants also formed partnerships to break into the shoe business. Many would not have been able to open a fac­tory alone because they lacked either the necessary capital or shoemaking experience. But partnerships enabled them to overcome these obstacles...Despite the foregoing factors, these immigrants were still entering an industry that had been dominated for years by established firms. While Yankee-owned concerns were leaving Lynn or going out of business altogether during this period, some of the firms continued to operate. These older factories tended to concentrate on women's high-quality comfort shoes, which sold for ten to twelve dollars per pair retail. The Jewish immigrants did not try to break into this segment of the women's shoe indus­try, but chose instead to concentrate on low-priced women's novelty shoes. The shoes were the extra pair in a woman's wardrobe; they would go out of style before they would wear out. Because keeping up with style changes was crucial in this line of the business, it involved more risk than the standard shoes, which most of old established firms were producing. But thinking only of the chance for success, it was a risk that the immigrants were willing to take. By not putting themselves in direct competition with the older firms, the immigrant manufacturers encountered less difficul­ties upon entering the industry...[7]