During World War II he coached the Wright Field Air-Tecs basketball team during the 1944–45 season and served as a physical fitness instructor for the U.S. military before resuming his career as a traveling salesman for Converse.
[8] With one notable exception, Taylor's career as a player on a semi-professional team ended in the 1920s in Chicago when he became a traveling salesman and product promoter for the Converse Rubber Shoe Company.
[3][10] The previous year the company had introduced an earlier version of Converse All Stars as one of the first shoes specifically designed to be worn when playing basketball.
[citation needed] Within a year of Taylor's arrival the company had adopted his suggestions of changing the design of the Converse All Star shoe[11] to provide enhanced flexibility and support.
[5] As a marketing representative for Converse, Taylor made his living as a salesman who traveled across the country to conduct basketball clinics and sell shoes.
[citation needed] Joe Dean, who worked as a sales executive for Converse for nearly 30 years before becoming the athletic director at Louisiana State University, told Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer, "It was impossible not to like him, and he knew everybody.
He led his first informal clinic in 1922 at North Carolina State University,[15] and continued the effort for years, making it an established aspect of his sales promotions.
[1] Taylor's free basketball clinics continued for nearly thirty years in high school and college gyms and YMCAs around the United States.
As Steve Stone, a former Converse president, once noted: "Chuck's gimmick was to go to a small town, romance the coach, and put on a clinic.
[1] The yearbook commemorated the best players, trainers, teams and the greatest moments of the sport, as well as providing good publicity for Taylor's clinics and the Converse company's All Star basketball shoes.
[17] In addition to selling Converse All Star shoes and conducting basketball clinics, Taylor contributed to the development of the sport in other ways.
Taylor's main contribution during the war years was coaching the Wright Field Air-Tecs basketball team at the United States Army Air Forces base in Dayton, Ohio, during the 1944–45 season.
[1][10] Taylor died of a heart attack in Port Charlotte, Florida, on June 23, 1969, one day short of his sixty-eighth birthday.
[3][24] Nike acquired Converse in 2003 and continues to market Chuck Taylor All Star shoes in mass merchandise outlets worldwide.