The story behind STEVENS STOMPERS® is an American folk history, in and of itself. Walt Stevens had always loved clogging, so he and his wife Marti Stevens formed the Burlington County 4-H Cloggers in Mt. Holly, N.J.
At the time the club began, clogging taps were made from cast aluminum. This posed a problem for cloggers because they would frequently crack. Walt had the idea to make the taps from STEEL. Since Walt was an engineer, Marti suggested that he go ahead and design a steel tap. This was a totally revolutionary idea. Steel taps would be stronger and have a better sound. Thus STEVENS STOMPERS®taps were born. The strength of steel also allowed them to be thinner and have better tap action.
But as anyone who has ever tried to turn a great idea into reality knows, the “sweat” really begins after you get the inspiration. Walt worked out of the family garage and cobbled a few steel prototypes together and danced on them, himself. Once he had a workable design, he had dies made and produced taps for his clubs’ dancers. They loved the taps, and other cloggers loved the great SOUND!
As word of the revolutionary tap design began to circulate in the clogging community, other cloggers wanted the taps. Sales started to grow, and at the request of cloggers, Walt and Marti began offering additional products to cloggers. STEVENS STOMPERS®