My older brother was a chemical engineer from MIT. His first job in 1935 was improving quality of rubber in
sneakers. I was reminded of this as I put on my athletic shoes this morning, and noted how well the "foxing" was
standing up. That was the word my brother taught me for
the rubber tape that joined the fabric to the sole and the
cover over the toes. I searched and found Keds ads that
still use the word. I'll bet few members have heard it before. Incidentally, I didn't know until a couple years ago that "ked" is Scots word for tick or louse.

I searched for definition of "foxing" and found this:
3. To repair the feet of, as of boots, with new front upper
leather, or to piece the upper fronts of.

I'm having a hard time finding reference to your usage Bill, but I did find this:
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/don/dt/dt1434.html

good looking girls were foxes when I was in high school...

edit:
found this on further search:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=foxing

v. foxed, fox·ing, fox·es
v. tr.

   1. To trick or fool by ingenuity or cunning; outwit.
   2. To baffle or confuse.
   3. To make (beer) sour by fermenting.
   4. To repair (a shoe) by attaching a new upper.
   5. Obsolete. To intoxicate.

edit II:
from infoplease:
fox•ing

Pronunciation: (fok'sing), [key]
—n.
1. material used to cover the upper portion of a shoe.
2. discoloration, as of book leaves or prints.

and from Webster's via the previously linked page(I didn't scroll down far enough...):
foxing

Fox \Fox\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foxed; p. pr. & vb. n. Foxing.] [See Fox, n., cf. Icel. fox imposture.]
1. To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink.

I drank . . . so much wine that I was almost foxed. --Pepys.

2. To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment.

3. To repair the feet of, as of boots, with new front upper leather, or to piece the upper fronts of.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Dear etaoin: the only reason I posted the word was that few of us have not worn sneakers or the current vastly improved athletic shoes, but I'll bet I'm the only member who ever hear the word. Just because my brother worked for U.S.Rubber at footware plant in Naugatuck,Connecticut.
Incidentally, how times have changed. He was lucky to get job before he graduated, and started at thirty bucks a week
in 1935.