The Old Shoe Shine Man

[NCHillbilly]

I wear either work boots or flipflops. Hard to shine either one.

 

[Batjack]

H22 still has his. His is wood too and still full of all that stuff. I think it's in the shed now, but he used to use it.

The first "project" Dad ever turned me loose with his tools and no supervision... don't laugh.. I was 6.


He used it till he couldn't wear cowboy boots any more.

 

[sbroadwell]

I thought about that when looking through my closet the other day. Shoeshine kit I’ve not used in years. Shoes I wear these days don’t need shining.
And ties! Got so many hanging on the tie rack on the door, and haven’t worn one in years. Heck, many jobs used to make you wear a tie. Even when I worked in sporting goods at Arlens, then KMart, I had to wear a tie.
Things sure have changed.

 

[WOODIE13]

That was back when men had a lot of dignity and took pride in their appearance. Seems not so much anymore. Ear rings, cartoonish tattoos, nose piercings man buns and all. Times change. You know that little spring in your step right after a new haircut ? I would imagine that just adds to it, make a fellow strut a little bit. Uncle Sam made all us MP’s a shoe shine boy when I was in. A grunt could get away with boots that looked like they were shined with a Hershey bar…….MP’s ? Lord no, ours had to look like glass every day. It didn’t matter if you scuffed them last night fighting a drunk, had to look like glass the next guard mount.

Yes sir, plus your leather gear (holster, handcuff case, club carrier, turtle shell) @1991. They finally went to all black nylon gear, but those old leather 1911 holsters looked good shined up. A can of kiwi, old t shirt, lighter and a couple ice cubes.

8th ID

 

[MudDucker]

No barber shops around here have a shine man anymore. Only place I know is a shoe repair and it is $10 to shine your shoes and the shine ain't as good as the old 25 cent shine back in the day. I've got my own shine kits, but I ain't real good at it.

 

[Redbow]

we sold Griffin shoe polish paste and a brand of liquid shoe polish which I can't remember the name.

There was nothing wrong with Griffin shoe polish back back in the day, I have used it many times in the past. But Kiwi was my favorite.

 

[Ruger#3]

Yes sir, plus your leather gear (holster, handcuff case, club carrier, turtle shell) @1991. They finally went to all black nylon gear, but those old leather 1911 holsters looked good shined up. A can of kiwi, old t shirt, lighter and a couple ice cubes.

8th ID View attachment 1252803

Man does that spit shine recipe bring back memories. Spent many hours with Kiwi and cotton balls.

 

[Redbow]

No barber shops around here have a shine man anymore. Only place I know is a shoe repair and it is $10 to shine your shoes and the shine ain't as good as the old 25 cent shine back in the day. I've got my own shine kits, but I ain't real good at it.

I ain't as good at shining shoes now like I was in my Army days, but I don't have to answer for that to the platoon Sergeant anymore.

 

[Redbow]

Man does that spit shine recipe bring back memories. Spent many hours with Kiwi and cotton balls.

A cloth baby diaper put a shine on a pair of combat boots and our dress shoes that you could almost see thru, we bought the baby diapers at the PX just down the street from our company area they had them stacked high on the counter there.

 

[Ruger#3]

A cloth baby diaper put a shine on a pair of combat boots and our dress shoes that you could almost see thru, we bought the baby diapers at the PX just down the street from our company area they had them stacked high on the counter there.

I can see that, used old tshirts to start then finished with cotton balls.

 

[Redbow]

I can see that, used old tshirts to start then finished with cotton balls.

Oh yeah I have used old tee shirts and cotton balls as well to shine my shoes. I wish I had a picture of all us guys sitting on our foot lockers after the evening mess with a baby diaper in one hand and a combat boot in the other. All of us sitting in front of our bunks shining our boots for another days duty to come. Some of the guys did prefer cotton balls for the shine but most used the cotton baby diapers.

 

[fishfryer]

The first "project" Dad ever turned me loose with his tools and no supervision... don't laugh.. I was 6.

View attachment 1252762
He used it till he couldn't wear cowboy boots any more.

Not bad for a six year old. Not bad for a sixteen year old for that matter.

 

[Batjack]

Not bad for a six year old. Not bad for a sixteen year old for that matter.

Dad had spent a lot of frustrating hours of hands on training the year before that.

 

[Nicodemus]

Since old Vi retired, I don`t know of any cobblers around here any more. But, the only boots I own that have a welt anymore are my Chippewa snake boots. Seems like shoes and boots aren`t designed to be resoled these days.

 

[fishfryer]

Since old Vi retired, I don`t know of any cobblers around here any more. But, the only boots I own that have a welt anymore are my Chippewa snake boots. Seems like shoes and boots aren`t designed to be resoled these days.

Most of the affordable shoes and boots aren’t even leather and are mostly glued together.

 

[Nicodemus]

That old pair of Chippewa`s on the left are well over 30 years old now and on their third set of soles. And although they sag down some, I still trust them with my life.

Yes, both pair have been put to the test test.

 

[dwhee87]

There are still several shoe shine setups at the Atlanta Airport. Haven't hopped up in one for a few years.

 

[Oldstick]

Last stand i saw was at the Atlanta airport years ago.....

Same here. Had time to kill and shoes needed it pretty badly. The one and only time I ever let someone else do my shoes.

 

[Nicodemus]

Actually, those old Chippewa`s are closer to 40 years old.

 

[Batjack]

That old pair of Chippewa`s on the left are well over 30 years old now and on their third set of soles. And although they sag down some, I still trust them with my life.

Yes, both pair have been put to the test test.


View attachment 1252839

Don't know about now (been a long time since I could wear boots) but I used to take my cowboy boots to the dry cleaners, they'd send them off and back in two days resoled and dyed look'n like new for $20.00.